Cover

• The North Carolina legislature added insult to injury when it raised taxes on constituents at the end of September. The state is already suffering from a recession and the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 only made things worse, economists say. Page 1

North Carolina

• New and improved? The former Global Transpark Development Zone is now being marketed as North Carolina’s Eastern Region. Page 4
• Would North Carolina’s proposed ‘Clean Smokestacks’ legislation actually increase pollution in the state? Page 5
• Rep. J.C. Watts, Jr. captivated a John Locke Foundation luncheon audience Sept. 27, focusing on taxes and terrorists. Page 5

Education

• Is the new state budget really an “Education Revenue Act?” Page 6
• A new plan to help low-performing students is producing results in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. Page 7
• A true graduation test challenge, Maine’s education voucher program, and Japan cuts back on curricula. Page 8
• The N.C. Education Alliance goes on tour to tell the state What Works in public education. Page 8
• Mountain View Elementary in Morganton can truly claim it has closed the achievement gap. Page 9

Higher Education

• The ‘Progressive Faculty Network’ at UNC-Chapel Hill blames the U.S. for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in a series of ‘teach-ins.’ Page 10
• UNC Chancellor James Moeser goes a-begging in his first “state of the university” speech. Page 11
• Arch T. Allen is troubled by Moeser’s “politically correct platitudes.” Page 11
• UNC-Chapel Hill offers this month’s choice for a sex-obsessed class. Page 12
• A prank in the Daily Tar Heel leads to calls for a homosexual student center. Page 12
• U.S. News & World Report’s annual college rankings gain a lot of attention, but many grumble about their methodology. Page 13
• N.C. State’s College of Design needs professionals to develop its website. Page 13

Local Government

• The AAA Carolinas reported that vehicle assessments for county tax purposes in N.C. may vary as much as 50 percent for the same vehicle. Page 14
• Wilmington’s neighbors fight annexation and the General Assembly legislates Ford out of its own customer service program. Page 15
• Samuel Walker says the solution to urban sprawl lies in fixing the problems that cause people to leave cities in the first place. Page 15
• An interview with Gaston County Commissioner Pearl Burris-Floyd. Page 16
• An inflatable gorilla haunts Hickory officials; Wilmington annexes and retroactively taxes; and other local news. Page 17

Learning Curve

• Reviews of A University for the 21st Century by James J. Duderstadt and Lady of Arlington by John Perry. Page 18
• Reviews of A Different Drummer: My Thirty Years with Ronald Reagan by Michael Deaver and The Satanic Gases by Patrick J. Michaels and Robert C. Balling. Page 19

Opinion

• Editorials on terrorism in America and Jesse Helms’s retirement. Page 20
• Editorials on North Carolina’s budget and red-light intersection cameras. Page 21
• Michael Walden on the Fed’s fine-tuning. Page 22
• Richard Wagner says pork takes priority in the N.C. Legislature. Page 23

Parting Shot

• Patriotism falls to earth in a stunning skydiving photograph in North Carolina. Page 24