Crowley: A Judicial Campaign Reform Bill that included a public financing component was debated over two days this week in the House Finance Committee. The bill would create public financing for State Supreme Court and Court of Appeals candidates if they agree to spending limits. It would also change the elections to nonpartisan. The system would be funded through a voluntary tax check off and attorney's fees.

Morgan: But it's time that I think that we do something about money in judicial elections.

Culpepper: What this bill is doing here is drawing a line between judicial elections, which are different than the political partisan races that we are running. We are saying they should be different and they are different. They are held to different standards in their campaigning and things of that nature.

Crowley: The issue was a partisan one in committee. Republicans made attempts to get rid of the nonpartisan provision in the bill.

Blust: We want the public to be able to elect the candidates they want at the ballot box based on good, sound information. Now that having been said, as unknown as most of these candidates are for the appellate court and for the Supreme Court, the only information that most voters have about these candidates is what their political party is.

Crowley: No vote was ever taken on this amendment in committee. The other criticism centered on the tax check off. Republicans contend that Democrats are pushing a new way to do the tax check off to gain more money for the program than other check offs have received.

C. Wilson: I know all of us in here work with polls and I think that's probably one of the best polls we've seen on what public support is for using their tax dollars for political campaigns. When you only have 8% of the people who make a decision that, yes, I want just $1 dollar-I mean, we're not talking about big bucks here-they're saying, "I want $1 of my taxpayer money going into these funds." I can understand why the proponents of the bill want to have what's called a "reverse check off," which is a sneaky way of making sure they get a heck of a lot more money than they've got right now with a legitimate check off.

Crowley: The bill passed the finance committee on a party line vote. It now moves to the House floor. One judicial issue that had made it to the House floor was sent back to committee earlier this month. The issue is also highly partisan. It would let voters decide to change the constitution to allow District Court judges to have eight-year terms instead of four-year term. Proponents say that could attract more qualified candidates to the bench.

Rader: Someone who has been in practice for a while, or been in the DA's office for a while and is now a felony prosecutor, who is making good money, they are not as willing to do it for a four-year term as they would be for an eight.

Crowley: Currently Superior and appellate court judges have eight-year terms.

Sutton: I view it as a degree of fairness. If Superior Court judges get the eight-year term, I think it is only fair that the District Court judges have it.

Crowley: Republicans contend the bill will help judges already on the bench and the majority of District Court judges right now are Democrats.

Arnold: The incumbent, particularly in a judges race, has a distinct advantage. You win elections by name, approvability, and name recognition. As you're going to get someone to run for a race against someone who has been in office eight years, that's almost insurmountable.

Crowley: The committee didn't vote on the measure. The issue could be in trouble since it would require a three-fifths vote in the House instead of a majority since it changes the constitution. And this week, the state's coveted Triple-A bond rating was reduced by Moody's Investor's Service. A letter from Moody's says that downgrade reflects the state's continued budget pressure, its reliance on one-time money instead of recurring dollars, and the state's weakened balance sheet. The rating agency wrote that a state lottery could help the structural balance of the state budget. That caused Governor Easley to renew his call for lawmakers to approve a state lottery.

Easley: You can't hold anybody at gunpoint to make them vote. We can explain it to them and let them see that failure to act will hurt their state. The failure to act will be a responsible failure to act and will result in this state sliding backwards and losing so much progress that we have gained over the years, and that this is indeed a critical year.

Crowley: The governor also says the state's credit downgrade could lead to downgrades for local governments and could reduce the pace at which the state issues more than $3 billion in bonds for university and community college construction and water and sewer infrastructure.

Crowley: House leaders say they're working on the budget and an economic stimulus package before dealing with a lottery. Lottery backers say they're still several votes short of the number needed for passage.

Lindstrom: This week freshmen at UNC-Chapel Hill completed a controversial summer reading program. But some say the issue is far from over. In a unanimous vote on Thursday, a UNC Board of Governors committee passed a resolution reaffirming its support for academic freedom and university leaders say they're trying to help legislators try to understand their position. Tonight Shannon Vickery takes a look at the debate and what led to this week's vote.

Voices: C-A-R-O-L-I-N-A..

Vickery: New students were greeted with cheers last week when they arrived at UNC-Chapel Hill for a special orientation called "Freshman Camp." As these students got familiar with life on campus, their new home was under the glare of the national spotlight.

M: Down at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill they're trying to raise Islam awareness by requiring all 3500 incoming freshmen to read a book called Approaching the Qur'án: the Early Revelations.

Vickery: CNN's program is just one example of the extensive coverage the summer reading program has garnered over the past couple of weeks. Chancellor James Moeser says he isn't surprised by the reaction to the book, but that he was caught off guard by the direction the debate has taken.

Moeser: We knew there was an element of controversy, obviously. These are highly charged times, but surprised by some of the vitriol and some of the really kind of violently hateful responses we've gotten.

Vickery: The debate has even made its way into the state budget, where the House of Representatives approved a special provision in the spending plan which prohibits state funds from being used for the summer reading program unless it includes all religions. Moeser says this move crossed over an important line between the lawmakers' responsibility for appropriating money without dictating curriculum.

Moeser: In point of fact, it's-we're talking about a few thousand dollars. We have 180 discussion group leaders that are volunteering their time. This is not about money. This is about a principle.

Vickery: Religion professor Carl Ernst recommended Michael Sells' book for the summer reading program. He says the aim of the program is to introduce students to the types of material they'll be reading in their classes.

Ernst: We want to let people know that the university is not a trade school where you just go in to get a few technical pieces of information so you can get your first job, but we want to impart a liberal education which is designed to educate people for a complex society and world.

Vickery: But not everyone agrees with the university's position. Representative Larry Justus sponsored the special provision regarding the summer reading program in the House's version of the budget.

Justus: It just seems to me that teaching this particular subject at this time in history was insensitive to those people who lost their people-their loved ones at the World Trade Center, in the Pentagon, on the aircraft and certainly to our people in uniform.

Vickery: But not all lawmakers agree with the special provision.

Lee: I'm deeply concerned because I think it injects the Legislature too deeply into academic decisions at the university. I think it's imperative that we as a state protect our universities and ensure that they have academic freedom to educate our students and our leaders for tomorrow.

Vickery: Senator Lee says the special provision will be scrutinized by the Budget Conference Committee and probably will not make it into the final version of the budget. And while that may end this part of the debate, the question of academic freedom has surfaced outside the General Assembly-this time with the university's own Board of Governors. On Friday, August 9^th, the governing board held its monthly meeting, and Ray Farris of Charlotte entered a resolution to reaffirm the board's commitment to academic freedom.

Farris: Resolved that the Board of Governors support students, faculties and administrations of its 16 campuses and their commitment to freedom-religious, academic, and political-to their fair exchange of ideas, to their examining different cultures and conflicting values of all kinds, always in the light of day and with the confidence that thoughtful study and intellectual inquiry are fundamental for this university and the goal of this board.

Vickery: According to university documents, this resolution largely mirrors the Board of Governors Policy on Academic Freedom; however, Board Chairman Brad Wilson says the resolution failed to garner the number of votes needed for passage because the way it was brought to the board violated the organization's policy.

B. Wilson: That is, it did not come to the floor, if you will, through a committee, and as a result thereof our rules require that a two-thirds standard be met in order for the resolution to be adopted. So I want to stress the resolution proper had a vast majority of board members supporting it, but it did, in fact, fail by one vote to meet that higher standard by virtue of the way it was brought before the Board of Governors.

Vickery: Former UNC President William Friday says the Board of Governors must act quickly to reaffirm its commitment to academic freedom.

Friday: Historically, this university has been the advocate of academic freedom all of its life. We've had many arguments about it-the teaching of evolution, the Speaker Ban Law, athletics-we've been all over the map. And in every instance the basic fundamental point is that people can come teach or speak here in a responsible way and be accountable for what they say and have the freedom to do it. About every generation I've learned, studying the history of the university, that you have to go through a process like this to really define what you really are. But the public of this state created this place to do that for them.

Vickery: And that is what's really at the heart of this debate according to Chancellor Moeser: the question of what role the university plays in exploring the world. That's why he says a book about the Qur'án was chosen in the first place.

Lindstrom: The full Board of Governors is expected to take a vote on the resolution when it meets in September. There's no word yet on whether the House's special provision relating to the issue will make it into the final budget report.

Crowley: Speaking of the budget, the Conference Committee chairs reportedly met twice this week to look at differences between the House and Senate spending plans, but it appears there has been little progress in reaching any compromise in the $14 billion spending plan. As a result, the Senate remained in recess this week.

Lindstrom: Dealing with a deadly school outburst is not part of the job description for most educators, but that's just what they learned while gearing up for the new school year. More than 600 public schools reportedly assembled critical incident response kits which include architectural layouts and evacuation routes at the schools as well as emergency contact information. Teachers and administrators also watched a video demonstrating what they should do in case of a school shooting. More schools are scheduled for training this fall.

Crowley: Schools could also take on more responsibility for the care of students with diabetes. The legislation sparked days of debate in the House but after a few changes, it seemed to sail through a Senate committee. Here are the key differences. The House bill wanted each school to work with parents and health care providers to created individualized care plans for its diabetic students. The Senate's version pushes for more general guidelines to be created by the State Board of Education. The Senate also eliminates any funding for the program in hopes of getting the bill passed in this tight budget year.

Lindstrom: Preventing high school dropouts and improving the state's educational system: this week the House passed out of committee a bill designed to do just that. It encourages school systems to put their best teachers in middle school grades, rewards those able to reduce dropout rates, and looks to community colleges for help in increasing technical training opportunities. The bill also mandates teacher training reading methods, and if that weren't enough, the legislation also clarifies the State Board's power to take control of low-performing schools.

Arnold: You got the whole world in this bill. Why are you putting all these things in one piece of legislation instead of separate bills?

Lindstrom: Supporters of the legislation say it's a combination between recommendations made by the Education Oversight Committee and reaction to the Leandro decision which orders the state to ensure all children receive quality education.

Crowley: A program to help find kidnapped children could get a legislative boost. The House unanimously passed a joint resolution allowing it to consider a bill to expand the state's child alert notification system. Because of the rules regarding the types of bills that can be introduced during the session, the resolution is needed to pave the way for discussion. The House did approve a special provision giving the Justice Department $125,000 to expand the alert system, but some want to strengthen the program further by making it part of state law.

Lindstrom: It appears the West Nile Virus has spread in North Carolina. Surveillance teams have been testing dead birds and mosquitoes throughout the state and say the virus has now been found in 12 counties, including two new ones: Wake and Durham. The Public Health Department says so far, no humans have been affected in the state and encourages everyone to take basic precautions.

Cline: The message is that the best thing to do is prevention-to try to keep our people-keep the breeding places for mosquitoes at a minimum in your communities, and to wear long sleeves and use insecticide, repellant-insect repellant-when you're outside.

Lindstrom: You might also remember earlier this week the Public Health Department announced a visitor to the state had been treated and released after reporting symptoms of the West Nile Virus. Public health officials maintain he did not become infected in North Carolina.

Crowley: Earlier this session the Senate voted to ban video poker machines from North Carolina. Now the topic is in the House where lawmakers, business owners, and sheriff's departments are jumping into the debate. Bruce Snyder reports.

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