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SPRING 2001
RACE, POVERTY AND POLLUTION
Also in this issue: Ship-shaped History,
Alcohols Pain and Pleasure, A Writers Story
ay,
. 6s © a. t...h
EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY
Spring 2001
www.ecu.edu/research/edge
PUBLISHER
Dr. Thomas L. Feldbush
Vice Chancellor, Research and Graduate Studies
EXECUTIVE EDITOR
John Durham
Director, News and Communications Services
EDITORIAL BOARD
Tom Fortner
Director, Medical Center News and Information
Dr. Alan A. Schreier
Director, Program Development and
Coordinator of Institutional Compliance
Dr. Emilie S. Kane
Acting Director, Office of Sponsored Programs
Marti Van Scott
Director, Office of Technology Transfer
DELO)
Garnet Bass
DESIGNER
Linda Noble
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Cliff Hollis
Tony Rumple
edge is published by the Division of Research and
Graduate Studies at East Carolina University.
Any written portion of this publication may
be reprinted with appropriate credit.
COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS
John Durham
East Carolina University
News and Communications Services
Howard House
Greenville, NC 27858-4353
252-328-6481
durhamj@mail.ecu.edu
© 2001 by East Carolina University
Printed by Theo Davis Sons, Zebulon, NC
Printed on recycled paper.
4,000 copies of this public document were printed
at a cost of $8920.00, or $2.23 per copy.
more ait
Leadership Transition
¢ he publication of this fourth edition of edge finds ECU on the
cusp of a major transition. Dr. Richard Eakin, chancellor of the university
since 1987, is retiring from that position, and Dr. William V. Muse, former
president of Auburn University, will move into the chancellors office on
Aug. 1.
This, then, is the proper time to salute Dick Eakin for all that he has
meant to the Division of Research and Graduate Studies. From the time
that he arrived in Greenville, Dick was supportive of the critical role of
research in the university as well as throughout eastern North Carolina.
Discovery and creation not only provide zest and renewal on the campus,
but they prime the engine of economic growth and fire the imagination and
curiosity of the public.
As ECU grew in size, influence and complexity, Dick had the vision to
create the Division of Research and Graduate Studies in 1995, and | was
fortunate enough to be selected as the first vice chancellor.
With his encouragement and leadership, ECU faculty members have
significantly increased their research activities. External grants and con-
tracts have now reached the $40 million annual level, as detailed elsewhere
in this issue, and the university has received the Carnegie designation of
doctoral/research-intensive.
| am proud of the exceptional work of the faculty, and | am grateful for
Dicks confidence and enthusiasm. The Division of Research and Graduate
Studies and | wish him every success in his new role on the faculty in the
School of Education.
With continued support from Bill Muse, | have no doubt that faculty
members will continue to expand their considerable successes in research
and creative enterprises. | am convinced that this will be the case because
he strengthened the research mission at both Auburn and the University of
Akron, which he also served as president. We look forward to having him
on campus.
" Dr. Thomas L. Feldbush,
Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Studies
�,�
i)
Qe
\s]
rt
a
onthe cover
ECU faculty take a look at the question of whether living near
sources of pollution hurts peoples health and, if so, whos being
harmed the most. Their research is part of a growing national
interest in environmental justice. Story, page 12.
abstracts
2 * Beyond the ~Pale
* Howto lasso a cell
* Optimism about cancer therapy
* An action agenda on poverty
* A bacterial counter-offensive .
* All the RAVE
pmasicle ECU
5 * Two start-ups launched
* Grants, contracts up 50 percent
* On-line enrollment rises
features
6 AWASH IN HISTORY
Civil War shipwrecks revive the story of a
complex military strategy.
» Working Blind: Underwater Archaeology
Challenges Endurance and Ingenuity
12 IN HARMS WAY
If pollution hurts the poor and minorities more
than others, is it a case of bad luck or a greater evil?
The environmental-justice movement spurs
a fresh look at an old problem.
16 MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE
Medical researchers tackle the use and abuse of alcohol
and other drugs from many angles.
22 JUDGING JUSTICE
Political scientist Tinsley Yarbrough analyzes federal
courts and judges in the light of history and the
U.S. Constitution.
prothie
26
MAKUCKS BOOKCASE
For this author and teacher, one short story kindled an
enduring love of literature. |
explorations
31
32
33
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
Pianist Paul Tardif thrives on ensemble performances.
SMOKE SIGNALS TO SATELLITES
Telemedicine shows its potential in disaster simulation.
~1 WILL BE THE ARTIST
Civic consciousness drives Hanna Jubran and his art.
DA VINCIS ADVANCE
ECU takes robotics procedure to national trial.
ioe pede
35
A look at recent publications by ECU faculty,
plus news on exhibitions and recordings.
1 * SPRING 2001 » edge |
Seo Eo inspects the firing chamber
of one of his newest installations�:
a two-chamber, wood-firing kiln.
Beyond
S.. Eo, assistant professor of art, kept heady company in 2000.
Max Halperin, art critic for The News & Observer in Raleigh, listed Eos installation Pale� among
the 10 best exhibits in the Research Triangle area in 2000. Joining him on the list were such exhibits
as the North Carolina Museum of Arts blockbuster showings of work by Rodin and Ansel Adams
and To Conserve a Legacy,� a showing of 200 works by African-Americans " a collection so large it
took three universities to display it.
With Pale,� Eo created a single room-sized work of art by mixing everyday objects and
mathematical principles with a desire to challenge notions about space and color. Halperin summa-
rized the piece this way:
In a dimly lit room, 13 square columns of nylon mesh hung from the ceiling while thin strings
were looped in corners and placed along one side of the room " all eerily lit by small, naked light
bulbs. Though spaced columns and twine defined areas within the gallery, shadows at the outer
edges suggested endless and mysterious space that the eye cannot follow.�
Alas, the nature of Eos installations means that anyone who missed the monthlong exhibit at
Artspace is out of luck. He mounts each installation for a particular place and time.
Lately, Eo has been thinking of installations of a different kind. A ceramic artist by training, he
designed and built a two-chamber, wood-firing kiln that will allow him and his students greater
opportunity to explore different firing methods. In one chamber, he hopes to experiment with a Korean
firing technique that produces black pottery. The other chamber is dedicated to salt-glaze firing.
The new kiln is in Greene County on land owned by a graduate student, who paid for the
materials. Eo provided all the labor. The bricklaying alone took a year. Although the School of Art
has both gas- and wood-fired kilns, Eo said lack of storage space for wood limits the latters use.
Now Eo has something bigger in mind: a university wood-firing research center with a dozen or
more separate kilns based on designs from around the world " each of which produces a different
type of pottery. His vision includes conference facilities, classrooms, a gallery, shop and educational
landscaping. Last year a symposium he organized on pyrochromatics (the color of fire) brought 100
ceramic artists from around the world to ECU. The research center, he said, could draw many more.
Two sizable obstacles stand in the way " obtaining a site and money " but Eos enthusiasm is
contagious. Theres not a facility like this in the world,� he said. Wed have the world of ceramics in
one place. It would be the main attraction for anyone working in the field of ceramics.�
Ii=zasso a cell
is equipment resembles a do-
it-yourself electrical engineering project,
but Yong-qing Lis goal belies the humble
appearance of his laboratory. The assistant
professor of physics aims to help medical
scientists study the effects of medicine on
the individual cell.
Lis first step is to develop a system
that can measure the dynamic motions of
cell membranes. Both living and nonliving
(abiotic) cells are in constant motion from
edge » SPRING 2001 * 2
being hit by external forces " the
molecules of water, air or any other
medium they inhabit. Living cells also
jiggle constantly as a result of the chemical
energy inherent in life. By isolating
externally produced movement, Li said,
scientists can see whether medicine slows
or speeds a cells internal motion and
thereby gain insight into whether and how
the medicine is working.
The primary tool of Lis research is a
relatively new invention called optical
tweezers, which unite the laser beam with
the microscope. The laser lets you capture
and manipulate any single particle or cell,�
he said. Then you can modify or control
the cell without touching it so you avoid
contamination.� To the optical tweezers, Li
is adding a Doppler microphone,� which
will enable him to measure and record the
ultrasonic waves created by the motion of
the cells.
Optimism
Eevee «
Pat i a | om ")
therapy
D.. james A. McCubrey,
professor of microbiology and immunol-
ogy, is a cautious optimist. He cautions
against expectations of a magic bullet, but
says new cures for cancer are on the horizon.
There is definite hope for cancer
therapy,� he said. The more we under-
stand about cancer, the more likely there
will be cures. Although progress may
appear slow, it has happened, and it is
continuous.� McCubrey himself has four
research projects under way, each seeking
to understand the disease from a different
angle:
* His longest running project
investigates the mechanisms that trigger
blood cells to turn cancerous. Since 1992,
the project has received more than $1.3
million in grants from the National
Institutes of Health.
* Asecond study focuses on how
molecules called cytokines stimulate
growth and prevent cell death, a trait
often used to help the body recover from
chemotherapy. Working with a pharma-
ceutical company, McCubrey is investigat-
ing how synthetic cytokines can stimulate
cells more than natural forms.
* The third project, with Dr. Arthur
E. Frankel of Wake Forest University, turns
on how to kill malignant hematopoietic
cells. Hematopoietic cells promote the
formation of blood cells. McCubrey said
Frankel has developed a therapy that may
kill cells other agents dont while also
being more selective in what it targets.
* Most recently, McCubrey has
received a grant from the N.C. Biotechnol-
ogy Center to identify the genes in breast
cancer that result in drug resistance.
Once you identify the genes,� he said,
they can be used as markers to see how
far the breast cancer has progressed and to
identify potential types of treatment.� »
om poverty 1980
GB 219 Destressed Counties
study of persistent poverty has evolved into an action
agenda for the ECU Regional Development Institute. The institute has
taken the lead in a seven-state working group that plans to push
Congress to establish an economic development program for the
Southeast similar to the Appalachian Regional Commission.
It all began with a report, Northeast by West,� published
in September. The report compares the economies of northeast-
erm and western North Carolina over the past 35 years. In 1965,
those economies looked similar. Both were dismal. Today, the
picture for the west looks brighter while in the east, poverty keeps
an unrelenting stranglehold. The authors conclude that one factor BY 2001
has made the overwhelming difference: billions of dollars in economic meer� " 2 .
development funds from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC). utente
Lo and behold, money does make a difference,� said Associate
Vice Chancellor Albert A. Delia, director of the institute and lead
author of the report.
With the institutes associate directors, S. Richard Brockett
and Malcolm T. Simpson Jr., Delia then cast a wider net.
Realistically we know we wont get the federal government to
target 12 counties in eastern North Carolina so we looked at the
broader picture,� he said. They found an area of persistent
poverty stretching from south-central Virginia, through eastern
North Carolina, down to northern Florida and across to Federal and state invest-
Mississippi. Of the 412 counties in this swath, 70 percent meet ments have decreased the
the criteria for areas of persistent poverty. Chiefly, for the years number of distressed
1970 to 1990, they had an average poverty rate of 20 percent or counties in Appalachia.
more. In 84 of those counties, poverty worsened between 1980
and 1990. By contrast, Delia said, poverty has been reduced greatly in most of the 12-state
area of the ARC.
Scanning the nation, the authors found six multi-state regions or groups with historical
patterns of persistent poverty. These include such regions as the ARC area, the Mississippi
Delta and Southwestern border states. Of the six, only the Southeastern swath lacks a
federal authority to address poverty. Such an authonity did exist for a while. The Coastal
Plains Regional Commission was created in 1967 and covered parts of five states when it
was killed by Congress in 1981. You cant help but ask, what did we do to be left out,�
Delia said.
With data in hand, the authors set out to spread the message, working first with the
councils of government (COGs) and economic development regions of northeastern North
Carolina, then receiving the unanimous endorsement from COGs in the seven-state study
area. By May, Delia expects to have addressed meetings of statewide COGs in the seven
states. He also is calling on other potential players, such as universities, state agencies and
utilities.
The study-area COGs have formed a steering committee to pursue establishment of a
regional development commission in Congress. The authoniation likely would take two to
three years, Delia said, but the steering committee will try to shorten the timeframe by
developing a clear proposal for how the commission could be organized and operated.
3 * SPRING 2001 * edge
r e 6 e a r c h b r i e f z : rn s i d e E C U
f
Aabactenial counter-offensive | Two start-ups launched
| Csrarnts,
a. one of the many quirks of nature, __ resistant traits transfer into and through the _gastrointestinal.tract " transfer antibiotic 4 By start-up companies were incorporated during the past year to develop comtracts:'
the very phenomenon that led to one of the " gene pool of bacteria with anemphasis on. _ resistance in more complex and diverse and market ECU technology. The first product may be on the market by the end of this SO percent
greatest medical advances of the 20th commensal bacteria, those non-pathogenic ~"" ways than previously thought. He has year.
century " the discovery of antibiotics " organisms that occur naturally in the body. identified two general methods " through Janus Development Group was launched to develop technological devices that | mel external funding reached
has been threatening to subvert our best He seeks to answer whether these otherwise _ plasmids, small circular fragments of DNA
intentions ever since. Bacteria build harmless (and frequently beneficial) that replicate independently of the
resistance to each new antibiotic developed: _ bacteria act as a reservoir for antibiotic- chromosomes, and through the chromo-
Antibiotic-resistant genes first arose in _ resistant genes. When you have a pathogen somes themselves.
single-cell organisms thatproduce antibiot- _ causing an infection,� he said, can it get Without knowing as much as we can
ics,� said Dr. Charles Jeffrey Smith, some of these resistant genes from the about the processes, we will never fully
professor of microbiology and immunology: commensal organism? Those kinds of comprehend or combat the problem of
In order to produce antibiotics, you have to things complicate any kind of treatment that "_antibiotic-resistant genes,� Smith said.
have some mechanism to be resistant tothe " would occur.� We're constantly trying to come up with
antibiotic itself.� Smith has found that Bacteroides new drugs, but that doesnt seem to quite
Smith studies how these antibiotic- fragilis " bacteria that inhabit the keep up with the rate of resistance.� «
assist persons with disabilities. ECU holds the patent on its first product " an anti-
stuttering device invented by Drs. Michael Rastatter, Joseph Kalinowski and Andrew
Stuart of the department of communication sciences and disorders. Darwin Richards,
who will become president and CEO of the company this summer, said he expects the
device to hit the market by the end of the year.
Janus also is developing a wheelchair treadmill whose patent belongs to the
LeRoy T. Walker International Human Performance Center, an affiliate of ECU. The
; design for the wheelchair treadmill was donated to the Walker Center by a Chicago
engineering company that developed it for the Veterans Administration. The treadmill
is targeted to clinical settings and is at least a year away from being ready for market,
Richards said.
The second company, called Sequoiah, is developing a wireless, Internet-based
system for maintaining and analyzing medical records. It is the brainchild of Drs.
Walter Pories, professor of surgery, and Mohammad H. N-Tabrizi, associate professor
of computer science.
Tabrizi said Sequoiah can be operated from a hand-held touch-tablet computer.
Physicians will be able to enter clinical data rapidly and accurately through a multi-
specialty, fixed lexicon presented in the logical sequence used by clinicians. Sequoiah
will store the information in a secure data warehouse for full, rapid retrieval and
analysis. Sequoiah stands out from competitors, Tabrizi said, because of its ability to do
rapid analysis of clinical records for population-based studies. Prototypes have been
developed, he said, but the company wont be ready to market the full service for
another two years.
Another ECU spin-off company, EpiGenesis Pharmaceuticals, recently signed a
$100 million development and licensing agreement with Taisho Pharmaceuticals of
Japan. EpiGenesis grew out of the research of Dr. Jonathan Nyce, former professor of
pharmacology.
In other technology transfer news, the university received six patents, filed
applications for seven more and received disclosures from faculty of seven other
technologies that may hold patent potential. University income from licenses rose 33
percent, to $101,446. »
record levels in 1999-2000. University
faculty received 394 grants and contracts for
a total of over $40 million, an increase of
almost 50 percent over the previous year.
On the proposal side, ECU faculty
sustained the high level of activity of the
previous year, when there was a substantial
increase in proposal submissions. Faculty
submitted 521 proposals requesting $125
million in funding. Results of these
submissions will materialize in the coming
months. °
Distribution of Funding
by Program Type
All the HAVE
ith a new virtual reality tool, ECU faculty are testing innovative
approaches to teaching, research and long-distance collaborations. In the first
applications, faculty are developing a virtual tour of the wreck thought to be
Blackbeards ship Queen Annes Revenge, designing a hotel for space travelers
that will help students learn interior design concepts and showing how
scorpion venom travels at the molecular level.
But this is just the beginning. Through the Center for Interdisciplinary
Instructional Technology Research, housed in the School of Education, more
faculty are being trained to use the tool, called RAVE, for Reconfigurable
Advanced Visualization Environment. In time, the applications may span the
Other 2%
Public Service * 45% * $18,232,716
Research * 33% * $13,290,735
Instruction * 14% *° $5,590,842
Academic Support * 6% * $2,302.965
Other * 2% * $835,533
curriculum and the state " from consultations on difficult diagnoses between
ECU and UNC-CH medical faculty to collaborative teaching involving faculty
from several institutions. Such cross-fertilization is encouraged through a
partnership with the UNC-wide Teaching and Learning with Technology
Collaborative in the Office of the President.
RAVE was installed in Joyner Library last fall. It consists of a 10-foot by 10-foot glass screen with a rear
Sources of Research Dollars
Associate Vice Chancellor On -lime enroliment rises
Jeffrey Huskamp gives pingeaee cca: " : cam sks ope ae yeaa bine ascahloce nhCens goggles, = a BE Desance education is boosting graduate school enrollment. The number of
appear to be three-dimensional, and with a hand-held pointer, they can manipulate projected images in a way 881 durine the 2000-01 academi
Chancellor Richard Eakin _ that gives the impression of handling the objects pictured or, in some cases, moving through the virtual space. students enrolled . on-line courses rose 26 percent 7 war, Soa nee em ari
aren As of last fall, ECUs RAVE was one of only three installed in the United States. It was created by year. At the same time, on-campus enrollment fell slightly. The two combined create a
Fakespace Systems Inc. The system is expandable, allowing the addition of projection walls to create a more modest increase in total graduate enrollment, now at 2,483 students. The Graduate School is
immersive� effect than the single panel allows.
RAVE and its computer cost about $325,000. They are part of a technology initiative that also has
included upgrades in the campus network and connection with the National Science Foundations high-
performance Backbone Network Service. *
analyzing the trend as it works to forecast on- and off-campus enrollment through 2010.
Meanwhile, the school has submitted requests to begin accepting students into two
new programs, a Ph.D. in nursing and a masters in public health, in fall 2002. Approval by
the UNC General Administration is anticipated in the next few months. *
Local 1%
edge * SPRING 2001 * 4 5 ° SPRING soe) * eae
he smooth, black waters of the
Pasquotank River hid their secret well. On the
north side of the river, scattered cypress lifted
their crowns above the tree line in a swamp
called Hospital Point. To the south, the type of
home real estate agents dub an executive
mansion claimed the higher ground of Cobb
Point. Once, a Confederate battery stood guard
there in a vain attempt to protect nearby
Elizabeth City from the Union forces who had
captured Roanoke Island. On this day, as the
sun beamed a foretaste of Augusts mid-day
heat, neither cannon nor cannon ball offered
edge * SPRING 2001 * 6
Awash it eg
His
StOry
CIVIL WAR SHIPWRECKS REVIVE
even imaginary resistance. Instead, the only
visible reminder of those times bobbed in the
river like someone trash.
At the red and yellow detergent bottles,
two boats anchored and their crews donned
scuba gear. Six feet down, at the end of the
bottles tether, lay the prize: the skeleton of the
M.C. Etheridge, a commercial schooner armed
and pressed into service during the Civil War
as the Black Warrior.
Once part of North Carolinas pesky
Mosquito Fleet, the Black Warrior serves as a
metaphor for Civil War naval history: out of
THE STORY OF A COMPLEX
MILITARY STRATEGY
sight and out of mind. Americans pay their
respects to the hallowed grounds of
Gettysburg, Manassas and Fredericksburg.
They revere the names of Lee, Grant, Sherman
and Jackson, generals all. Discussions of long-
past political and military strategy raise
mention of only a rare celebrity of the sea. The
Monitor, certainly. The H.L. Hunley, perhaps.
And, thanks to their daredevil image, a general
recognition of blockade runners. Otherwise,
the collective mind of America keeps its Civil
War solidly on terra firma.
Almost. For the last 20 years, ECUs
maritime history program has plumbed the
depths of the naval side of the Civil War. Last
summer alone ECU faculty, staff and students
worked on four separate Civil War research
projects. The program also had connections
through two of its graduates (Wes Hall and
Harry Pecorelli) to the biggest Civil War event
of the summer: the raising of the Confederate
submarine Hunley near Charleston.
Part of the programs emphasis grew
from the interest of its founder, Dr. William
Still, who retired in 1994. Part has been driven
by almost unlimited access to Civil War
shipwrecks. A treasure trove of Civil War
ships lies underneath the waters of the
Southeastern United States and of North
Carolina in particular. But the Southeast
proved to be just a starting place.
Conducted on sites from North Carolina
to Florida, Bermuda, France and Micronesia,
the research revives the story of a complex,
global war strategy. It supplies unique and
important details for generally skimpy
records of shipbuilding and armament. It
gives color to the lives of ordinary seamen
living and fighting in an extraordinary time.
Splendid Victory,� courtesy of the Mariners Museum, . le
It connects then and now.
Consider the case of the Monitor. Never
a particularly seaworthy vessel, the famous
ironclad sank in a storm 16 miles off the coast
of Cape Hatteras as it was being towed from
Hampton Roads, Va., to Charleston, S.C. early
New Years morning, 1863. It came to rest
upside down in more than 230 feet of water. Its
exact location remained a mystery until 1973.
At the time Dr. Gordon P. Watts Jr., who
retired as professor of nautical archaeology in
January, was North Carolinas underwater
Continued
7 » SPRING 2001 « edge
Courtesy of the Mariners Museum, Newport News, Va.
THIS PAGE, TOP: The anchor from the Monitor,
now displayed at the Mariners Museum in Newport
News, was preserved at ECU.
THIS PAGE, BOTTOM: Capt. Raphael Semmes, in
foreground, and his executive officer, John Mclntosh
Kell, pose aboard the Alabama.
FAR RIGHT, TOP AND MIDDLE: Working from a
292-foot barge moored over the Monitor site, Navy
divers in heated suits are lowered into the ocean.
FAR RIGHT, BOTTOM: Matt Muldorf prepares to
dive to the Black Warmior in the Pasquotank River.
| edge » SPRING 2001 » 8
archaeologist. He was a co-investigator in the
team that located the wreck, and his analysis of
the data identified the Monitor. Watts also was
the principal investigator of the first three
archaeological investigations at the wreck site.
The anchor, which he helped recover in 1983,
was preserved in a makeshift conservation
laboratory at ECU. It is now housed with other
Monitor artifacts at the Mariners Museum in
Newport News, Va.
In recent years, the wreckage has started
to collapse. In conjunction with the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a
U.S. Navy salvage unit is trying to shore up
deteriorating sections in preparation for
recovering the engine and the turret. The
recovery effort may begin later this year. As
the Navy packed in grout bags last summer,
ECU staff archaeologist Frank J. Cantelas "
at the behest of NOAA " led another team of
divers excavating the turret and charting details
of the engine rooms condition. Working with
Cantelas were dive safety officers Gary Byrd
and Steve Sellars, graduate student Tane
Casserly, and divers from NOAAs Underwa-
ter Research Center and the Cambrian
Foundation.
The summers discoveries included
several intact, mercury-filled glass vacuum
gauges still on the engine. The gauges were
interesting, Cantelas said. No one knew
exactly what the engine looked like.� The
Monitor was built on a fast track in response to
rumors the South had its own ironclad under
construction. It was the first time anybody
actually subcontracted big components of a
ship and then brought it all back together,� he
said. John Ericsson (the designer) made
drawings as the manufacturers needed them,
and the drawings dont always correspond
with whats there.�
As the details of the Monitor s construc-
tion come to light, they remind historians of
the ships impact on the 19th and 20th
centuries. The rumors of a Confederate
ironclad had turned out to be true, and the
Monitor was rushed into service. Although the
battle of the ironclads ended in a stalemate, it
marked the end of the era of wooden ships.
The Monitor was one of first successful
armored ships and was the first to employ an
armored turret,� Watts said. The design was a
radical departure from traditional mid-19th
century naval architecture and its influences can
be seen on the warships of today.� The
Monitor s turret resembled a rotating
cheesebox� and was equipped with two 11-
inch guns. In a further stroke of daring, the
ironclads designer relied solely on steam
power. Until then, all steam-powered ships
came equipped with sails for backup.
One of the great things about working on
the Monitor is that all of the engineering that
made it technologically sophisticated and
unique are still preserved there in the hull of the
ship,� Watts said.
As Cantelas crew dove offshore, graduate
students Doug Jones, Matt Muldorf, Kim
Williams and Chris Southerly joined Richard
Lawrence, head of North Carolinas Underwa-
ter Archaeology Unit, on the Pasquotank River.
The Black Warriors wreckage was long ago
stripped of salvageable artifacts, but the site
remains interesting as a rare trace of a 19th-
century, North Carolina-built ship. Merchants
Joseph H. and William D. Etheridge had
ordered its construction in 1859 in Plymouth.
Few people realized how much the
navies in the Civil War depended on vessels not
designed to be warships at all,� Watts said.
Almost every ferry in operation in New York
in 1861 was purchased by the Union Navy and
fitted out as gunboat.�
Watts located one of those ferries, which
had been rechristened the USS Southfield, in the
Roanoke River at Plymouth a decade ago.
Ferries had rudders on both ends and
paddlewheels so you could go in both directions
with equal efficiency and steer from both ends
so they were very effective gunboats in the
narrow, shallow rivers of the Southeast,� he
said. The Southfield s effectiveness ended in
dock early in the morning of April 19, 1864,
when it was sunk by the CSS Albemarle.
According to historical records, the Army
Corps of Engineers had deemed the Southfields
wreckage a shipping hazard and removed it in
the 1880s. Apparently the removal applied only
to the top structure. The hull " with the deck
intact " still lies on the river bottom, about 15
feet below the surface. The only substantial
damage appears to be associated with the
Albemarles attack,� Watts said.
A Confederate mine spelled the end of
another converted ship " the USS Maple
Leaf. Once a passenger steamer on the Great
Lakes, it was ferrying the personal belongings
of 2,000 Union soldiers when it struck the
mine and sank in the St. Johns River near
Jacksonville, Fla. Because the ship carried little
ordnance, neither side tried to recover the
cargo.
When the ship was rediscovered in 1984,
its deck was buried in eight feet of mud at the
bottom of the river " an oxygen-free
environment that resulted in remarkable
preservation. Nothing had been touched by
human hands since the ship went down.
Tts the largest known archaeological
deposit in context, totally undisturbed, of Civil
War material,� Cantelas said. When you went
into the cargo hold, things were still packed in
boxes and crates. There were papers, books,
photos, clothing, leather goods, things you
would not get off a land site at all. The paper
was not in good shape, but some of the
photographs you could still see. Some of the
clothing, especially wool, was still in good
shape. We found one cartridge box intact, with
a big belt you wore over the shoulder, and it
had big brass belt buckle. There was another
crate with a mess kit for a company of 20 men
or so.�
A Florida dentist, Dr. Keith Holland, had
located the site and called on Still and Watts,
ECUs experts in Civil War history and
underwater archaeology, for assistance in
investigating the wreck. Cantelas, who had just
completed his masters degree in the ECU
maritime studies program, was hired to
supervise the project. For three years, he lived
in Florida and directed the site work "
including annual field schools for ECU
students.
What got me interested was the Maple
Leaf itself,� he said. I was interested in steam
engines of that period, but like everyone else, I
got on the Civil War bandwagon because there
was this incredible material.�
The site became the nations fourth
shipwreck designated a National Historic
Landmark. (The Monitor was the first.) More
than 30,000 artifacts, about 5 percent of the
total contents, were recovered during Cantelas
stint in Florida and are now housed in
museums in Jacksonville and Tallahassee.
- The artifacts are prized mostly for what
they reveal about the lives of rank-and-file
soldiers. For Dr. Lawrence E. Babits, George
Washington distinguished professor of history,
they also added an interesting note in the
history of ordnance.
Civil War weapons got fouled easily,�
he said. ~Thats no secret. In the first two
years, there was a lot of jamming. The bullets
and rifles had been built to specification. They
assumed the jamming was because of the
black powder residue building up so they
couldnt ram the bullets down the barrel.�
Unspent bullets found on battlefields
suggested another possibility to Babits.
People will say they were dropped, but about
80 percent were oversized,� he said. My
conclusion is they were discarded, not
accidentally dropped.� It was also suspicious
that the number of oversized bullets decreased
between the early and middle years of the war.
Two crates of ammunition from the
Maple Leaf revealed why. The crates were
clearly stamped with the name of the same
arsenal but two different dates " one in 1861,
the other in 1863. Babits tested every bullet, up
to 250 in one case. In the older case, 1 bullet in
5 was too large to go down the barrel of an
U.S. Army-issued rifle. Among the 1863
bullets, the failure rate dropped to 1 in 20.
Having dated crates from the same
arsenal gave Babits the necessary controls and
numbers to cement his theory. It was not
reported in official records that they were
sizing down,� he said, but apparently in 1863,
the federal arsenals made bullets 1/100th of an
inch smaller so there was less inherent failure.
You know, the industrial revolution hasnt
gotten it right yet. There were some of the
same complaints in Vietnam with cartridges
for M-16s. They had to be changed then, too.�
Two of last summers projects took ECU
archaeologists farther afield, examining a
largely forgotten aspect of the war from
different sides.
For the 12th consecutive year, Watts
followed the Civil War to the coast of
Normandy. He leads the U.S. arm of a joint
effort with France to investigate and recover
artifacts from the CSS Alabama, the most
successful of a fleet of Confederate commerce
Continued
9 * SPRING 2001 *
oS
Top two photos courtesy of Gordon Watts
TOP: Clear waters make Bermuda
an ideal training ground.
MIDDLE: ECU divers check out the
blockade runner Nola.
BOTTOM: It took Navy divers three days
to cut this piece of metal off the Monitor.
edge » SPRING 2001 * 10
raiders. It lies in 190 to 210 feet of water off
the French port of Cherbourg. The ship
became more famous in France than in the
United States when on June 19, 1864,
thousands of Frenchmen watched from shore
and from small boats as the Alabama lost its
final battle with the Union gunboat USS
Kearsarge.
By contemporary accounts, the Alabama
was a beautiful and a powerful ship. Painted
black, she boasted three masts and twin
horizontal cylinder steam engines. The vessels
screw propeller could be hoisted up into the
stern to eliminate drag when she went under
sail. But the ship is less noted for its techno-
logical innovation than the strategic role she
and her captain, Raphael Semmes, played.
The concept of commerce raiding had a
big impact on World War I and early World
War II,� Watts said. The Germans based their
whole strategy for commerce raiding on the
success of the Alabama. For two years,
Semmes carried out an absolutely staggering
operation.�
The Confederates operated about a dozen
commerce raiders that traveled the globe in
search of merchant ships flying the Union flag.
In 22 months of operation covering three
oceans, the Alabama alone captured or
destroyed 64 merchant vessels and a Union
warship. When you look at the Civil War, the
financial impact on the North was insignificant
" except for the commerce raiding carried out
by the Confederate Navy,� Watts said. Tt
literally destroyed the U.S. merchant marine,
and it never recovered.�
The Alabama, like several of the raiders,
was built and outfitted surreptitiously in
England, in defiance of international rules of
neutrality. So great was the damage the raiders
inflicted that after the war, an international
court ordered Great Britain to pay the United
States compensation of $15.5 million in gold.
Among the efforts of last summer, Watts
and the Franco-American team recovered a
32-pound Fawcett, Preston and Co. cast
cannon. Earlier they had recovered a Blakely
rifle that did not carry the usual foundry
marking, perhaps an attempt to hide its origin.
Tm eager to see if there are marks on the 32-
pounder,� Watts said.
Less pertinent to military history, but no
less interesting, have been the ceramic toilets
with intricate printed transfers inside the bowls.
The toilets were lined with lead and had pumps
for flushing.
Halfway around the globe, Cantelas and
Ph.D. student Suzanne Finney led a party
researching the fate of the victims of commerce
raiding. Second in success only to the Alabama,
the CSS Shenandoah is credited with (or
blamed for, depending on perspective)
decimating the Norths whaling fleet. With a
National Park Service grant, Cantelas and
Finney went to the Pacific Island nation of
Micronesia to locate and assess the condition of
four whaling ships the Shenandoah trapped,
burned and sank in a secluded harbor on the
island of Ponapaie.
The park service had surveyed one wreck
in the area in 1992 but failed to indicate the
location on its records. The Cantelas-Finney
team relocated that ship and two of the
remaining three. Piles of bricks helped point the
way. Brick is very diagnostic of a whaling
ship,� Cantelas said. Its from the stoves used
to process the blubber into oil. We also found
triworks knees, the ~L braces that were used to
hold up the sides of the stoves.� With three
whalers that fit the historical accounts, the team
could say with certainty they had located the site
of the Shenandoah s attack.
Finney, a resident of Hawaii, had heard the
story of the attack from Bill Still, who now lives
in Hawaii. The team also included Cathy Foch
and Russ Greene, two other ECU students, and
Megan Moews of the University of Hawaii.
They spent three weeks documenting the ships
construction features and locations. Even as it
confirms details of Civil War history, Cantelas
said, the site may become more important for
information it adds to the scant knowledge
about 19th-century whaling ships.
Back at home, Watts and Richard
Lawrence, of the state Underwater Archaeology
Unit, have been putting the finishing touches on
a study of Civil War wrecks off the coast of Fort
Fisher. Wilmington, just upriver from the fort,
was one of the Confederacys most important
seaports and the last to fall to the Union.
Their report summarizes a decade of
research by ECU staff and students who
investigated the underwater wreckage of three
Union ships that participated in the blockade
and four blockade runners. Watts called the
blockade runners a curious mix of vessels,
several of which had started life as packets
transporting people and mail around the British
Isles. One, the Scottish-built Condor, was
bringing Confederate spy Rose O Neal
Greenhow home from a trip to England.
Greenhow was killed when the vessel sank off
Fort Fisher.
In an ironic twist of war, the Union Navy
found that the best weapon against a blockade
runner was another blockade runner. It
converted numerous captured ships into
gunboats. One was the gunboat USS Peterhoff,
which wound up in the study by virtue of being
rammed and sunk by another Union warship.
Early on the morning of March 7, 1864, the
crew of the Union warship USS Monticello
mistook the converted blockade runner Peterhoff
for the enemy.
The report to the National Park Service
recommends opening public access to three of the
sites through the creation of an underwater
historic park. Buoys, maps and historical
literature would guide amateur divers back in
time and perhaps lift the veil of secrecy on the
Civil Wars naval past.
2
%
Working Blind: UNDERWATER ARCHAEOLOGY CHALLENGES ENDURANCE AND INGENUITY
Bermuda makes underwater archaeology
a cinch with its clear and calm blue waters. The
former British colony has a history as a major
stop for trans-Atlantic trading and coral reefs
that have snared many a ship. Easily accessible,
the Civil War blockade runners Nola and the
Mary Celestia practically invite divers to come
down and take a look. ECU faculty and
students have answered the hail and return
each fall to enable students to learn the ropes
under ideal conditions.
More often, however, conditions are less
than ideal. In the rivers and sounds of the
Southeast, tannin and sediment reduce
visibility to zero. Divers sometimes work by
feel.
Frank Cantelas spent three years working
on the Maple Leaf in the St. Johns River and
never saw the ship. He found out which
artifacts he was recovering only after he
brought them to the surface.
The deck of the Maple Leaf lies under-
neath eight feet of mud at the bottom of the
river, and tidal currents wash tons of silt across
the site twice a day. I remember one time
swimming across the wreck site before it was
excavated, and | sank down into this loose
mud,� he said. Its not like you could tell the
difference between the river and this thick mud
except that very slowly it became thicker and
thicker.�
To keep the excavation from filling back
in as fast as the researchers could dig it out,
they had to erect a barricade similar to those at
construction sites. At the end of each years
diving season, theyd pull up the barner, and
within two days, all traces of the dig would be
covered over.
At the Monitor, the challenge was depth.
The wreck lies in 240 feet of water, near the
limits of diving absent pressurized suits.
Making the dive safely with scuba equipment
meant limiting the time on the site.
We were making 20- to 25-minute dives,
counting from the time you jump in to the time
you start to come back up,� Cantelas said. And
each diver could make only one dive per day.
Being so lirhited in time, the archaeologists had
to make sure they used every minute well. We
would go up to the point of practicing the
night before. We'd go out to the parking lot of
the motel and draw stuff out and practice to
see how long it would take.�
Each diver carried four tanks of gas: two
on his back and one under each arm.
Resurfacing took 60 minutes with long pauses
to decompress and change gas mixtures. Every
five minutes added to the bottom time would
add another 20 minutes to the decompression
period. Safety divers met the archaeologists on
the way up. If youre not breathing the nght
gas, it can kill you, and you wont even know
its happening,� Cantelas said.
By comparison, Navy divers working at
the same time had it relatively easy. The Navy
worked off a 292-foot barge anchored at the
site. Its divers wore heated diving suits and
breathed mixed air fed by tubes and regulated
by specialists on the barge. After dives lasting
40 minutes, they decompressed for several
hours in the relative comfort of onboard
hyperbaric chambers.
Gordon Watts could have used the
heated suits at the Alabama last summer.
Water temperature in the English channel was
in the 50s, which was nght damned nippy�
after an hour in a wetsuit, he said.
The Alabama lies about seven miles off
Cherbourg on the Normandy peninsula.
Because of a 17-foot tidal cycle, the depth
varies from 190 feet at low tide to more than
210 feet at high tide. At 4 to 5 knots, those
tides are nothing to fool with " strong enough
to overpower a small research submarine
Watts once took to the bottom.
We dive during a 28-minute window
when the current slacks,� Watts said. If you
dont finish decompressing before the current
starts to pick up, the boat that youre hanging
under has to come off the mooring. You drift
with it until you have purged enough nitrogen
from your blood to be able to get out. Doesnt
sound very exciting, does it?�
For every challenge, theres a research
agenda, in this case, how to recover informa-
tion efficiently under adverse conditions. Watts
is investigating the use of video for mapping,
different excavation techniques and options for
remote-operated equipment and vehicles. He
also is optimistic that the cost of one-
atmosphere suits may drop low enough to be
feasible for high-profile, deep water archaeol-
ogy projects. The suits would eliminate the
need for decompression, lengthening the time
a diver could stay on the bottom.
Watts barely cracked a smile as he
questioned his intelligence for tackling such a
hazardous environment. lam a moron. There
cant be any other reason.� Only one thing
makes it worthwhile.
These wrecks contain some of the most
important sources of information for setting
the historical record straight, and they are
virtually untapped,� he said. Through them,
we learn a lot about our maritime past that
otherwise would fall through the cracks of
history.� °
i * SPRING 2001 * en SD
IF POLLUTION HURTS THE ROOR AND MINORITIES MORE
THAN OTHERS, IS IT A CASE OF BAD LUCK OR A GREATER EVIL?
THE ENVIRONMENTAL-JUSTICE MOVEMENT SPURS
A FRESH LOOK AT AN OLD PROBLEM.
ogs, hurricanes and factory locations earn headlines in eastern North
Carolina. They also have earned scrutiny by ECU sociologists, who ask whether the
regions downtrodden shoulder a disproportionate share of the harm those hogs,
hurricanes and factories can bring. The work relates to a growing national interest in
environmental justice.
The issue is to what extent and in what ways are lower-income and minority
communities in the United States suffering from exposures to things that harm their
health and their quality of life,� said Dr. Bob Edwards, assistant professor of sociology.
There are a lot of data about a gap in health between blacks and whites and between
middle-class people and poor people. Part of that is access to health insurance and
medical care for prevention. Another part is probably that poor people and nonwhites in
America live in situations where theyre more likely to be exposed to things that are
going to harm their health.�
Edwards has completed a series of studies of the burgeoning swine industry and its
effects on African-Americans and the poor. He and Dr. Marieke Van Willigen, assistant
professor, also were part of a team that examined the economic and social consequences
of the hurricanes that hit North Carolina during the 1990s. On a new project, Van
Willigen has teamed with another assistant professor of sociology, Dr. Liam Downey.
Van Willigens expertise lies in health issues, Downeys in applying computerized
mapping technology to social science research. Together, the two are investigating the
health effects of living near industrial polluters. Numerous other studies, including
Downeys previous works, have shown that high-polluting industries are more likely to
be located near minority and poor neighborhoods.
Environmental justice researchers havent done much to address the question of
whether living near pollution sources has an adverse effect on health,� Downey said.
The work that does address this question (by researchers in other fields) often looks at
the impacts of single chemicals rather than the health impact of entire facilities. What we
want to do, using statistical techniques to control for a whole set of factors, is to figure
out whether cancer rates, for example, are higher in neighborhoods near pollution
sources. So well be extending the research from who lives near pollution and why to
what are the effects of living near pollution.�
Before coming to ECU, Downey studied housing patterns in Michigan, looking at
where African-Americans and whites live relative to high-polluting industries. As part of
the study, he used computerized mapping software " called Geographic Information
System software, or GIS " to plot the locations of industries with high levels of toxic
emissions. He also created maps showing racial dispersion in housing. With GIS he
could then overlay the two types of maps to identify patterns. |
Continued
13 * SPRING 2001 * edge
When Downey arrived in Greenville
last fall, Van Willigen saw the potential for
collaboration. N.C. physicians are required
to report to the North Carolina Tumor
Registry every cancerous tumor they
diagnose. Van Willigen and Downey will
create maps representing all the cancers in
eastern North Carolina and overlay those
with maps showing factory locations.
Because the data will be plotted on maps,
the sociologists will be able to ask the
computer for correlations based on
proximity " say, tumors occurring within a
mile of a plant " rather than by artificial
boundaries such as county lines.
It is a light-years advance over
previous tools. Barely a decade ago, when
women on Long Island noticed an unusual
number of breast cancers in their neighbor-
hood, they gathered information door to
edge * SPRING 2001 * 14
Three ECU faculty members " from left, Bob Edwards, Liam Downey and Marieke Van Willigen "
look below the surface in areas of environmental justice.
door and drew maps by hand.
The software Liam uses can do that on
a computer for a larger area and generate
statistical correlations,� Van Willigen said.
When youre looking at a small community
with one plant, its hard to generate anything
with statistical significance because
Statistical tests are affected by the number of
cases you have. You can have an outra-
geously high amount of cancer in your
community, but if its a community of
50,000 people, its not necessarily going to
generate enough cases of cancer to show
statistical significance.�
Eventually, Downey and Van Willigen
hope to map the entire state, add more
sources of pollution and pull in additional
data on health, such as health-insurance
coverage, birth defects and infant mortality.
They may also add the locations of hog farms.
The public-policy implications are real
and enormously important,� Van Willigen
said. One of the arguments we can make is
that not only is it worse to live near a
pollution source, but that it may be even
worse for those who are already vulnerable to
health problems, like the poor. If we know
this is the case, then environmental justice
might need to be redefined to strive not just
for equal exposure, but equitable exposure. In
other words, if a group of people are more
vulnerable, perhaps public policy should give
them added protections against exposure.�
The environmental-justice movement
has evolved since Love Canal raised national
awareness about toxic waste and North
Carolinas own PCB dump in Warren County
inspired the phrase environmental racism.�
Focusing largely on health issues, it moved
environmentalism out of what had been
perceived as the elitist concerns of the white,
well-educated upper classes and into the back
yards of blue-collar workers, said Edwards,
who contributed a chapter on the history of
the movement to the book Ecological
Resistance Movements. It also is shifting the
focus from intent to effect by viewing
environmental issues through the same lens
as institutional discrimination.
For the most part, its probably safe to
say that mainstream America defines racism
as a person consciously and intentionally
doing something because people are black or
Hispanic,� Edwards said. There has to be
intention, and that intention is important. And
indeed, intention is important in litigating this
kind of thing under the current interpretation
of civil-rights laws and to a great degree in
the environmental-justice literature. But
nonwhite America tends to define discrimina-
tion differently, and for the most part,
sociologists define it differently. It doesnt
matter what the intention was. It matters what
the outcome was.�
As a result, environmental justice is
uncovered less by incriminating documents
than by statistical inference. If blacks or
Hispanics or poor whites are disproportion-
ately more likely to be harmed or, in the case
of recreational resources, less likely to
benefit, then there is a prima facie case of an
environmental injustice.
The guilty party, instead of being an
individual bad apple,� is the system,� the
way society is organized and operates. If the
poor have less political clout, for example,
they are less likely to be able to stop a
project or process or even to be heard. It
doesnt mean its impossible, just that its
harder,� Edwards said. That bespeaks a
collective and political fix, not an individual
and punitive fix.�
The beginning of a collective fix was
put into play in 1994 when then-President
Clinton signed an executive order requiring
an environmental equity impact assessment
on any project involving federal highway
funds. Residents of a black neighborhood in
the Alamance County town of Mebane used
the requirement to force a review of a
highway that would have sliced through
their community, requiring demolition of
homes, businesses and churches.
Now, you cant simply cut a highway
through the poorest neighborhood or the
blackest neighborhood because its the
easiest place to put one,� Edward said.
You cant simply follow what is likely to
be the path of least political resistance. It
gives citizen groups standing to get their
issues on the table if they feel like they have
been bypassed in the process before.�
In the issue of North Carolinas hog
population, Edwards sees the national
debate over environmental justice in
microcosm. In just a few years, North
Carolinas swine industry grew from 2
million head to 11 million, and rather than
being dotted across the state as it once was,
97 percent of the industry became concen-
trated in the counties east of Interstate 95.
The large, factory-style farms that produce
those hogs also fill scores of open lagoons
with malodorous waste that has spilled into
streams and rivers.
The states poorest region has
become a repository for virtually all of the
states hog waste,� he said. Theres an
extreme concentration in this region, which
has less political clout, more poverty and
more African-Americans than other parts of
the state.�
Edwards has tracked the growth of the
industry and its effects, from the volume of
« *
om woe .
a i
waste and the loss of small farms on the
negative side to the economic benefits on
the positive. In each study, he found that
African-Americans came out shortchanged.
They lost land and income while whites "
even poor whites " gained. And the
racial composition of counties is a strong
predictor of where swine farms are
concentrated. This is true even after
controlling for property values and other
factors that influence the location of large
livestock operations.
It is not that someone pointed to the
east and decided to locate a polluting
industry here because it is where a lot of
African-Americans and poor people live.
Longer-term political and economic
processes have made eastern North
Carolina the poorest region of the state and
the least politically connected,� Edwards
said. These processes wont change by
changing the way certain bad apples think.
They will change when the people who are
affected achieve a stronger relative position
in state government and state politics and
by changing decisions about economic
development and where different kinds of
resources are invested.�
The same processes may lie behind
racial disparities in the impact and recovery
from hurricanes, he said. Why were blacks
in coastal counties more likely to experi-
ence damage from Hurricane Bonnie when
they live farther from the ocean?� he asked.
Ts it because theyre more likely to live in
mobile homes? We dont know, but it
suggests something is going on that puts
black households at greater risk. When you
come inland, it doesnt take a rocket
scientist to figure out that development in
floodplains is almost exclusively low-
income and minority. Clearly the people put
at greater risk in our current land-use
patterns are poor people.�
I5 * SPRING 2001
edge
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:
| __ edge » SPRING 2001 * 16
Medical researchers tackle the use and abuse of alcohol and other drugs from many angles.
hink about all the patients in all the hospitals in the United States. Now consider that one-
quarter of those hospitalizations in some way relate to the use of alcohol. It is a heavy price to
pay and one that gets heavier when you tally the additional costs of drug abuse and addiction.
In North Carolina alone, substance abuse and addiction cost the economy an estimated $5
million to $7.5 million every year. That includes such factors as medical care, lost productivity,
automobile accidents and crime.
At the Brody School of Medicine, scientists are investigating a range of questions related
to the use and abuse of alcohol and other addictive substances. These questions carry particu-
lar relevance in eastern North Carolina, where some counties report hospitalization rates for
alcohol- and drug-related diagnoses substantially higher than the state average. In Edgecombe
and Halifax counties, for example, the rate exceeds 200 per 10,000 population. The statewide
rate is 126.
While the ECU scientists conduct independent research projects, they are allied under the
umbrella of the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Center. Here are a few of their stories.
Years of studying alcoholism and drug
addiction have shown Dr. Brian A.
McMillen the hard reality that addicts face,
and he says without qualification that what
keeps them from getting off alcohol and
drugs is not lack of will power.
Tt takes a lot of effort to be an addict,�
he said. Will power is not the problem.�
McMillen, professor of pharmacology
and research director for the Center for
Alcohol and Drug Abuse Studies, employs
the neurobiology of animal behavior to
investigate drugs that he hopes one day will
help those addicts come clean. McMillen
sees pharmaceuticals as a necessary adjunct
to psychotherapy for some patients.
The hallmark of substance depen-
dence is repeated attempts to cut back or
stop,� he said. If they come back two to
three times (after falling off the wagon),
you dont give them the same treatment and
say use more will power.�
In his laboratory, McMillen explores
the ways that alcohol, cocaine and their ilk
reward the user by altering the brains
biochemistry. One affected chemical is
dopamine, a precursor to adrenaline and a
neurotransmitter in the brain. (Swedish
pharmacologist Arvid Carlsson was just
awarded a share of the Nobel Prize for this
discovery.)
Narcotics and alcohol make the brain
neurons that use dopamine fire faster,�
McMillen said. Cocaine and amphet-
amines work on the nerve endings to put
out more dopamine. So these are two
different mechanisms to increase the release
of dopamine, and that explains basically
why people like to mix these drugs. They
mix cocaine and heroin as a ~speed ball, or
they drink a lot on top of cocaine. It
dampens the anxiety and paranoia produced
by the cocaine, but it also gets more kick to
the reward of cocaine.�
Increasing numbers of addicts do mix
drugs in just that way. In the under-45
population, those born after 1955, there are
very few one-drug connoisseurs,� he said.
They use one primarily, but will add in
others. This makes it more complicated to
work with them.�
The end goal of McMillens research is
to develop drugs that can block the
neurologic rewards of abused substances. If
users do not get their kicks, the craving that
pushes them to use alcohol or drugs will
Continued
17 * SPRING 2001* edge sy
edge
dwindle. The drug naltrexone, for example,
has been approved for the treatment of
addiction to alcohol and narcotics. Du Pont
Pharmaceuticals markets naltrexone under
the brand name ReVia for the treatment of
alcoholics and as Trexan for opiate addicts.
To overcome addictive behavior, McMillen
said, the addict must challenge the
prescribed drug by using the abused drug in
as normal a setting as possible. For
example, an alcoholic on ReVia will have a
cocktail at his usual hour, but because he
doesnt get the same feel-good response
from it, he wont reach for the second one.
This concept is anathema to most
substance-abuse counselors,� he said.
McMillen has tested a number of
similar drugs to treat alcoholism and now is
working with two experimental drugs,
tiaspirone and amperozide, that appear to
interfere with the reward effects of both
alcohol and cocaine. My belief is that for a
treatment drug to be useful, it has to address
multiple drugs of abuse,� he said.
Tiaspirone blocks the receptors for
dopamine, he said, but the mechanism by
which amperozide works remains unclear.
Both drugs interact with receptors in the
brain other than those for dopamine, but is
there one that is critical?
To test the effects of potential
treatments, McMillen has developed a
number of experiments using animal
models. In some, rats that have been bred to
drink large amounts of alcohol are given a
choice between water and alcohol solutions.
In cocaine studies, he employs a technique
called condition place preference. Standard
laboratory rats are placed in a box that
contains two chambers, each with different
flooring and walls. Once the preferred side
is established for a rat, it receives an
injection of saline and is confined to that
chamber. Then it receives an injection of
cocaine and is confined to the less preferred
chamber. After four injections each of
saline or cocaine, the rats will dramatically
increase the time they spend in the chamber
linked with the cocaine injections. While
SPRING 2001 ° 18
some projects
monitor the animals
behavior, others look
more closely at what
happens in the brain
" specifically, how
alcohol stimulates
certain receptors.
The complex
nature of addiction
guarantees that
finding solutions will
be difficult. Theres
the genetic factor,
for example.
About one-
quarter of all
alcoholics carry
a biochemical
abnormality that
predisposes them
to alcoholism,
McMillen said. In
a 1987 experiment,
McMillen proved
that he could identify
these alcoholics
based on a urine
specimen alone.
You can
clearly tell an
alcoholic from a
nonalcoholic, even
when they havent had a recent drink,� he
said. In my study, they had been sober for
three weeks.� In his tests, both urine and
spinal fluid indicated that alcoholics produce
unusually low levels of serotonin, a hormone
that regulates brain activity and affects
mood. The body produces serotonin when it
metabolizes tryptophan, an essential amino
acid found in most proteins.
In some cases, high rates of alcoholism
in the elderly and in rural populations point
to a social root to the disease. A growing
body of evidence suggests that diet also may
play a role, he said. Low levels of zinc and
tryptophan are the suspected factors. This is
of special interest to eastern North Carolina,
place preference.
f
ee :
ice
i j
3
f
Lab assistant Helen Williams relaxes while a rodent establishes its
where the natural zinc content of water is low.
All those factors may need to be taken
into account in the treatment of addiction,
McMillen said. The more you know about
the underlying biochemistry and neural
biology, the more you'll be able to predict
which treatment will or wont work,� he said.
~TWO BAD THINGS
Chance led Dr. Abdel A. Abdel-
Rahman, distinguished professor of
pharmacology, into the work that has
occupied much of his research team for the
last 15 years and that now brings in
$400,000 a year in grants from the National
Four researchers share interest in alcohol studies, from left, M. Saeed Dar,
Sam N. Pennington, Brian A. McMillen and Abdel A. Abdel-Rahman.
Institutes of Health. He had been investigat-
ing the areas of the brain that control
cardiovascular function and the way that
some drugs act to lower high blood pressure
when he noted the results of alcohol studies
by ECU colleagues. The effects of blood
pressure medication and of alcohol, he said,
were mirror images, like day and night.�
From that observation came one small
project, funded by the American Heart
Association, to examine whether alcohol
counteracts the effects of hypertension
medications. The answer was yes, for
centrally acting medications like clonidine.
Furthermore, only a small amount is
required, the
equivalent of one
social drink. Not
only do you lose
the antihyperten-
sive effects, but
blood pressure
shoots to a level
higher than it was
pre-medication,�
Abdel-Rahman
said.
Ever since,
with a series of
grants from NIHs
Institute for
Alcohol Abuse and
Alcoholism,
Abdel-Rahman has
been on a quest,
delving ever
deeper to under-
stand how alcohol
influences
cardiovascular
function. Among
his findings:
° Side-effects
at issue, too.
Alcohol not only
counteracts the
benefits of
clonidine, but also
intensifies the side
effects, including drowsiness. Laboratory
rats given clonidine remain alert and
responsive. Add only the tiniest amount of
alcohol, and the rats are knocked uncon-
scious. They cannot move,� he said.
¢ Timing can make a difference. If
the drug is taken first, alcohol counteracts
the medication. When alcohol is taken first,
it has no effect on the drug, at least with
one-time use. If the pattern is repeated
regularly, however, a chronic interaction
develops, and the antihypertensive action of
the drug is lost.
¢ So does the type of drug. Alcohol
has the opposite effect on an older type of
antihypertensive than it does on clonidine.
When alcohol is combined with a calcium
channel blocker, it can intensify the effect of
the drug, dropping blood pressure low
enough to cause fainting.
* Why alcoholics are prone to high
blood pressure. Long-term alcohol abuse
disrupts the baroreflexes that signal blood
vessels to increase or decrease blood
pressure, leaving the vessels permanently set
for hypertension. Abdel-Rahmans research
group was the first to report this connection.
* Alcohols harmful effect on women.
Estrogen protects women from cardiovascu-
lar disease by enhancing their baroreflexes
and thus making it easier for the heart to
pump blood through the body. Alcohol,
however, erases that protection. In experi-
ments with rats, the worst cardiovascular
consequences of alcohol consumption were
among females that lacked estrogen because
their ovaries had been removed.
Abdel-Rahmans findings carry an
important message for ECUs home
territory. Hypertension is an especially big
problem in eastern North Carolina, and
theres a high level of alcohol consumption
here, too,� he said. Thats quite a bit of two
bad things, and when you combine them,
they cause more health problems for our part
of the state.�
Now, with a team covering three
research labs, Abdel-Rahman is exploring
further to discover just where and how all
these interactions occur. He is focusing on
the lower brain stem, an area critical to
cardiovascular function, and on changes in
the neurotransmitter norepinephrine.
Norepinephrine is released by the sympa-
thetic nerves, and its electrical signals
provide a measure of neuronal activity.
His team studies these electrochemical
signals while injecting minute amounts of an
antihypertensive drug or alcohol directly to
the brain stem of conscious rats. To prevent
trauma, the animals have been fitted with
permanently placed injectors and with
carbon filter probes that provide instanta-
Continued
19 * SPRING 2001 * edge
|
|
|
|
|
|
al
neous readings of neural activity.
When we inject clonidine or
rilmenidine (a similar but newer drug) into
the specific neuronal pools, we can see a
very clear and dose-related reduction in the
norepinephrine signal,� Abdel-Rahman said.
When alcohol is given, that reduction is
gone. That reduction, based on our research
and others, is important because it precedes
the lowering of blood pressure. The
medicine has to gain access to this area of
brain to lower neural activity and lower
sympathetic nerve activity. Then the blood
pressure will be lowered. Alcohol counter-
acts these effects.�
Although many questions remain,
Abdel-Rahman said the message to
physicians and patients is clear: At the very
least, patients taking clonidine or a related
blood-pressure medication should avoid
drinking soon after taking their medicine.
Abdel-Rahman would go one step further.
If alcohol is taken along with the prescrip-
tion, there is no benefit whatsoever,� he said.
Abstinence is the best policy.�
THE PATHWAY T0
MOTOR IMPAIRMENT
The statistics are grim. Every year on
Americas highways, drunken drivers kill
16,000 people, accounting for more than a
third of all traffic fatalities. About 1,500 of
those deaths occur in North Carolina.
For the past 20 years, Dr. M. Saeed
Dar, professor and coordinator of graduate
studies in the Department of Pharmacology,
has been fine-tuning scientists understand-
ing of how alcohol contributes to those
accidents by impairing motor function. He
has coupled these studies in recent years
with parallel research on the effects of
marijuana.
Dars initial breakthrough came in
1983 when he published the first paper
linking the effects of alcohol with adenosine,
a naturally occurring chemical that, in the
brain, acts as neuromodulator. Research at
edge » SPRING 2001 * 20
the time already
had shown that
adenosine helps
regulate brain
cells by slowing
their reaction
time. Increasing
the amount of
adenosine in the
brain slows reaction
time further, which
Dar recognized as
an effect similar to
alcohols. Caffeine,
on the other hand,
blocks adenosine
receptors, preventing
the adenosine-related
slowdown and thus
making cells more
active. Those
findings led Dar
to hypothesize
that alcohol-induced Biochemistry and neural biology are aiding the development of treatments
motor impairment is _ for addiction, Brian McMillen says.
regulated in some
way by adenosine and originates in
the brain.
He proved his point using laboratory
mice and rats as models. Whereas drunken
driving suspects might be called on to walk
a straight line, the rats were challenged to
walk on a rotating treadmill. Normal, sober
rats had little difficulty with the task.
Impairment was measured by how quickly
the test rats lost their footing. In his
experiments, Dar injected the rats first in
the stomach and later in the fluid that bathes
the brain with one of three different
solutions " alcohol, an adenosine-like drug
or an adenosine-blocking drug " or with
combinations of these solutions. Each
experiment confirmed another piece of his
hypothesis.
Dar then turned to the question of how
alcohol and adenosine interact. He found
two phenomena at work. Under normal
conditions, adenosine flows in and out of
brain cells regularly. Alcohol causes more
adenosine to be released from the cells
while also blocking its reuptake. So you
get an excess accumulation of adenosine
outside the brain cells, and that slows the
messages between cells,� Dar said. When
brain signals slow, the function those
signals control " whether its speech or
vision or the ability to put one foot in front
of the other " deteriorates.
Now he is trying to pinpoint exactly
where this is happening. We know the
cerebellum is a key area for controlling
movement,� he said, but the corpus striata
and cerebral cortex also are involved. So
we're looking at those areas to figure out
precisely what area of the brain is affected
by this accumulation of adenosine.�
This requires delivering the alcohol
and test drugs to those specific regions of
the brain. Using different rats for each site,
he implants a tiny tube directly into the
region he wants to study. An atlas of the
rats brain tells him just where to go. After a
Addicted rats will seek out the chamber associated with
cocaine injections.
five-day recovery period, with plenty of
antibiotics and painkillers, the rats are ready
to hit the treadmill. By trial and error, Dar
has identified a specific area of the cerebel-
lum where alcohol influences the amount of
adenosine in circulation. Experiments on the
other suspect regions continue as Dar also
studies the intermediary chemical changes
taking place in the signal transduction
pathway.
To complement his alcohol studies, five
years ago Dar obtained a license from the
Drug Enforcement Administration to
examine the motor effects of marijuana. Both
marijuana and alcohol modulate adenosine,
he said, and the sites where they act on the
brain sit next to each other. That makes it
devastating when you combine the two,� he
said. If you take very little of the second
drug and combine it with a normal amount of
the first, the effect is markedly enhanced. Its
not an additive but a geometric increase in
the effect in the mouse model.�
For law enforcement, this
presents a particular challenge. A
driver who has mixed the two
could be significantly impaired,
yet test within the legal blood
alcohol limit. We dont know
about the prevalence of marijuana
use in highway accidents,� Dar
said. Alcohol and marijuana are
commonly mixed together, but
these cases are hard to prosecute
unless they specifically test for
traces of marijuana.�
DIABETES:
THE HIDDEN
DANGER
. Medical scientists have long
recognized that women who drink
alcohol during pregnancy risk
impairing their childrens mental
and physical development. Now it
seems some effects may not show
up until years later.
In studies with laboratory rats, Dr.
Sam N. Pennington, professor of biochem-
istry and associate dean for research and
graduate studies, is finding that both alcohol
consumption and high-fat diets during
pregnancy contribute to insulin resistance in
middle-aged offspring.
Insulin resistance is the primary cause
of type 2 diabetes. The research carries
significance in eastern North Carolina,
where high-fat diets and alcohol use are
common. Furthermore, the poor and rural
residents of eastern North Carolina are
disproportionately more likely to suffer
from diabetes and its serious complications,
such as heart disease, kidney failure and
blindness.
Pennington cautions that he is far from
linking his laboratory findings to humans,
but they are consistent with recent reports
out of England. People born in England
during the early 1940s, when good nutrition
fell victim to World War II, now suffer
from metabolic problems such as diabetes at
rates higher than can be explained by their
own diet, exercise and weight patterns. The
theory is that its related to poor nutrition in
utero,� he said, but its controversial.�
For his study, Pennington is raising
thousands of rats. For each experiment, he
breeds 60 to. 100 females, who will give
birth to an average of eight pups each. Some
are fed regular rat chow. These serve as
surrogate mothers for the experimental
pups. The mothers in the experimental
group are fed carefully controlled liquid
diets in various combinations of high-fat,
low-fat, alcohol-free and alcohol-contain-
ing. Pups are placed with the healthy
surrogate mothers immediately after birth,
to avoid exposure to the birth mothers milk.
Two trends come through. First, the
pups whose mothers drank diets with 35
percent fat content " regardless of alcohol
" show insulin resistance as adults. Their
bodies dont respond normally to the
presence of insulin,� Pennington said. The
first reaction thats part of the process of
taking up and burning glucose doesnt
occur. Normally, muscles would take up
more glucose when insulin binds, but theirs
dont.� The pups mature to a normal weight
so the effect appears to be different from
insulin resistance in overweight animals.
Second, the insulin resistance becomes
more pronounced in pups whose mothers
drank high-fat diets that included alcohol,
and it is most pronounced in male offspring.
These pups not only dont respond to
insulin, but get a double whammy,� he said,
because their bodies manufacture fewer
glucose transporters, the proteins that draw
glucose from the blood into cells to be
metabolized. He said the effect of the
alcohol does not appear to be through blood,
nor are there any apparent genetic changes.
The three-year study continues as
Pennington confirms his initial findings and
seeks to decipher the metabolic mechanisms
by which fetal diet and alcohol consumption
affect health long after any exposure. «
oe Rg ET a 8
SR Ae SS ne REE 9 cnet RES mie ne | a
21 » SPRING 2001 » edge
Sei sai ceialll
POLITICAL SCIENTIST TINSLEY
YARBROUGH ANALYZES FEDERAL
COURTS AND JUDGES IN THE
LIGHT OF HISTORY AND THE
U.S. CONSTITUTION.
ba the distance from
Greenville to Washington, D.C.,
political science professor Tinsley
E. Yarbrough was particularly well-
positioned to view the U.S. Supreme
Court rulings that determined the
outcome of the 2000 presidential
election. Earlier last year, Yarbrough
had published The Rehnquist Court
and the Constitution (New York:
Oxford University Press), a study of the
justices and the direction of the
Supreme Court since 1986. And just as
the court handed down its final
decision on the election, his latest book,
The Burger Court: Justices, Rulings,
and Legacy (Denver: ABC-CLIO), was
scheduled to roll off the press.
Previously, Yarbrough had published
five judicial biographies and edited a
book-length study of human rights
during the Reagan administration. He
is completing a case study of North
Carolinas racial redistricting
litigation for the University Press of
Kansas and recently signed a contract
with Oxford University Press to write a
biography of Supreme Court Justice
Harry A. Blackmun, author of the
courts opinion in the Roe v. Wade
abortion case.
edge talked with Yarbrough about
his views of the federal judiciary,
including the recent election decisions.
Whats your impression of the
role the U.S. Supreme Court played in last
years presidential election?
YARBROUGH: I must agree with the
critics who say that the court really reached out
to almost overrule several of its own precedents
in finding justification for federal Supreme
Court intervention in a state matter. In voting-
rights decisions based on equal protection
during the Warren court era, the purpose was to
Will the courts credibility be
hurt?
YARBROUGH: In my judgment, it does
threaten some long-term harm to the court
because it makes the majority justices appear
more partisan than perhaps they are.
One of the issues in this past
presidential campaign was the opportunity the
winner would have to appoint Supreme Court
assure that the votes are counted and the people justices. What do you see happening on the
are allowed to vote. In this case, the court
seemed to be turning those precedents on their
head in stopping the counting of votes in a
state. Of course, the outcome was critical in
determining the election (of Republican George
W. Bush), and its hard, given that outcome, to
avoid feeling that the court acted in a very
partisan way. (All five justices voting in the
majority were appointed by Republican
presidents. )
The Florida Supreme Court can be faulted
for being partisan, too, in the sense that most of
its members are Democrats, but whether
partisan about it or not, they were interpreting
state law. That is the very traditional function of
state supreme courts. One may debate whether
the Florida Supreme Court properly interpreted
the state statutes, but the place to have that
debated was in the Florida legislature.
Do you foresee any long-term
consequences ?
YARBROUGH: The justices have created
some remarkable new law by intervening in
this case. They are essentially saying to states,
you're going to have to have a statewide,
uniform method of determining the intent of
voters. There isnt any state in the country that
has that, even precinct to precinct. Elections
involve judgment calls, yet as a federal
constitutional matter the justices have
established a precedent that litigants in other
states can jump on in future elections. Of
course, they can say this was a presidential
election and thats very different, but a lot of
their language could be used for most any
federal election.
court now?
YARBROUGH: I think that because Bush
has been elected, the chief justice will retire
relatively early. During my research on the
Rehnquist court, I read the papers of Justice
Thurgood Marshall. When he was retiring, in
1991, he and Chief Justice Rehnquist were
corresponding about the terms of the retirement,
and in one memo, Chief Justice Rehnquist
pointed out that the retirement was not a purely
academic matter to him because he expected to
follow Marshall in a year or two. Of course, his
assumption was that in a year or two, George
Bush (the elder) would still be president, and
instead Bill Clinton was elected. Had George
Bush gotten a second term in 1992, Mr.
Rehnquist might have retired even then. I think
he wants to get out, and he wants to be replaced
by a Republican. Im not saying thats the
whole reason he would side with (George W.)
Bush, but it just adds to the whole partisan
image of it. I think Sandra Day OConnor also
will step down relatively soon. Justice Stevens,
whos the oldest justice, is a little different
matter. Theres been a lot of speculation that
hes going to retire, and I assume that, as a
Republican, he would prefer that a Republican
replace him, but given the election litigation and
his position as probably the staunchest
dissenter, he may be planning to stick it out just
as long as he can. He has become one of the
most liberal of the justices, at least on this court.
As a candidate, George W. Bush
pointed to Justice Antonin Scalia, a consistent
conservative, as the type of justice he would
appoint. Is he likely to follow through?
Continued
23 * SPRING 2001 © edge
ee
YARBROUGH: | dont know whats
going to happen down the line, but given the
50-50 split right now in the Senate, its
unlikely that Bush is going to try to appoint
any justices who have a clear-cut Scalia-type
philosophy in their backgrounds. He may be
able to slip someone in who has no paper trail,
but I dont think he will give us an obvious
Scalia, (failed nominee Robert) Bork,
(Clarence) Thomas or William Rehnquist
because I dont think it would make it through
the Senate. That dog wont hunt, as Mr.
Bushs supporters would probably put it. I
think they ll try to go to the middle as much as
possible.
EDGE: In your book on the Rehnquist
court, you note that presidents dont always
influence the direction of the court as much as
they expect with their appointments. Why is
that?
YARBROUGH: Its what weve
witnessed with the Rehnquist and Burger
courts. President Nixon wanted to place on the
court justices who would change the direction
of the (liberal) Warren court decisions. He got
to appoint four justices, including Chief Justice
Burger, but the counterrevolution he wanted
largely didnt occur. There were changes
certainly, and important changes, but there
were also other forces at work. And some of
the dramatic changes that did take place on the
Burger Court were in the liberal direction,
most notably Roe v. Wade.
In the Rehnquist court, the most
significant changes have occurred in the area
edge © SPRING 2001 * 24
Chief Justice William Reinquist, center front, leads the current nine-member U.S. Supreme Court.
of economic rights. The court is paying closer
attention to government regulation of business
and industry and restricting the federal
government s power over the states more. But
in the civil liberties area, the changes have not
been as dramatic as one might have thought.
The court has not overruled Roe v. Wade. It
struck down " though over Rehnquists
dissent " an anti-gay constitutional amend-
ment in Colorado. At the end of the last term,
there was a feeling that the court might be
willing to overturn Miranda v. Arizona. But a
majority, speaking through Chief Justice
Rehnquist, said that Miranda is based in the
constitution and is a constitutional require-
ment. For years, Rehnquist had been one of
the staunchest critics of the warning that police
are obliged to give suspects under Miranda.
Yet he and a majority, with only Scalia and
Thomas in dissent, refused to overturn it.
EDGE: Why arent presidents able to
predict how their nominees will act?
YARBROUGH: Sometimes a president
makes a selection that he thinks will vote in a
certain direction and is mistaken. Justice
Souter, Mr. Bushs first nominee, has become
one of the most liberal justices on the court.
Im sure President Bushs advice about Souter
was not along those lines.
But sometimes there are other forces at
work. In the case of President Reagan, for
example, he had elevated Justice Rehnquist to
chief justice. That was in line with the Reagan
ideology. He had appointed Antonin Scalia to
replace Rehnquist as an associate justice. That
was in line with the president s philosophy.
Then when his attempt to add a third ideologue
of the Rehnquist-Scalia variety was derailed in
the Senate (with the failed nominations of
Robert Bork and Douglas Ginsburg), he
decided to go for a more low profile, noncon-
troversial candidate, and he picked Anthony
Kennedy. Justice Kennedy is relatively
conservative, but like Justice O Connor, he is
more moderate than President Reagan would
have preferred. And OConnor herself probably
was picked by Reagan not only because she
had good conservative credentials on most
issues but because of her gender, so gender
overwhelmed ideology there. Consequently,
Mr. Reagan wound up putting on the court two
justices, OConnor and Kennedy, who are less
predictably conservative in their votes, and
because they are less predictable, they are more
influential in the decisions of the court.
EDGE: The process of selecting Supreme
Court justices has become highly controversial.
Are we getting the justices we should?
YARBROUGH: Some people are
concerned that the politicizing of the confirma-
tion process in the Bork case and in the
Clarence Thomas case has influenced
presidents to pick noncontroversial, stealth�
candidates who are not likely to provoke much
opposition. They are concerned this may mean
some more outstanding prospects get passed
over. My own feeling is that its pretty much a
cut of the cards. Justice Souter was truly a
stealth candidate, an obscure New Hampshire
official and judge, but on the court he has
become perhaps the most effective counter-
point to the conservative ideologues and quite
an articulate and effective justice in defending
his positions on the issues confronting the
court. So I dont know that it makes a lot of
difference.
EDGE: Until recently, you concentrated
on biographies of individual justices and lower
court judges. Why was that?
YARBROUGH: I find biography to be a
very enjoyable way to study an institution. I
primarily look at their opmions and their
doctrinal views, but also look at their back-
grounds, their personalities and their relation-
ships with their colleagues. Its fun, not like
work. Now grinding out books is work
because Im not a naturally gifted author.
EDGE: How do you select your subjects?
YARBROUGH: I have had an interest
probably since high school in the civil-rights
movement and in civil-liberties issues. The
justices I have studied cover most of the
history of civil rights and civil liberties since
the Civil War. They ve also been people I
admired, whether or not I agreed with them.
The first Justice Harlan was on the court
from 1877 to 1911. He was the great dissenter
during a period when the court was not very
sympathetic to civil rights and was upholding
segregation laws and striking down civil-rights
laws. He had been a Kentucky slaveholder,
and as a politician in Kentucky he had opposed
abolition. On the stump he could use crude
racial humor. Yet he had become a great
defender of civil rights on the Supreme Court.
My biography of Harlan I hope gave me some
insight into civil-rights controversies on the
court during this era.
Hugo Black was appointed to the
Supreme Court in 1937, about the time it
started to become more sympathetic to civil-
liberties and civil-rights claims. I guess I also
found him, like Harlan, to be something of an
enigma. He was a member of the Ku Klux
Klan. He was not above using race in his
appeals to jurors as a lawyer in Alabama. Yet
he underwent a transformation and became a
great defender of civil nights.
I got interested in the second Justice
Harlan, who was on the court from the mid
50s to 71, because he was a major critic of
what the Warren court was doing in civil-
liberties cases. Justice Black for the most part
was a major part of the coalition expanding
civil rights and civil liberties during that
period. Justice Harlan was more likely to be
critical of those decisions.
The two lower-court jurists I looked at "
Frank Johnson and J. Waties Waring " also
had a tremendous impact on civil rights law.
Judge Waring was on the federal district court
in South Carolina in the 1940s and handed
down a number of controversial pro-civil-
rights rulings " outlawing white primaries
and differential pay for black and white
teachers, for example. He handed down
decisions that were way ahead of their time,
and for that he became a pariah in Charleston,
where his family had lived for eight
generations.
Judge Frank Johnson was on the U.S.
District Court in Montgomery, Ala., the
cradle of the Confederacy. His whole career
on the district court, from the 50s through
late 70s, was devoted to civil-nghts and civil-
liberties issues " racial reform, mental-health
reform, prison reform. He came from the
Republican mountain area of Alabama. That
area was not sympathetic to the Confederate
cause, but was hardly supportive of racial
integration either. Yet Judge Johnson became
a real trailblazer in terms of promoting civil
rights at the lower-court level. He suffered
tremendous reprisals for his efforts, and for
18 years he had to have guards on his house
at night.
EDGE: Thats quite a group. Does any
one of these men stand out for you personally?
YARBROUGH: Judge Johnson was truly
a heroic figure, probably the most courageous
person I ve ever known.
As an Alabaman from a pretty humble
background myself, Ive also admired Justice
Black, whose father was a storekeeper. It was
interesting that this man, whose law training
was limited to a couple of years at the
University of Alabama, could go head-to-head
and more than hold his own with far better-
educated justices, such as Felix Frankfurter,
the former Harvard law professor, and the
second Justice Harlan, an Oxford Rhodes
scholar. That has long fascinated me.
Blacks relationships with the other
justices were interesting, too. He and the
second Justice Harlan generally didnt vote the
same way but were warm personal friends. But
Black had a rocky relationship with Robert H.
Jackson and Felix Frankfurter. Black probably
camouflaged his feelings better than Jackson
and Frankfurter. If you look in the papers of
these three justices, you see more of the venom
of Jackson and Frankfurter displayed in letters.
Its hard to find in Justice Blacks papers any
of the strong feelings he probably held toward
those two. Part of the reason may have been
their different backgrounds. Frankfurter had
been a law professor. Jackson had been
Tinsley Yarbrough has completed eight books on
the federal courts and justices, with another
under contract.
attorney general under Roosevelt but also had
not held elective office. Black, on the other
hand, had been a United States senator so he
was probably more comfortable with the give
and take of dealing with intense personalities
and not taking it personally. He was a person of
steel-like determination, but wrapped in silk.
"OG": Have you come to an understand-
ing of what makes a good Supreme Court
justice or lower-court judge?
YARBROUGH: I dont know that theres
any one-size-fits-all mold there. Some of my
subjects, such as the second Justice Harlan,
have favored a common-law approach. For
them there are no absolutes. The job of the
judge is to weigh competing issues and reach a
decision in an individual case. Others, such as
Justice Black, have been more dogmatic: I
follow the language of the Constitution and the
intent of the people who wrote the Constitution.
I admired both those approaches.
EDGE: What's the primary lesson you
have learned about the Constitution and the
rule of law as it is practiced in this country?
YARBROUGH: Although I may favor
certain courts, or justices, or decisions Over
others, | think the system works pretty well to
produce a gradually developing body of judge-
made law. There are forces within the system
that make it less likely rather than more likely
that the court is going to move in dramatically
different directions from one set of appoint-
ments to another. Thats probably for the best.
25 ° SPRING 2001 ° edge
edge
SPRING 2001
26
For this author and teacher;
OAR OKI OMI Ze!
an enduring love of literature.
Just give it a try, Peter,
his mother had said. So 18-year-old Peter
Makuck left his home in coastal Connecticut
for a small college in Maine and what he now
calls a transformational encounter.
In high school, I thought nothing could
be more boring than sitting in a quiet room
with a book,� he says. I was on the move. I
wanted to be racing my car, hanging around the
pool hall, running around with my friends or
shooting baskets at the playground.�
In freshman English, he was assigned to
write an essay on William Faulkners Barn
Burning,� the story of a young boy torn
between love of family and his recognition of
injustice. ~So I finally had to read, and when I
read Faulkners story, that just did it for me.�
At Thanksgiving, he spent the entire
holiday at home reading and writing. I went
from never reading, to all of a sudden not
being able to get enough. My parents
seriously wondered if there were something
wrong with me.�
Makuck still cant get enough to read.
Phyllis Makuck points to the living room
bookshelf lined with a dozen volumes that
make up her husbands current reading: The
Monk and the Philosopher. The Wind Birds.
Final Vinyl Days. Meditations from a
Movable Chair. Studies in J.D. Salinger. The
Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. . . .
Students of Dr. Peter Makuck, distinguished
professor of arts and sciences, likely would
point to other shelves, the ones filled with
authors whose words flow from Makucks
tongue more readily than a roll call "
Shakespeare, OConnor, Poe, Dos Passos,
Faulkner, Wolfe. Were he less modest,
Makuck might designate a shelf for his own
work " three full collections of poetry and
two shorter chapbooks; one book of short
stories; scores more poems, stories, essays
and reviews that have appeared in journals,
magazines and newspapers; a collection of
essays he co-edited on the work of Welsh poet
Leslie Norris; and 41 volumes of Tar River
Poetry, the journal he founded and has edited
for 23 years.
T think he probably is a man of letters
more than a writer,� Norris says. There is no
literary activity he isnt good at.�
Though he grimaces to recall his
misspent youth, the same physicality that
drove the teenage Peter propels the mature
Makuck " boater, fisherman, tennis player,
scuba diver " and flavors much of his writing.
The drench of sweat, the exuberance of
landing the big catch, the hike across a rock-
strewn desert. But more than that, its the fear
and loneliness that grip a swimmer pulled
seaward by a rip tide, the rage of violation, the
emptiness that follows loss, the comfort in a
distant figure " that man in sandals� "
forms. You cant adjust what you do to meet
the demands of a public that would rather
watch television,� he says. Whether you re
writing a novel, a poem, a story, an essay or a
review, the process finally is its own reward.�
Years ago, it seemed the process would
be the only reward. Makuck was a graduate
student at Kent State University and had
recently met a young English instructor named
Phyllis Zerella. He lamented aloud that his
work had not been published.
She said, What have you got in the
mail? Let me see the poems that are under
consideration.
Faulkners story... Just did it for me.� Peter Makuck
ascending a mountain road, the things Makuck
calls the inner questions that take you to your
writing desk every day.�
Despite the labor that goes into each
work, he is unfazed by a shrinking market for
serious literature, particularly in its shorter
T said, ~I dont have any under
consideration.
So she said, Let me see one of the
stories that youve got out.
| said, ~I dont have any stories out
either. Continued
27 * SPRING 2001 *
edge
She looked
at me and said,
~How do you
expect to get
something
published if youre
not trying?�
With her
encouragement, he
submitted several
poems to a journal.
Two weeks later,
he received a letter of acceptance. Three years
later, they married. Now an organizational
consultant with the N.C. Department of
Revenue, Phyllis Makuck remains her
husbands trusted adviser.
Im fortunate that Phyllis is the first
reader of a lot of my work,� he says. She has
no qualms about telling me what she thinks.�
If only his students understood the value
of what he calls the merciless friend, one who ll
point out the awkward sentence or contrived
character. Makuck learned his trade primarily
through trial and error, writing, submitting and
being accepted or rejected. Students, unaccus-
tomed to the role of an editor, bleed with every
criticism. The frustration shows in the teacher.
When I was in woodworking shop in
high school, wed make a hope chest or a
bookcase or something like that,� Makuck says,
and Mr. Gregory would call everyone around.
All right, lets critique Makucks bookcase.
Look at the varnish. Its dribbling down the side
here. Or look where its rough on the side and
you didnt sand it enough. I didnt break down
in tears. I didnt think he was being insensitive
because he was telling the rest of the class the
mistakes I had made in the construction of my
bookcase. And thats what a poem is. A poem
is a made thing. Its got joints. Its lines can be
rough or polished. It can have a rhythm or a
cadence or not. It can be too full of cliches and
abstractions. Those things have to be pointed
out if youre going to learn anything.�
In poetry, in fiction and in person,
Makuck is a master storyteller. Mr. Digres-
sion,� a colleague calls him. Conversations take
a dozen twists and turns, each leading to an
anecdote replete with accent-laden dialogue.
Incidents decades old spring to life in such
minute detail that the listener is left to wonder
edge » SPRING 2001 * 28
how much comes
from recall, how
much from
imagination. I
know Im a fiction
writer, but this is
gospel,� he inserts
into one tale.
He grew up
the only child of
working-class
parents in
Waterford, Conn. His father, ~a nuts and bolts
kind of guy,� held various jobs through the
years " delivering milk or mail and, finally,
owning a gas station. His mother, valedicto-
rian of her high school class, followed the
traditional path of housewife and mother,
mixing a mothers maxims with liberal doses
of the literature she loved. Makuck mimics her
even now, rattling off the prologue of The
Canterbury Tales� in Middle English. Sir
Walter Scott (Oh, what a tangled web we
weave...�) she reserved for occasions when, as
Makuck puts it, she caught me in flagrant
prevarication.�
Childhood seemed idyllic, filled with
baseball, flashlight tag and bonfires at the
pond where all the kids skated until some
parent declared it was time to go in. His Polish
immigrant grandparents lived 30 minutes
away. Cousins and a couple of colorful uncles
(one a restless and shell-shocked veteran,
another who taught young Peter the fine art of
pool hustling) peppered his days.
With the stories flows a sense of regret.
Has the college professor, the Ph.D., the writer
turned his back on his blue-collar roots? My
parents were both very proud of me, but my
father didnt really know what I was up to,�
Makuck says. He couldnt fathom what I was
doing, as he said, with my face in a book all
the time.� Had he gone into the service-station
business, would he have been closer to his
father?
Its hard to imagine being any closer.
With his fathers work ethic, he rises by 7 to
write each morning he is at home. On campus,
he clears off his desk every day. He wears
punctuality like a badge. A notice about a
time-management series for students warrants
disdain. I dont know why people need a
course to organize their time,� he says. You
have to structure your time in order to get
anything done.� Softly in the background
echoes a father weary of his sons inattentive-
ness: Whats the matter with you? When are
you going to snap out of it?�
Besides, Dad came around in the end.
Didnt I always tell you to stick with that
poetry?� he said when the International Poetry
Forum honored his son with the Charity
Randall Citation for his written accomplish-
ments and the oral performance of his work. A
few years earlier, the N.C. Poetry Society had
given Makucks chapbook Pilgrims the
Brockman Award for best volume by a North
Carolina poet.
For Leslie Norris, to honor the poetry is
to honor the poet. The man and his work are
unusually one,� he says of Makuck. His work
is obviously the product of a warm and
compassionate man living in this world, at this
time.�
Though his students sometimes doubt it,
Makucks compassion does extend to other
writers. Many journals keep writers in
suspense for months. Makuck reads every
submission to Tar River Poetry and responds
within a week. I love to open envelopes and
see what Im going to find,� he says.
Over the years, the journal has evolved
from a one-person operation to a collaboration
including associate editor Luke Whisnant, a
team of reviewers and several graduate
students. The Directory of Literary Biography
ranks it as one of the top 10 poetry markets in
the country.
Tar River Poetry is considered
excellent,� says Frederick Morgan, founding
editor of The Hudson Review. It shows good
taste, sensitivity to quality and an openness to
new work. At the same time, it has standards, a
consistent point of view. Peter has a good
grasp of the most interesting and worthwhile
poetry that is being written. He has not been
led astray into fashionable nonsense.�
Yet Tar River Poetry almost wasnt.
Makuck recalls the day the former department
chair, Dr. Erwin Hester, hired him to come to
ECU. Evidently I was hired to teach creative
writing and modern American literature, but
also to start a poetry magazine,� he says. T
must have been nervous during the interview,
but I never remembered our speaking about
starting the journal. Dr. Hester was very laid
back and indirect and wonderful in that old
gentlemanly Southern way. At the beginning
of my second year, he called me into his office
and he said, Pete-ah, when do you reckon
you're goin to get stah-ted with that poetry
magazine you were hired to work on?�
Small decks flank Makucks third-floor
home office. From one, he watches the sun set
over Bogue Sound. From the other, the
Atlantic Ocean beckons.
More than once, the sirens call has
proved irresistible. It lured him to ECU from a
teaching job in West Virginia. For the next 19
years, he sated himself with vacations and
weekends at the coast, often sleeping on his
boat. Five years ago, the pull stronger than
ever, the Makucks built a home at Pine Knoll
Shores.
We moved just in time for (Hurricane)
Bertha,� Makuck says. After Bertha came
through, I had just gotten the shingles back on
the roof when another one came. It sort of
takes the romance out of coastal living.�
Little matter. For Makuck, the appeal
lies in the reality, not the romance, of coastal
living. He knows to time the choppy waters
as he guides his 25-foot Parker toward open
ocean. Once, on a smaller boat in Bogue
Inlet, an ill-judged start had loosed the bonds
of gravity, albeit temporarily. Newtons law
and the ships wheel prevailed. Nine stitches
closed the gash in his chin, but not until he
had loaded his fish box with the Gulf
Streams bounty, bleeding all the while. It
was a Peter Makuck kind of day, filled with
physical vigor and the inner questions that
return him to his writing desk.
Peter is the contemporary poet of
coastal North Carolina,� says Whisnant,
associate professor of English and a former
student of Makucks. His subject matter is
the place where land and sea come together,
and he writes about that better than anyone
else now going.�
But should it be a poem or a story or
even an essay? Unlike a lot of my colleagues,
I dont seem to be able to specialize,� Makuck
says. There are some things that can only take
a fictional form, and some kinds of emotional
material are only right for poetry. I tend to save
humor for fiction. When I get characters
talking to one another, its a natural time for
me to allow these characters to banter with one
another or just to be themselves and to speak in
their own peculiar idiom that I might find
funny.�
There was nothing funny on the day his
son and only child almost drowned. At the
time, Keith Makuck, now 28, was about 5.
They were walking with a family friend and
the friends son on a bank of a swollen Tar
River. Makuck, at the head of the line, heard a
splash and turned. His friend, Mike Strada,
was already airborne, diving toward the
floating dot that was Keith. Makuck raced
ahead and jumped into the waters edge just in
time to grab Strada, who was holding onto
Keith, as they swept by.
Makuck retells the episode in the poem
Rerun Scene: You Rescue My Son.� Though
poems often pull from life, most events have
been altered, shaped by artistic demands.
convincingly in any other form. For me to say,
when my friend Mike pulled Keith out of the
Tar River, ~Hey, Mike, man, really, thanks a
lot. I appreciate it, that just doesnt make it. I
had to write a poem that would more or less
prove my gratitude. (Pause.) Because as we all
know theres a certain amount of effort that
goes into writing a poem. It took him five
minutes to rescue my son. It probably took me
five days to write the poem. (Longer pause.)
Even so, Im still not even with him.�
Death and near death play recurring roles
in Makucks poetry and fiction. Danger and
death haunt Bluefishing the Bogue Narrows.�
A Sense of the Other Side� finds consolation
after a death. In the story Assumption,� a boy
haunted by the nuns literal interpretations of
life after death falls through the burned-out
roof of a building where his father had died.
Piecework� takes the narrator to his
hometown, where his mother lies dying in the
hospital.
What have you got in the mail ?� Peter ana Phylis Makuck
Rerun Scene� sticks to a reality so harrowing
Makuck chokes at the memory more than 20
years later.
The poem is in the way of a thank-you
note,� he says. It also goes to the question of
what poetry is for. Sometimes poems enable
us to say things that we could not say
Pm a Catholic,� Makuck says. T
suppose thats part of my religious upbringing,
the constant presence or the possibility of
death. Thats not a bad thing. It makes you
more mindful and more appreciative of the
unique structure of any given moment.�
Continued
29 * SPRING 2001 * edge f
7 ee
Peter Makuck
B. it was morning, and sleep wouldnt
come. With a beer in hand he sat and
gazed at the blank space where the TV
used to be. A kind of mockery surfaced
everywhere an item was missing. Worse
than mockery, each object gone was felt as
a bruise. It must be something like rape, he
thought. Punky wants to see you outside.
Nothing could be quite the same any more;
he felt like moving. You do the same thing
every Friday? No. He had never sat alone
drinking beer without the lighted face of
the TV to hold his consciousness. Every-
thing felt strange, unfamiliar, tainted. He
lay on the sofa. It was impossible to sleep
upstairs with Nance. He had to be alone.
From Breaking and Entering,�
in the collection of the same title.
What else do you want?
Tell yourself nothing
thats not right here,
leaves bursting into light,
light into leaves.
From A Guide to Arrival�
in Against Distance
Back home at last
After seeing my mother
Lowered into frozen earth,
I couldnt find sleep
With wine or even pills,
When our calico, as if
Called, came to the sofa
And did something
Never repeated since "
One soft foot at a time,
She climbed on my chest,
Looked through the blank
Lid of my face, made
The faintest cry, then
Curled over my heart
And slept, so that I could,
For three nights in a row "
Visitations like belief,
Unreal, against all odds.
A Sense of the Other Side,�
in The Sunken Lightship
edge » SPRING 2001 * 30
On my Renoir report
about The Boatmens Lunch,�
you wrote that Joie de vivre
is a gift,
and not a basis to evaluate painting.�
I didnt know what you meant
until years later
when I saw you for the last time,
chemo-bald but undiminished,
smiling with your whole face,
radiant, like a bulb
before its filaments blow.
from Tangier Island,�
in Against Distance
No one was coming.
Moments got longer.
Water slapped at the tube.
The valve stem bubbled away.
And something sinister began.
A faraway house
alone on an undeveloped dune
became a face
with wide apart dormers for eyes,
a porch-roof nose in between,
twin brick chimneys for ears.
The face, like some false god,
commanded belief, gloated,
then fixed us
with a sunstruck paneglass eye.
For a moment,
just a moment, I was ready to believe,
to sacrifice whatever it wanted,
until we drifted up to a raft
of gulls that rose and broke apart
like some selfish memory
I wanted to forget "
an eighth-grade nun
who knew Id come to no good end
for laughing always at the wrong time
as I did just then, a panicky cackle
that frightened the boy
who let go a cry, lonely and lost
as any I had ever heard, as if his mind
or mine had snapped,
then grew calm as the current.
from Against Distance,�
in a collection of the same title
Dr. Ed Janosko, a Greenville urologist,
has noticed that about his friend and longtime
fishing buddy. I think Peter doesnt worry
very much,� he says. Hes the kind who
always enjoys what hes doing at the time,
whether its fishing, skiing or being with his
son or at a poetry reading. If somebody starts
talking about a diesel engine, hes interested.
Hes immersed in what hes doing.�
Immersed and sometimes oblivious. A
few years ago, Janosko, a licensed pilot, was
flying the two of them to Key West, Fla. It
was horrible weather, and we were racing just
ahead of thunderstorms,� Janosko recalls. I
knew if I didnt make landing in Key West, we
would have to fly back to Miami without much
fuel to spare. I had never flown there before so
I didnt know the airport. Visibility was low,
and the air traffic controller was guiding us in.
It was really tense. As soon as we touched
down, lightning popped. I looked over at Peter,
and he said, This is great! He was so caught
up with being guided in that the danger didnt
hit him.�
At the Makucks home, sunlight streams
into the open vistas of the living room. Nothing
is Out of place, and the decor " white walls
and upholstery, light oak floors and bookcases,
photographs matted in white with simple black
frames " adds to the sense of openness. An
Oriental rug supplies only muted color.
Peter and Phyllis Makuck sink into the
sofas and talk about the relaxation of the open
ocean beyond sight of land. About the strange
and wonderful fish they have seen.
About each other. Peter is not a
materialistic person,� she says. He could live
with a lot of things around him, or with
nothing, and be equally happy. It never occurs
to him that he needs anything more. The
downside is that all of the anxieties are mine. |
take care of all the business.�
About words and literature. Whos my
favorite writer?� he asks. Shakespeare.
Period. End of story. Hes off the scale. Like
Mozart in music. Picasso in painting. He
reminds you of what the language can do when
its performing at the level that Shakespeare
has it perform. Its a pleasure to say.�
Against the far wall, a bookcase
awaits.
PIANIST PAUL TARDIF THRIVES ON ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCES.
FF. 1938 premiere of Bela Bartoks
Contrasts for Clarinet, Violin and Piano� " a
piece written for clarinetist Benny Goodman "
the composer himself played the piano. For
his own recognition concert last October, Paul
Tardif took Bartoks place.
Tardif was being honored with the
university's Career Award for Excellence in
Research and Creative Activity and the title of
distinguished research professor. Before the
concert or the honors, however, Tardif tended
to a few details. Perhaps appropriate for
someone who calls himself a working
musician,� he opened the doors of the AJ).
Fletcher Recital Hall and stacked the evenings
programs at the entrance.
The concert placed Tardif exactly where
he likes to be, not alone on stage, but in the
midst of a small group. First, with violin and
clarinet performing classical chamber pieces by
Schumann, Ravel and Bartok. Then in a jazz
quartet heating up the auditorium with
numbers by the likes of Duke Ellington, Chick
Corea and Billy Strayhorn.
Theres a certain high you get from
playing with others,� he said. Emotionally, its
very charging.�
Tardif has had time to sort out his likes
and dislikes in a career spanning more than
three decades of performances as a classical
solo and chamber artist, as an accompanist
and as a jazz musician. He played the Kennedy
Center honors for 20 years running, several
presidential inaugurals and live network
television shows. He toured with Tony Bennett,
performed intimate concerts at the National
Gallery and played in Salzburg, Austria.
Some of those performances required
nearly every skill in Tardis repertoire. He
recalled a Kennedy Center show for which he
accompanied Jack Jones doing pop music,
Bernadette Peters doing musical theater, a
Plays well with
ballet company dancing to Gershwins Piano
Concerto in F (| had to play a great deal of the
first movement solo�) and an opera singer
performing an aria. When the opera score
didnt arrive on time, he said, The conductor
handed me the vocal score and said, ~Play this.
We had to rehearse.�
He was trained strictly as a classical
musician at the Eastman School of Music and
the Peabody Conservatory. He leamed jazz on
his own, beginning in high school. At Eastman,
he and fellow students would gather to jam in
the practice rooms. I remember very distinctly
one day the registrar of the school coming into
the room and telling us, ~That type of music is
not allowed to be played at Eastman. Now
Eastman has one of the biggest jazz programs
in the country.�
Classical music, with its demanding
technical preparation, remains Tardifs first
love, but hed be loath give up jazz. At the same
time, he criticizes classical stars who take jazz
too lightly. Itzhak Perlman playing with the
Oscar Peterson Trio? Its like a rank amateur
playing with this incredible, top-of-the-line
trio.� Kiri Te Kanawa singing Blue Skies�?
Daniel Barenboim playing Duke Ellington? Oh,
please.
Theyre just doing it to sell recordings,�
he said. They dont understand the music.�
Most good crossover musicians work in
virtual anonymity in recording studios, he said.
For those with name recognition, he points to
Wynton Marsalis (a phenomenon, very good
in both�) and clarinetist Eddie Daniels. Daniels
is remarkable, he said. He can play jazz and
bebop with the best of em, and he can tum
around and play a Mozart quintet and sound
wonderful.�
Rather like Tardif himself. And rather like
the future that Tardif sees for professional
musicians in an ever-tightening job market.
Theres certainly a high you get from playing with
others,� says pianist and professor Paul Tardif.
Emotionally, its very charging.�
The new-millennium musician will have to be
qualified to do many more things than they
have in the past in order to survive,� he said.
Shrinking music school enrollments will
give fewer of them the opportunity Tardif has
had " to set his own performance and
recording schedule while teaching upper-level
students. He currently teaches about a dozen
individual students, two jazz studies classes
and a jazz combo. He also wnites and arranges
jazz, some of which he performed on his CD
Points of Departure� for the Koch Jazz label.
Other recordings " including 20th-century
violin and piano music with former ECU faculty
member Fritz Gearhart " have been on the
Digital Arts Classical and Koch International
Classics labels. And he continues his live
performance schedule " playing often with
faculty colleague and violinist Ira Gregorian or
appearing in jazz clubs in Greenville and
Raleigh with Paul Ingbretsen (bass), Dan Davis
(drums), Ray Codrington (trumpet) and
Stephen Riley (tenor saxophone). During the
past year, he also performed Gershwins
Rhapsody in Blue with both the North Carolina
Symphony and the Tar River Orchestra.
A busy schedule? Tardif flashed a smile.
Busy but enjoyable,� the working musician
said. The biggest temptation in a job like this
is not to keep up with performance. | couldnt
live with myself if | did that. | couldnt face my
colleagues. | need it, and | enjoy it.�
31 ° SPRING 2001 * edge
Smoke signals to
Portable equipment on a remote lava field in Hawaii links volunteer
patients� with the ECU Telemedicine Center.
F the ECU Telemedicine Center
demonstrated how to deliver high-quality
medical care to isolated rural communities. It
then transformed 10 years of telemedicine
experience into emergency medical response
when Hurricane Floyd flooded vast areas of
eastern North Carolina. And last June, taking
part in a multinational exercise, it demon-
strated that telemedicine can aid in disaster
relief anywhere in the world.
A crew from the Telemedicine Center set
up shop on an isolated lava field in Hawaii
during a seven-nation civilian-military exercise
called Operation Strong Angel. The site had no
electricity, no running water and no shelter
outside the makeshift camp. As 30-mile-per-
hour winds coated equipment and people with
edge » SPRING 2001 * 32
red dust, the ECU crew
used a variety of portable
equipment to link a
simulated refugee camp
with the Telemedicine
Center in Greenville and
from there to medical
specialists as far away as
Korea and Great Britain.
Volunteers acted as
refugees, ranging from
those wounded and sick
to women in labor. Aid
workers connected
instruments that transmit-
ted medical readings " from
vital signs to joint flexibility
" to distant physician
specialists who diagnosed
and treated the patients.
The experiment proved
that telemedicine can use
any available communica-
tions technology, said David
Balch, director of the
Telemedicine Center. Most
telecommunication technology is very specific,
but we showed that we can morph to any
environment,� he said. No one had tested
that before. We used everything from smoke
signals to satellites.�
For Balchs figurative smoke signals,
substitute ham radio, and you get an idea of
the potential impact of the demonstration.
Ham radio " inexpensive, highly portable and
available nearly everywhere " could be taken
to disaster sites in southern Africa or other
places lacking infrastructure. In China, a relief
team could make use of an existing network of
wireless relay towers. In more developed parts
of the globe, fiber-optic cables and satellites
could offer the best options. Operation Strong
Angel tested them all under conditions that
~TELEMEDICINE SHOWS ITS POTENTIAL IN DISASTER SIMULATION.
required the on-site crew to adapt quickly.
While flexibility in the field was one key to
the demonstrations success, the other was
back home in Greenville. Here the Telemedicine
Center operated a bridge,� or switch, that
quickly linked telemedicine inquines with
specialists in other locations.
Balch sees potential for immediate
applications. Telemedicine travel kits, under
development at ECU, could be deployed as part
of an initial disaster response. The kits would
link the first-responders to the bndge at ECU.
Balch said the Telemedicine Center is building a
worldwide matrix of telemedicine connections
so the bridge can call on physicians with a
broad range of language skills in any time zone.
We at ECU dont want to provide clinical
response to disasters around the world,� he
said, but we see ourselves as a link. Its a good
niche for us, an opportunity to leverage what
were best at, which is taking scarce resources
and turning them into something useful.�
Operation Strong Angel was part of a
large-scale military exercise testing the naval
services of six Pacific Rim nations and Great
Britain. The humanitarian component also
involved the United Nations and International
Red Cross.
The organizers of the exercise had learned
about ECUs capabilities through the Hurricane
Floyd experience. The partnership also
benefited from the university's $4.6 million
federal grant to develop and test improved
methods of delivering medical care and
education over the Next Generation Internet.
Some of those applications were tested during
Operation Strong Angel. They included mini
webservers that can relay such data as vital
signs and blood glucose readings in real time.
Balch said such technology widgets� eventually
may help doctors monitor patients in their own
homes. The Next Generation Internet project is
in the second year of a three-year grant. °
i will be the
CIVIC CONSCIOUSNESS DRIVES HANNA JUBRAN AND HIS ART.
ARerever he goes, Hanna Jubran
leaves something of himself behind.
In Mexico City, it was a stainless steel
sculpture, Man Versus Nature,� whose gear
system grinds into the curved lines that
represent the natural landscape.
In Colorado, it was a 6-foot-high wooden
carving that reflects the surrounding forest
while also hinting of the totems of the Pacific
Northwest.
In his home village of Jish, Israel, it was a
stone piece called Moon Harvest.� Into it he
had carved symbols of wheat and plow and
inserted pieces of basalt, the very rock used in
the regions traditional method of separating
wheat from chaff. In neighboring Mallot, he
left On a Doves Wing,� a 10-by-4-foot wish
for global peace.
Last year alone, Jubran, an associate
professor of art, participated in about 30
exhibitions worldwide, creating a new, non-
commissioned piece " sometimes a whole
body of work " for each. The larger pieces he
creates on site, drawing inspiration from the
local landscape and culture. Many have won
awards, from best execution of concept at the
2000 Mallot International Sculpture
Symposium to first-place honors at woodcarv-
ing competitions in St. Balsien, Germany, and
Breckenridge, Colo. Most become the property
of the local community.
For Jubran, selling artwork misses the
point. As an artist,� he said, your job is to
create, to work, to expose your work to the
public, to work with your colleagues, to work
with the community. That is whats important.
| see myself as an artist working for my
community.�
That community includes not only his
home village, but his home of the last six years
" North Carolina. He has held one-person
shows across the state, touching cities as large
as Raleigh and towns as small as Ayden.
Everybody deserves good-quality
work,� he said.
Jubrans commitment to
community was born in the early
1970s back in Jish, a village of about
2,000 people. After completing a
technical high school education,
Jubran and about 15 other young
men of the village formed a youth
club. They chipped in $50 each,
rented space, bought chairs and
tables, and set out to create a
cultural renaissance for their village.
They brought in faculty for lectures,
sponsored music and dance
performances, and invited in
schoolchildren for supervised
activities and help with homework.
We did all this for the sake of
the village,� he said. During that
time we were sitting around a table. We said,
OK, were the future of the village. How are we
going to improve? What are we going to do
when we grow up? We went around the table
and each one said what he would become. So
it came my turn. | am already qualified to go to
technical engineering school, but | see we have
an architect and none of us is going to be an
artist so | say, | will be the artist.
We felt we were smart and good enough
to be whatever we wanted. Instead of waiting
for someone to give it to us, we thought you
can achieve things just by doing it. So do it. Just
go ahead and do it.�
He went to work immediately learning to
sculpt. By 1976, as a self-taught artist, he was
featured in a 45-minute program on Israeli
national television. For formal training, he
had to come to the United States. He
completed a bachelors and a master of fine
arts degree at the University of Wisconsin-
Milwaukee. The ECU School of Art lured him
to Greenville in 1994.
Hanna Jubran stands behind his painted steel piece
Autumnal Equinox� on the ECU campus.
Still, he has not forgotten his commit-
ment to his native village, where the youth
club is still going strong. Last year, Jubran
created an international sculpture sympo-
sium in Jish. His idea is to bring sculptors to
the community every year to study and to
create works of art for a Jish sculpture
garden.
His sculptures range in size from 12
inches to 12 feet. For one project, he may
create with painted steel beams and, for the
next, combine stone and patinaed bronze to
evoke crystalline formations. He used
concrete for a commissioned piece at
Fayetteville State University.
Versatility is creativity,� he said. I am
not afraid of trying new things or changing
directions. But | see my hand in there, my
style. This piece in Colorado " hopefully it
reflects my personality. People can look at it
and see that it is rich in texture, line and
form. | like people to think of me as not rich
in money but rich in love and care.� *
33 ° SPRING 2001 * edge
Dr. Wiley Nifong, director of surgical robotics,
positions the da Vinci surgical robot in preparation
for a mitral valve repair.
S. rgeons at the Brody School of
Medicine have launched a national tnal of a
robotics procedure to repair faulty heart valves.
The procedure uses a computer-assisted
surgical robot to enable doctors to operate
through dime-size incisions with remarkable
precision. It was performed for the first time in
North America at ECU on May 3 of last year.
At the time, only ECU and the Ohio State
University Medical Center, which is developing
bypass procedures, had U.S. Food and Drug
Administration approval to test the device.
Chief of surgery Dr. Randolph Chitwood,
an international pioneer in minimally invasive
surgery, is directing the national tral that
began in the winter. It will enroll 90 patients, in
addition to the 15 who already have success-
fully undergone the surgery in Greenville. Five
university hospitals are joining ECU in the
newest trial: Johns Hopkins Medical Center in
Baltimore, Bigham and Womens Hospital in
Boston (part of Harvard University), Baylor
College of Medicine in Houston, Ohio State
University Medical Center in Columbus and St.
Vincents Medical Center in Portland, Ore. Two
surgeons from each hospital, along with their
teams of nurses and profusionists, will receive
extensive two-day training in the procedure at
ECU. Surgical Intuitive, the manufacturer of the
robotic da Vinci Surgical System, also has
designated ECU as its national training site.
The surgery involves repair of the mitral
valve, which links the chambers on the left side
of the heart. With the latest trial, the FDA has
| edge * SPRING 2001 * 34
expanded the types of mitral valve repairs the
surgeons can perform, said Dr. Wiley Nifong,
director of surgical robotics at ECU.
Everyones valve is not defective in the same
fashion,� he said. The new trial is expected to
last six months to a year.
As the cardiac procedures were still
being tested, the FDA approved da Vinci for
general surgical use in July. The next week, Dr.
William H. Chapman Ill, assistant professor of
surgery, performed the countrys first gastric
reflux repair using da Vinci. In August, he
performed the worlds first removal of an
adrenal gland using da Vinci. By December,
ECU surgeons had completed more than 50
operations with da Vinci, including gall
bladder and spleen removal.
Surgeons began to develop minimally
invasive techniques for general surgery,
especially abdominal and orthopedic, more
than 10 years ago. Tiny video cameras helped
the surgeons see to operate. With less trauma
and less blood loss, patients suffered less pain
and recovered more quickly. Heart surgery
proved more challenging because of the
difficulty of working on the beating heart or
attaching the patient to a heart-lung bypass
machine without opening the chest. Chitwood
completed the first minimally invasive mitral
valve repair in the United States in May 1996.
With the advance came drawbacks. It
required new, longer instruments that were
more challenging to control. Its like trying to
hold a broom at one end,� Nifong said. Its
hard to keep the other end steady. Robotics
allows us to operate on the heart with less
invasive procedures while increasing our
dexterity and accuracy.�
At the tip of the robotic instruments are
articulating wrists. Although no more than a
millimeter in size, they have the same freedom
D= Virsocis
ECU TAKES ROBOTICS PROCEDURE
TO NATIONAL TRIAL.
of movement as a human wrist, maybe more.
It feels like youre back inside the heart
operating like we used to,� Nifong said.
It feels the same, but it looks much
different. Instead of a 10-inch incision and
opened nb cage, this requires two half-inch
incisions between the nbs for the surgical
instruments and one two-inch incision for the
camera and passage of sutures. At the
patients side is a surgical cart with the robotic
device that positions and controls the surgical
instruments.
The surgeon performing the operation is
6 feet away " leaning inside a control console.
With sensors strapped to his fingers, he
performs a virtual operation. The computer
filters out any tremor as it directs the robotic
device to mimic the surgeons movements
while the camera sends back a three-
dimensional picture of whats happening
inside the chest.
The surgery takes about an hour longer
than an open-heart procedure, but Nifong
said the extra surgical time brings a better
outcome for the patients: less time on a
ventilator, less time in intensive care and less
time overall in the hospital. Patients with
open-heart surgery generally spend at least a
week in the hospital. Non-robotic minimally
invasive surgery patients go home in four to
five days. Those operated on with the da Vinci
have gone home in an average of three days.
ECU surgeons aim to begin bypass
procedures next. But first, Nifong said, We
have to rethink the whole surgery. We have to
develop different types of instruments and
different ways to go on a heart-lung bypass
machine, perhaps working through the
femoral vessels in groin. So its a lot of work,
but we think in time it will pay off for
patients.� ° ,
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Biotic Response
Stephen J Culver Peter F Rawson
« BIOTIC RESPONSE TO GLOBAL
CHANGE: THE LAST 154 MILLION
YEARS (Cambridge University Press,
2000), edited by Stephen J. Culver and
Peter F. Rawson.
More than 40 international specialists
inform current discussions of global warming
by investigating the reaction of life forms to
long-term global environmental changes.
Culver is chairman of the geology
department.
° FEAR OF THE COMING DROUGHT
(Mount Olive College Press, 2001) by
Patrick Bizzaro.
Bizzaro, professor of English,
dedicates his seventh volume of poetry to
the memory of his parents.
* WORLDVIEWS AND THE AMERICAN
WEST: THE LIFE OF THE PLACE ITSELF
(Utah State University, 2000), edited by
C.W. Sullivan III, Polly Stewart, Steve
Siporin and Suzi Jones.
Collected essays explore the ways in
which the various cultures of the American
West understand and express their
relationship to the world around them.
Sullivan is a professor of English.
"_
=
=
=
IM SEARCH O
nA
Russias Communications
with Africa and the World
SSIMLUGUS 40 WINAS WA
e IN SEARCH OF GREATNESS:
RUSSIAS COMMUNICATIONS WITH
AFRICA AND THE WORLD (Greenwood
Publishing Group, 2001), by Festus Eribo.
Eribo, associate professor of commu-
nication, examines power and influence,
politics and communication in the relationship
between Russia and the African continent
before, during and after the Cold War.
e CONVERSATIONS WITH LESLIE
MARMON SILKO (University Press of
Mississippi, 2000) edited by Ellen L.
Arnold.
In 16 interviews, the Native American
Silko reveals the influences on her writing.
Arnold is an assistant professor of English
and ethnic studies.
e CANONIZATION, COLONIZATION,
DECOLONIZATION: A COMPARATIVE
STUDY OF POLITICAL AND CRITICAL
WORKS BY MINORITY WRITERS (Peter
Lang Publishing, 2001) by Seodial Deena.
In this volume Deena, associate
professor of English, combines cultural
criticism with selected British, African,
African American, Native American and
Caribbean texts.
=
et
* BEYOND THE BOUNDARIES OF
PHYSICAL EDUCATION AND SPORT:
EDUCATING YOUNG PEOPLE FOR
CITIZENSHIP AND SOCIAL RESPONSI-
BILITY (RoutledgeFalmer Press, 2000) by
Anthony Laker.
* DEVELOPING PERSONAL, SOCIAL
AND MORAL EDUCATION THROUGH
PHYSICAL EDUCATION: A PRACTICAL
GUIDE FOR TEACHERS
(RoutledgeFalmer Press, 2001) by
Anthony Laker.
In Beyond the Boundaries, Laker
discusses the use of physical education and
sport in the complete development of the
individual. The latter book provides
teachers with practical suggestions. Laker is
an assistant professor of physical education.
e HEALING NARRATIVES: WOMEN
WRITERS CURING CULTURAL DIS-
EASE (Rutgers University Press, 2000) by
Gay Wilentz.
This book explores the relationship
between culture and health in writings by
women authors of African-American,
Jamaican, Native American, Maori and
Jewish background. It has been nominated
for two national awards, the Chicago
Folklore Prize and the SAMLA Book of the
Year. Wilentz is a professor of English and
director of ethnic studies.
* ALGEBRA I: A PROCESS APPROACH
(University of Hawaii, 2001) by Sidney L.
Rachlin, Annette N. Matsumoto, Li Ann T.
Wada and Barbara J. Dougherty.
° THE ALGEBRA I: A PROCESS
APPROACH TEACHERS GUIDE
(University of Hawaii, 2001) by Annette N.
Matsumoto, Barbara J. Dougherty, Li
Ann T. Wada, Sidney L. Rachlin and Fay
K. Zenigami.
° NAVIGATING THROUGH ALGEBRA
6-8 (The National Council of Teachers of
Mathematics, 2001) by Susan Friel, Sidney
Rachlin and Dot Doyle.
Continued
35 » SPRING 2001 «
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The first two volumes promote the
open-ended inquiry method of teaching
algebra. The third shows how concepts are
developed in middle school algebra.
Rachlin is a professor of mathematics
education.
* TEACHER EVALUATION FOR BETTER
LEARNING (ProACTIVE Publications,
2001) by Lynn K. Bradshaw and Alan A.
Glatthorn.
This work provides a practical guide
for educational leaders who wish to develop
or revise teacher evaluation practices.
Bradshaw is an associate professor and
Glatthorn is a distinguished professor of
education.
* DEVELOPING A TEACHING
PORTFOLIO: A GUIDE FOR PRESERVICE
AND PRACTICING TEACHER (Prentice
Hall, 2001) by Ann Bullock and Parmalee
Hawk.
The authors present step-by-step
instructions for teachers developing a
portfolio. Hawk is an associate professor of
elementary education.
* CHARTING A COURSE FOR CONTINU-
ING PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION:
REFRAMING PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
(Jossey-Bass, 2001), edited by Vivian W. Mott
and B.J. Daley
The book analyzes significant issues
and trends shaping the field of continuing
professional education. Mott is assistant
professor of counseling and adult education.
* INEXCUSABLE OMISSIONS: CLARENCE
KARIER AND THE CRITICAL TRADITION
IN HISTORY OF EDUCATION SCHOLAR-
SHIP (Peter Lang Publishing, 2001), edited
by K. Graves, T.R. Glander and C.M. Shea.
Essays by colleagues and former
students of Clarence Karier examine his
legacy. Christine M. Shea is associate
professor of education in the department of
foundations, reading and research.
° FIELDS OF THE LORD: ANIMISM,
CHRISTIAN MINORITIES, AND STATE
DEVELOPMENT IN INDONESIA
(University of Hawaii Press, 2000) by
Lorraine V. Aragon.
Aragon describes the colonial and
postcolonial circumstances contributing
to recent religious and ethnic violence
between Indonesias Muslims and
Christians. She is a visiting associate
professor of anthropology.
* ADAGIOS DEL PODER Y DE LA
GUERRA Y TEORIA DEL ADAGIO
(Editorial Pre-Textos, 2000) by Erasmo de
Rotterdam, translated by Ramon de la
Bellacasa, edited and annotated Charles
Fantazzi.
This volume translates into Spanish
a selection of Erasmus Adages, a
collection of and commentary on the
proverbial wisdom of the West. Fantazzi
is a professor of classics.
* UNDERSTANDING JULIO
CORTAZAR (University of South
Carolina Press, 2001) by Peter Standish.
* CULTURE AND CUSTOMS OF LATIN
AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN
(Greenwood Press, 2000), series edited by
Peter Standish.
In Understanding Julio Cortazar,
Standish analyzes the work of one of
Latin Americas most acclaimed 20th-
century authors. The seven-volume
series Culture and Customs provides a
reference to the history, religion, social
customs, media, literature, cinema and
performing and visual arts of Latin
America and the Caribbean. Standish is a
professor of foreign languages and
literature.
EXHIBITIONS
RECORDINGS
TWO DOZEN GOLD-PAINTED SHOVELS WERE NEEDED FOR THE GROUNDBREAKING
ON FOUNDERS DAY FOR THE UNIVERSITY'S $60 MILLION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY BUILDING.
BASrt
CAROLINA
UNIVERSITY
EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY
Greenville, NC 27858-4353