-s,# ;;.#"' t..,.
r***
--Y:
VAI\TIAGE POINT
The Center for the Study of the American Souttr onsider these events of academic year 1991-92. In September, a convention in Bonn heard 41 papers on the history and literature of the American South. In February, University College, London, spnsored a syrnposium entitled "Race and Class in the South." In Dijon, in March, a gathering at the University
of BurEndy attempted to assess the Southernness of Eudora Welty's fiction. In April, a conference in Seville examined such topics as images of the South and the Southern lady. An August meeting in Reykjavik on contemporary Southern literature heard papers on Welty, Bany Hannah and Lee Smith. Add the fact that a little volume called The Ameican Sluth: Pwtrait of a Culture, Iirst published for overseas distribution by the Voice of America in 1979, went into a new edition, having set a VOA record lor demand.
What's going on here? Hundreds ol presumably rational scholars, all over the world, are devoting their lives to the study of the history culture and society of the South. They seem to find the South both interuting in its
own right and instructive in its differences from the rest of the United States. Plainly, our region is of more than parochial interest. For decades now, many laculty members and students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have known that, and through their writing and research in Southern studies have become better
at this enterprise than anyone else in the world. No one else even comes close. From the 1920s to the 1970s, Chapel Hill nurtured literally dozens of distinguished students of the South: in the history department, J. G.
deRoulhac Hamilton, Fletcher Green and Guion Johnson (to name only three); in sociology, Howard Odum, Rupert Vance, Cuy Johnson (husband of Guion) and Harriet Herring; in English, Hugh Holman, Blyden Jaclaon and Louis Rubin; in political science, James Prothro and Donald Matthews. And the tradition continues: the Southem studies working group of the lnstitute lor Research in Social Science now includes more than 80 faculty members from a score of departments and professional schools
ranging lrom folklore to public health, geography to joumalism. The many activities in which these scholars are involved include the Southern Literary Journal, the leading publication in the study of Southem literature; the Southem Oral History Program, capturing the opinions, thou$ts, and recollections of Southemers, famous and
otherwise; "Documenting the American South,' a systematic effort by Davis Library to extend the documentation of the South from its prehistory to the presenl "Comparative Perspectives on the South,' a program of fellowships and seminars sponsored by the Institute for the Arts and Humanities, devoted to understanding ethnic cultures in the South in light of their ori$ns and experiences elsewhere; and the Louis Harris Data Center's Archives of Southern State Polls, an evercxpanding collection of statewide opinion polls from 13 Southem states. Especially noteworthy, ol course, are the University's Southem Historical Collection and Southern Folklife Collection, which offer resources for research simply unequalled elsewhere. Given all this, it was only natural that the Board of Governors, seeking to build on the University's existing strenghs, should have approved last summer the establishment of the Center for the Study of the American South at UNC{hapel Hill. Less than a year later, the Center has already committed itsell to two major ventures. The first issue of Soufhem Cultures, a new quarterly publication modeled t0 some extent on the highly acclaimd Enqclopedia of huthem Culturc (jNC Press, 198$, will be published by the Duke University
will contain articles on topics including the Southern conservative tradition and the luture of the Southern accent; as well as boolg CD and video reviews; opinion poll results; and a guide to Press in the fall of 1993. [t
resources for research on the South. Also, the Center now cGsponsors the Southem Focus Poll, conducted twice a year by the Institute for Research in Social Science, which examines both regional topics and national topics from a regional perspective.
In addition, the Center is presently seeking funds lor a variety of projects. One of the most exciting of these prospects is a proposed series of shortterm fellowships lor visitors, both academic and from public life, men
and women who could enliven our classrooms and give public lectures while pursuing their own research in UNC's matchless archives. These may not be the best of times for establishing new progams in American universities. Some of us believe, however, that this one, at this university, is long overdue.
n (&4( )*<l;1,* John Shelton Reed William Rand Kenan, Jr. Professor in the Department ol Sociology, Director of the Institute for Research in Social Science, and lnterim Director of the Center for the Study of the American South.
En
orc
Research and Graduate Education at The University of North Carolina
at Chapel
Hill/ April
1993
2
COVIR STORY
Endeavorc
O J
Research and Graduate Education at
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
April
/ Volume X, Number
Univeniglnnovations:MARIGTPTACE Pixel Planes: The Next Generation Under the Cool Cape
1993
Volume X, Number 2
DEPARTMENTS
Endeaoors is a magazine published three times a
2
year by the 0ffice of Research Services at
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Each issue of f,ndeouon describes only a few of the
many research projects undertaken by faculty and
NEWSMANEN: Carolina Faculty
in the Headlines
AIDS, Public Perception and Education: Dr. Charles van der Horst
4
Doris Befts, see page 6
DIALOGUE: lssues
students of the University.
in Research
Clinical Trials of New Drugs by Ernest N. Kraybill, M.D. Human Experimenlalion by Myron S. Cohen, M.D
Rquests for permission to reprint material, readers'
6
comments and requests for extra copies should be
VITA: A Profile
Doris Betts
sent to [ditor, Endeauon, Office ol Research krvices,
7
CB# 4100, 300 Bynum Hall, The University of North
WHY DOES . . . Your Car Protect You From Lighhing? A Carolina Physicist Explains
Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 275994100 (919/96es625).
8
CAROUNA 0PINI0NT Tar Heels Speak Out
North Carolinians' Concerns:
Choncellor
Jobs, Health Care, Retirement, the Poor by Beuerly Wrgtns
Paul Hardin
23
Vice Chancellor for Graduate Studies and Research
SCHOLARTY
PUNUIIS: Student Research
The Fire of Intolerance
Mary Sue Coleman Director, )ffice of Research Seruices Robert P Lowman Aduisory Board for ORS Publicotlons
lnformation lntems,
see
pEe
12
FEATURES
O i,
Philip Carl Kenneth Coleman Katherine High
[,1r.
Ihorpe Goes to Washington
Developing a Cure for Hyperactive Health Care Cost
by
Douglas Kelly
Carol Reuss
I
Editor
0
h'J.'ff[fr#'ffi'ilT,[,
L l2
ditors
Lisa Blansett Paul 0arber
Not to spread
Information Interns Graduate Students from the School of lnformation and
Library Science Work in a Special Environment
Dottie Horn
by
Scott LowrY Christina S. Stock ///uslrotors: Jane Filer, Robert You Photoqrap her.
Mll
Lowry
by Christina S Stock
Brenda Powell ,4ssrifont
Scott
Eeie
Voices, see page 14
t t l+
Lowry
Eerie Voices "Twin Peals"'David Lynch and German Romanticism
by Lisa Blansett
Owens
Des(n: Martell/Design
Scott
IO
I0
O1993 by the University of North Carolina at
Carolina Scholan Discover a World Made for
lrarning
The Carolina Minority Postdoctoral Fellowship Program by Dottie Hom
Chapel Hill in the United States.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the consent of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Counesy UNC-CH Depadmenl ol Computer Science.
Carolina Faculty in the Headlines
MWSMAKTRS
Dismissing employees who test HIV positive,
AIN, Public Perrcption and Education:
said van der Horst, is a great economic mistake. But
Dr, Charles van der Horst Speala Out
7ft I t
n. president of the United
it is a reality in a state that permits non<onsensual HIV testing. "lf you're a fiscal conservative, it's a crary
States should in-
ference explaining that HIV cannot be contracted
thing to do." Without a job, the person no longer pays income tax, goes on welfare and on Medicare. "lt's a loss of a productive member of society lor no
through casual contact and that HIV does not hinder
reason," he said.
vite an HlV-positive person to the White House for dinner. They should hold a joint press con-
a person lrom working or from being an active,
Van der Horst's reputation for straightfor-
contributing member of society. To close the news
wardness and compassion is known throughout
conlerence, the president should $ve the guest with HIV a hug and a hss to demonstrate to the American
North Carolina and extends deeper into the South. "l have a patient that drives seven hours from South
public that such contact is not dangerous and that compassion should be shown to AIDS victims. These are only some of the suggestions made
Dr. ChurLes t:un der ll.llsts grueltnq schedule irclules treatinq numerrrus AIDS patients, teuching unit:erst! clusses, reseonlr pxtjetts, comrnittees ot
{JC-[H
arrd
by Dr Charles van der Horst, assistant professor in
at the National Institutes of HeaLth,.\lale ,tr/edrco1 5a ieh
the department of medicine and the division of
meetinqs and appeural(:es at publk' heurinqs
infectious diseases at UNC-CH. The importance of education, he said, cannot be exaggerated in the
eflort to control the spread of
sympathetic expert 0n the AIDS crisis. ln Raleigh he ?nhe Neus
rutttntl
tcsttng
,
{l\CCHi partk:ipution in
AIDS.
thc
'l rrt .\llt.\ toccinr'.
& )bseruels "Tar Heel of the Week"
in November 1990, and he has written opinion/ editorial pieces that have been published in state papers such as The Charlotte )bseruer. Van der Horst, however, has voiced scathing complaints against the media He has stopped $ving interviews to certain local newspapers and television
tive regularly come to see him. Criticizing North Carolina for its unwillingness to admit a problem exists and for the prejudice toward AIDS victims, van der Horst said he is frus-
deterioration of the bodys immune system in people
trated that the State Medical Sociery, of which he is a member, "has done nothing to recognize AIDS as a problem, nor have they proposed le$slation to help
who test positive for HIV but display n0 s),rnptoms.
patients."
AIDS.
Van der Horst is an extremely outspoken and
was
He is nou co-heudir!
on
Carolina for a hallhour clinic,'he said. Patients
who are afraid to tell their family, doctor, minister, friends or employer that they have tested HIV posi-
vaccine, MNrgpl20 - HIV -
1.
This drug may delay
"Funding lor research is not the issue," van der
Horst said early last Fall. "The Bush Administration is actively campaigning against any educational
He endures a relentless schedule: clinics, teaching university classes, research projects, com-
mittees at UNC{H and at the National Institutes of
efforts." Ignoring the AIDS epidemic makes it far harder
Health, State Medical Society meetings and appear-
to educate people, he explained. People who
ances at public hearings on AIDS. He is on the wards
say,
"We don't have AIDS here," are hampering education,
for two months of the year. When not attending, he
instance, are exaggerating a "nonexistent problem." He explained, "Such reporting has a negative influ-
clinic with a man from North Carolina who had tested HIV positive. The man, young, married, with an
to 14 patients a week 0n his one clinic day. "Both the greatest and the hardest thing is tahng care o[ patients," van der Horst said. "They're so courageous it's unbelievable.'He is
ence. How are you going t0 get people to stay in the
inlant and "not promiscuous," van der Horst said,
often spread very thin, emotionally and for time.
had also infected his wife. He was desperate and
"lthink, 'Did ldo everithing?' I must admit, I beat
critical because they refuse to run condom ads. He
angry. He wished he had known better how the
argued: If the media were truly concemed with public
disease is transmitted.
myself up with guilt. It's such an overwhelming topic, it's not easy to talk with friends." Van der Horst gives 50 public education talla
stations because he is tired of their sensationalism, he said. Stories
about infected health workers, for
hedth care field?" He called television stations
hlpo
service, they would make a greater efiort to educate and would stop using their power to scare people
The morning that van der Horst elaborated on these opinions, he had spoken for an hour in the
Van der Horst illustrated the tragic ironies of
sees 10
this man's and many others' situation: He will soon lose his job, if his employer discovers his infection. He will most likely lose his health insurance and
a year around the state. "l want it to be that condoms
is UNC{H s clinical trials unit lor AIDS drug testing.
then will need to go on welfare. When he and his
'til they had a monogamous partner." But that just
In November 1990, he received an $800,000 grant
wife die, the state may have to pay for the care
is not happening. Seventy percent of high school
from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
of the child.
seniors in the U.S. will have had sex by the time they graduate, he noted.
away from helping each other and leaming the facts. One of van der Horst's main responsibilities
Diseases to set up testing centers in Raleigh, Charlotte
Referring to an incident in February of 1990,
are a common, casual subject,'he said. "l'm not
pushing sex. I'd be quite pleased if no one had sex
and Greensboro, expanding the UNC{H program. The program grant was recently renewed with $6
when the administration ol former Govemor Jim Martin shredded and buried in a landfill 50,000 AIDS
already in elementary school, insisted that even
million for another four years t0 continue drug
education leaflets published under a grant lrom the
second-graders, if given a chance, will often ask
testing on AIDS patients. 0f the 32 AIDS research clinical trial programs in the country, UNC-CH's has
national Centers for Disease Control, van der Horst said, "Just think of the money that would have been
about such topics on the playground. One child in
ranked fifth in enrollment, admittlng 150 people over
saved if he [the patient] had read that pamphlet.' The illustrated leaflets explaining how to use a
particular, who remained unnamed, has asked him particularly provocative questions. "She's the one
condom cost only a few cents to make.
who really clued me in that you can talk to kids
for drug studies. Two National Institutes of Health multicenter HIV studies were written by 12 months
van der Horst, one testing the "smart bomb," a protein that seela out and destroys HIV infected cells. He will also lead UNC{H's participation in a
study involving i5 medical centers testing the new
Van der Horst continued: "lnstead he'll soon be on the dole, uninsured and the child will be or-
Van der Horst , the father of two girls, one
questions about sex and condoms. He said they hear
earlier," he said, adding that she came to the conclusion, by herself, that t0 procreate and avoid
phaned. A 25<ent pamphlet versus $300,000 from
illness, people should get blood tests and remain
the taxpayers. All because of 'morals' and 'family values,' I've got a dying family!"
true.
I
Uniuercitv Innouations
MARIGTPTACE
Molnar, is that more complex messages can be
Pixel Planes: The Next Generation
Under the Cool Cape
NC{H computer scientists are now working
conveyed to the computer at a higher rate, a factor called polygons per second. The more polygons a
on the sixth generation of one of the most advanced 3D image generation computers
system has, the more realistic its images. The fastest commercial graphics systems
f I I
ever built. The system, called PixelFlowrM, is still on
amounced in
indoors. In such weather it may be difficult to recall
the drawing board. When completed, however, it
per second, says Poulton. "0ur machine will do
the beginning of the season
will supersede the unrivaled Pixel Planes 5, which in
about 2.3 million with a much more complex shad-
humidity and scorching sun.
1992 peak at about one
million polygons
n the closing event of the 1992-93 football season, cold, rainy weather chased the campus
celebration of the Tar Heels Peach Bowl victory
-
95 degrees,
S
percent
"world's fastest graphics com-
ing model,' he adds, referring to the computer's
The danger of extended physical exertion in
puter' by the Graphics Performance Characteriza-
ability to replicate how light falls over an object,
tion Committee of the National Computer Graphics
creating highlights and shadows. "These machines are very good at doing lighting models, much better
the heat, clad in heavy padding and a helmet, has threatened, and taken, players lives. But by donning
1992 was billed the
ksociation. Pixelflowru and five generations of Pixel Planes
than commercial machines."
have been entirely built and programmed at UNC{H. The systems are elaborations on work first published
in 198i by Federico Gil Professor of Computer Science Henry Fuchs and Research Associate Pro
team and coordinator of training for all the Universitys
it to geometry. You could take
sports teams, invented the cape to cool down over-
a TV image of Dan
Even Pixel Planes 5, however, has limits to how
Poulton explains what makes Pixel Planes 5 superior to other 3O imaging systems, ol which there are
Pixel Planes systems also can enhance 3D pictures in a process called texturing. Poulton explains: "Texturing is taking an image and attaching Rather and wrap it around a sphere."
fessor John Poulton, who have led the Pixel Planes proiect since its inception.
many'l,ots of pmple build machines that do 3D
graphics," he says. "What makes these machines
In the Pixel Planes system, the computer
Dan Hooker, head trainer for the UNC{H football
heated players. Hooker's invention connects a portable air conditioner by three large plastic tubes to a hooded cape. In just five minutes under the Cool Cape, players
"but performance tops out at a certain point,"
whose temperatures have risen to dangerous levels
.0ne for PixelFlowTM. of the principles of Pixelt'lowft is that you can keep addlng hardware forever, within reason, and get as much performance as you
together."
humidity can find relief on the sidelines.
much hardware can be added. "lf you add more hardware, you get more performance," says Eyles, And this is why Molnar developed the concept
different is their architecture-the way they're put
the air<onditioned Cool Cape for several minutes, football players suflering from the brutal heat and
are refreshed and ready to hit the field again. "We have been very successful with the capes," Hooker says. The Tar Heels benelitted from Hooker's invention
processors and memory are merged into one chip, what Poulton calls "smart memory chips.' In con-
scalability. Molnar says his design for PixelFlowTM
while in Atlanta for the Peach Bowl on January 2. The Georgia Dome, Hooker says, was heated to i2
ventional computers, memory and processors are
now needs to be worked out in chips, a project that
degrees
in separate chips. The advantage of using "smart
could take until early 1994.
practicing in 40 degree, Dcember weather in Chapel
desire," explains Eyles. This flexibility is called linear
memory chips,'which are designed by Poulton and
Hill. "When we got down there we had guys really suffering from the change in temperature. We used
used by UNC Hospitals in an experimental network,
the capes a lot more than I expected."
linked through the Cray Supercomputer in Research
E
o
UNC{H a patent
the 3D images for radiation treatment planning.
in Virginia, has licensed rights to the invention.
Using an image of the patient created by a CT scanner,
Cool Sport is working on a marketable prototype
doctors can map out exactly where to aim radiation
for the cape.
and at what dose.
Hooker came to Chapel Hill in 1971 soon after the heatstroke death of a football lineman. Six years
UNC{H computer scientists working exclusively on
ago he began working with the football team and
o I o
virtual worlds, Computer scientists at UNC{H pre fer the term "virtual worlds" over "virtual reality."
since then cooling olf players has been a constant
No one, says Poulton, could mistake interactive computer &D graphics for reality.
Before the coming of the cape, Hooker often had to strip overheated players to their shorts and
Pixel Planes technology has been licensed
rub them down with icy towels, at tima putting them
9
o
to Ivex in Norcross,
.second
U.S. Patent Office granted
on the cape in 1991. Cool Sport, a company based
Pixel Planes 5 is also used lor research by other
zl
eter buiil, sal computer scientsts at UNC-CH The 3-D rmage inclwles u teiuretl ceillng Drlchs, aood grain and o flicheriq firepLuce ond runs at l[]12 frarnes per
Ihe
Triangle Park, called VISTAnet. The hospital uses
a5
o
This L'ornputer nrctdel rs one of the rnost cornplicated
a real shock for players who had been
are many. The Pixel Planes 5 system is now being
The applications of these 3D imaging machines
Research Assistant Professors John Eyles and Steve
-
Ga., a company specializing in
concem of his, he says.
on intravenous lines to replenish fluids. The Cool
image generators for flight simulation. And Division,
Cape has made
Ltd. in Bristol, UK, a maker of commercial virtual
measures, even when playing
reality systems, has licensed the technology.
Hooker says the cape may also be useful for athletes other than football players and for workers
Among its various applications, DMsion's system may be used for architectural planning. Architects could "enter" planned spaces and modify them with
interactive computers. Henry Fuchs holds two U.S, patents on the technology and shares a third with Poulton.
it possible to avoid such drastic in 103 degree heat.
especially susceptible to heat such as fire fighters,
foundry and construction workers, and soldiers in the desert.
/ssues
rn Research
DIATOGUE
Clinical Trials of New Drugs: Balancmg Benefrts and Risks by Ernut N. Kraybill, M.D.
several medical centers, as experimental subiects.
Safeguards are in place at several levels.
Patients are assigned randomly to receive either
The FDA has established rigorous criteria that must
the study drug or a "control" substance which may be the currently accepted drug or a placebo. Place
be met before a new drug may be tested in humans. Funding agencies, generally the National lnstitutes
bos are acceptable only if no established treatment uch of the progess in medicine of the
is Imown to be elfective. To avoid bias in interpret-
ol Health or a drug manulacturel must approve the research methods. Multi+enter studies generally
modem era can be attributed to the devel-
ing the results, both the investigators and subjects
require that an independent board of experts who
opment of safe and effctive drugs. Penicillin,
are "blind" to whether individual subjects are
re
are "unblinded'to subject assignment be fumished
one of the earliest and most effective drugs, existed in nature before it was discovered and applied to
ceiving the study drug or the control substance. Data are gathered systematically and subjected to
data from all centers on a continuing basis, in order to detect unanticipated adverse results. Such moni-
human use. Its benefits were $eat, the risk acceptable, and the impact, profound. Now, most new drugs
rigorous statistical analysis. When a study drug is
toring boards are obligated to "blow the whistle" if
shown to be definitely effective, or delinitely harmful,
accumulating data provide clear evidence that con-
are spthesized in the laboratory for a desired
bio logic action. The development, testing and intro
the study is stopped, so as not to deny an effective treatment by continuing to give the placebo, or, if
tinuation ol the trial would result in net harm to
duction to clinical use of a new drug is a long and painstaking process. After synthesis and rn uttro
the drug was lound to be harmlul, to avoid exposing any more patients to risk.
invoMng human subjects must be reviewed by an Institutional Review Board (IRB). There are five lRBs that review human re
testing of a new compound, studies must be done
in a variety of non-human species to determine toxicity and side effcts. Such studie, thou$ asen tial, do not guarantee that the drug will be safe or effective in humans.
Certain risla to the subjects are inherent in Phase
ll clinical trials. There may be serious side
subjects. Finally, all govemmentsponsored research
search at UNC{H.
Ihe
IRB for the School of Medicine,
ol Pharmacy is
effects that were not Imown from animal experiments
UNO Hospitals and the School
or Phase I studies. The experimental drug may yield
named "The Committee on the Protection of the
a less desirable outcome than established treat-
Rights of Human Subiects.'The Committee reviews
ment, 0r than no treatment. Accidents or complica-
all clinical research t0 assure that rislts are mini-
tions may occur in carrying out research
mized; that risls are proportional to anticipated
procedures. These
risk
present important ethical
issues. At the outset, the investigator must be truly
benefits; that potential subjects are fully informed about the research and that they are free to refuse
"agnostic'as to which treatment is more likely to benelit the subiect. If he/she believes lirmly that one treatment is better, and if the outcomes in
-,41?
.rd
a3)
&
The first testing of a new drug in humans
question are not trivial, then that investigator can-
(Phase I studies) is generally carried out in normal
not participate responsibly in the trial. The inter-
volunteers. In the case of drugs that are expected
ests of the patient/subiect, as best as they can be
to be highly toxic, e.g., chemotherapeutic drugs for
known, take priority over the research interests of
treatment ol cancer, the first usage may be in patients
intendd. The purpose of Phase I studies is to derive information about toxicity, metabolism, excretion
the investigator. The need to distinguish those possibly conIlicting interests is especially crucial when the investigator is also a potential subject's personal
and maximum tolerated dose,
physician. The invatigator must assure that potential
seriously ill with the disease for which the drug is
In Phase II trials, a new drug is compared with
subjcts are fully inlormed about the purpose of the
risk
and benefits, and that
c
*, -:,
to participate and to withdraw their participation at any time without ieopardizing their treatment. The documentation that these conditions have been met is in the consent form that each subiect sigrs. This form as well as the research methodolory
must be approved by the Committee. The Commit tee is further charged to assure that the burdens and benefits ol research are distributed equitably within society, This responsibility is shued by 22 committee members representing relevant professional disciplines and the public. Their task is to
the standard treatment, or no treatment, to deter-
research, as well as the
mine efficacy while continuing to monitor for safety.
they are lree to choose, without coercion due to
balance the intended benefits to society against
These clinical trials are carefully designed experi. ments that enroll large numbers ol patients, often in
their illness, financiai incentive or their relationship
the risla to indMdual subjects.
with the physician/investigator.
I
Health cises, a biotechnolog boom and bottlenechs at the FDA are forcing eueryone in dn4 research to re<ualuate the pace of drug testing and approual. Two UNCTH docton examine the polemical issues inuolued.
Human Experimentation:
step is the use of human or animal tissues rn
Jus Do it?
many examples where the latter steps can be mis-
At what point does the benefit to the indMdual
ur'tro,
he twentieth century has been an era of in-
work at all in the praence of human cells. Conversely,
(in the case of a patient) or to society exceed the risks? And who is qualilied to make this judgment? It is clear that these answers are not static or universal. Approaches that seemed reasonable in the 1950s would clearly be unacceptable in the 1990s.
credible progress in biomedical science. In the
other drugs are concentratd so effctively in human
Experiments conducted in Europe or Japan might
Iield of infectious diseases, the success of
cells that they work far better than they could
not be acceptable in the United States or vice versa.
antibiotics and vaccines particularly has raised expectation for new therapies and disease prevention. But the game has become more complicated. With new technology we have been able to recog-
under rn ur'lro conditions. In neither case do the results in tissue culture necessarily correlate with those obtained rn uiuo. For many diseases there
Furthermore, investigators should not be led to believe that tuture generations ol physician/scientists will
are no crcdible models. Furthermore, animal models
matter how many layers of scrutiny we devise.
nize and treat important infections such as Lyme
may not adequately reflect the human disease. In
and Legionnaires' disease. Yet old bacterial foes
the best o[ circumstances these steps help to Earantee the saiety of new drugs and vaccines, and
human research according to a single plan. Safety and considerable data generally available to show
or animal models ol infection. However, there are leading. For example, some drugs that look very promising when there are no cells present cannot
by Myron S, Cohen, M.D.
such as tuberculosis are escaping from available therapy. Meanwhile, new diseases such as AIDS
necessarily endorse what we are doing now, no For more than 20 years we have conducted
lead to reassuring information about the mechan-
how a therapy or vaccine might work have been of
continue to surface. We are under increasing pres-
ism(s) by which the new products work. Howevet
$eatest importance. lndeed, we may know more
sure to prevent and treat each of these diseases,
working rn urtro and with animals takes a great deal
and many more. And the taxpayers supporting
of time. Often this work is considerably more ex-
about the immunology and some infectious diseages in mice than in humans. A "cottage industry'
biomedical research (and the le$slators represen!
pensive that human experimentation. Lastly, many
ol scientists committed to this paradigm has been
ing them) are impatient and sometimes quixotic
trained. In a recent meeting I attended in which results with human experimental gononhoea were
Antibiotics and vaccines are developed in an orderly fashion. New drugs are tested under in utfro experimental conditions. Success in the test tube is
ol our most successful vaccines and antibiotics have been developed without much dependence on these steps, and with little howledge of exactly how the products worked. Indeed, we are still trying to ligure out exactly how penicillin worls, and
the threshold for lurther experimentation. The next
why the vaccine for whooping cough is effective!
have lost sight of the precise purpose of biomedical
consumers.
AIDS is a disease that
Healy, while director of the National Institutes of
Health, emphasized in some of her speeches that the organization she directed is not the "National
the luxury of the normal con-
New and dramatic results in many fields appear t0
straints on human experimen-
require human experimentation performed more rapidly than in the recent past. Such experiments can be expected to provide compelling results. The
k
Professor
of Pediatrics and Chair
challenges to the scientist, however, will not change.
Patient salety must be considered. Truly informed consent must be obtained, even when desperate patients function as subiects. 0f greatat imprtance,
"' willing to consider the approval of drugs more marginally
preliminary data and research goals must always
justify experimentation in human subjects.
I
effective, and based on less AIDS, and in
part because
of the Commiftee on the hotection of the Rqhts of
of evolution ol societal perceptions, exampla of more
Human Subjects, the Institutional Reuiew Board of the
aggressive human experimentation are emerging.
khool of Medicine, UNC Hospitals and the khool of
New drugs are being tested directly in Alzheimer's
Pharmacy.
disease. We now have several animal models for
cystic librosis. However, even as animal models lor cystic fibrosis are being explored, humans with this
will undergo gene therapy. Along the same
lines, vaccines cannot be developed without human experimentation. Because there is no animal model for gonorrhoea, human volunteers have become essential for development and testing of gonococcal vaccines.
In summary, the pendulum is clearly swin$ng.
Furthermore, the tDA is clearly
ln part because of
disease
Institute of Basic Science."
required Ior the past 20 yean.
data, that in the recent past. Emest N. Kraybill
research. Perceiving this problem, Dr. Bernadine
about biomedical research. Patients with AIDS have argued ( believe correctly) that they simply don't have
now receiving experimental agents with far less prelimi. nary scrutiny than has been
-^-'I
in tissue culture! Clearly in some extreme cases we
has galvanized our thinhng
tation. Patients with AIDS are
,\ '/,
discussed, a scientist committed to rn uitro work challenged (and peftaps dismissed) results obtained
M5,ron S. Cohen
og
is
Professor of Medicine, Mictobiol-
and Immunolog and Chief of the Diuision
lnfectious Diseases.
of
A Profile
VIIA
Doris Betts aybe
it
rs true
that n0 one can serve two
masters, but don't tell Doris Betts. The English department's Alumni Distinguished Professor is doing just fine, heeding the Muse's call while devoting herself to teaching two generations
of UNC{H students to write well, And despite the Savior's teaching from almost 2,000 years ago, Betts
still loves both callings. Reconciling the two is not always easy, Betts admits. "lf you teach seriously and with pleasure, it will [hinder] your writing and your research-but at the same time, it's galvanizing." That benefit far out
weighs the costs, as she discovered in 1966 when she first taught a creative writing course at UNC{H.
"lf you teach seiously and with pleasure,
it will hinder your uittng
and your
researchAut at the same time, itb galuanizing." -Doris Betts "l liked it; I found it stimulating for me
as well
as for the students," Betts remembers. "[ would leave
that class and go home and just write and write and write and write. And I thought, 'What a great way to make a livingl' But I also had an illusion about it:
I really thought [professors] came to campus two days a week-l was just like a legislator-and that they met their class lor an hour or two, and then went home; the rest of the week was theirs. I now find that nothing could be further lrom the truth. You're lucky to have any time for yourself. [t's about a 60,
6lhour week. But I cannot think ol anything
Doris Betts ts os excitetl
b-r'
the
succes.se.s
of fcvmer students such as lohn Russeil, uho recently pubLishetl
/ri.s
/irsl
ncttel, as she ls b.v l:r.r ou,n accon:tr.Lishrnents.
better. I really cannot." The long weeks and Betts' pleasure in them spring from the same source. "Students are greedy
Nor is Betts the same writer. She jokingly
had won an award for a short story collection as a
for your time, and while you're here, they're en-
ascribes the most obvious dilference to the a$ng
titled to it," she explains. "[But] there's a real fringe benelit. ft keeps your arteries from hardening too Iast to be around people who are always singing
process, saying "l think some people are natural
songs you haven't heard before, introducing new
Iike going schhhp and then moving on. But if you're a novelist, you get a slower rhythm, and that may
her forthcoming novel, ^louls Raised from the Dead. The book, set in 0range and Chatham Counties, uses the story of a family dealing with their young
sitting down and saying, 'Well, the world ended with Charles Dickens,'because it didn't. They've become part of my audience, and as I watch their sentences
be why I'm now more interested in writing novels,
daughter's struggle with renal Iailure and death to
get faster, and I watch their stories get shorter, I benefit
uses fiction to search for those things in life that
subjects to you, new writers. That keeps me lrom
because I see that my audience is not the same as was when Iwas a college student."
it
short story writers, and some people are natural novelists. lf you're a natural short story writer, you
because my metabolism is not as last as it
usd t0
be."
Whether writing novels or short stories, Betts make us human, something she couldn't do in ear-
lier lobs as a journalist. "You find in journalism that you have to leave out the things that interest you
sophomore at Women's College in Greensboro, left joumalism in 1966lor fiction and tmching at LJNC{H. This fascination with our hidden sehes inspired
reexamine a contemporary expression ol an age less theme: the antagonism between laith and the
sulfering of the innocent. In particular, Betts says, "[ was interested in exploring what happens to families when one person needs an organ and one per-
the most, which are the motives of people and the
son is willing to $ve it and one person is noI the kinds of ethical problems that our grandparents
kinds of things that are secret or arise out ol char-
never had to think about."
acter rather than facts," she reports. So Betts, who
WHY DOES... Your Car Protect You tuom tighurtur$
"l'm interested in the people who appear to me to
fu leading
hind of standard liues,
but for whom all of the big questions are just as
bigas they uere for Macfuth
and Hamlet. They re no different."
-Doris
Betts
A Carolina Physicist Explains lf you're in a car struck by lightning,
don't send a letter to the tire maker thanking the company for saving your life. II you must thank someone, thank the workers who
Though she places the power to affect people at its heart, Betts emphasizes that good writing
made the body of the car. The conducting
be$ns with words and sentences. Creative writing
and the lightning apart.
Faulkrer's stories but to little people leading everyday lives. "l'm interuted in people who are ordinary,
students may sign up for her courses hoping for a sort of dMne revelation, but their professor instead
Kenan prolessor emeritus of physics and
blue<ollar or middle class or lower-middle class,
insists that they first master the lundamentals ol
people whose stories are also interesting," she explains, "l'm interested in the people who appear
language; even Shakespeare built on this founda-
This playing out ol timeless themes through
current issues characterizes much of Betts' Iiction. These are themes relevant not only to the giants 0f
t0 me t0 be leading kind of standard lives, but lor whom all 0f the big questions are iust as big as they were for Macbeth and Hamlet. They're no different." It doesn't take much time talking with Betts to realize that she really is interested in people, not just
as subjects for her fiction but as individuals who
metal, not the insulating rubber, kept you According to Eugen Merzbacher, astronomy, your car's tires can't insulate you sufficiently from a lightning strike.
tion. Betts points out that while the average college graduate has a working vocabulary ol about 12,000 words, the Bard used some 25.000 words in his
The rain and mud that usually accompany a storm reduce their insulating properties,
works. Great writers, she maintains, stand apart
strong currents and fields of a lightning bolt will flash right past the tires to the ground.
first because they know more about how to use language.
Similarly, the best teachers are distinguished
but even in perfectly dry conditions, the
The protection comes instead from being inside an enclosed metallic conductor,
deserve attention. Other interests-hiking and
by their dedication not to teaching but to what they
Merzbacher explains. When lightning strikes
camping, river running, motorcycling, gardeningmay absorb her interest for a few years before
teach. "first you really have to krow something well,"
a conductor, the electric charge is
she insists. "And you have to be passionate about
something else takes over, but people always matter
it, not just intellectually interested, or you don't want t0 give it away. After that, Ithink it's a great deal of help if you love young people and you study
uted across the outside surface only. I{ the conductor is a hollow shell, the electric field
to her. Teaching, writing, reading, talking: whatever she does, she puts people at the heart of it.
to dazzle with its brilliance but to illuminate some
[teaching] methods." There's that word again: people. Betts may put expertise at the top of her list of prerequisites
thing about the human experience. 'There are those
for good teaching, but once again her love of people
people who think words are sufficient, and they use
shines through. Students enroll for her creative writing
them in the way that one might do abstract art. I like
courses lor the chance to learn about writing lrom a critically acclaimed author; they leave having also
Focusing her fiction on people is important to
Betts. Great writing to her is that which shines not
the beautiful sentences to be wedded with content,
which has become a rather old-fashioned view. Ultimately I look for a writer whose style conveys some sense ol reality that startles and alters me, changes me in some way. I may not even like it, but
lwillbe
affected by it. I'll still be arguing with the
distrib
within the cavity remains zero. Unless you are in a convertible or a fiberglass-bodied car like a Corvette, an automobile is about as close as you can get to being inside such a conducting shell, out ol lightning's reach. Being inside a car protects you in yet
another way, continues Merzbacher. A massive electrical discharge, lightning generally strikes the ground where concentrations of
leamed about lMng from a master. Many keep in touch
electric charges are high. Such concentra-
after graduation, knowing how much their accom-
tions occur along sharp edges or points of objects that protrude from the ground, such
plishments mean t0 their Iormer writing teacher. "This is a very exciting time to be a writer in North Carolina," Betts muses. "There's a whole
as trees or lightning rods. With their stream-
lined shapes, cars are less attractive to light-
author or one of the characters or thinking about a scene long after the work is over. I say that not
generation of new writers, in fact there are several
ning than nearby trees or buildings, and so
generations, and there are some whom I've had the
are less likely to be hit.
having achieved that [in my own writing]," she
pleasure of teaching. There's a contagion that occurs
laughs wryly.
when good writing is going on, or good art or anything. There's a lot of good news in North Carolina.
during a lightning storm t0 get into a car if
It's nice to be a part of it."
away from trees or other sharp+dged
Mezbacher advisa those caught outside possible. 0therwise, lie down flat somewhere
ob
jects, making yourself invisible to lightning. Let us find sonrcone to ansuer that
tou$
ques-
tion for you. Wrile Endeauors at CB# 4l0a or
call 966 5625
Tar Heels Speak
)ut
CAROTINA OPINION rrnrl ,,l/rrrs (lututurut:u|irtrt
tuul lltc lrtsttttte fr.tr Research ur Srictil
^t'r'lcrrcc
North Carolinians'Concerns: Jobs, Health Care, Retirement, ttre Poor by Beverly Wiggins
Widowed, separated and divorced North Carolinians
NORTH CAROUNIANS' PRETITC'IION CONCERNS
Very
o
you or a member ol your family a job?
24%
45yo
o o
you and your family won't be able to
aflord medical coverage?
3901,
services for the poor and needy will be reduced or eliminated? n,tl
crlutl
Little
41o/"
ltti) pL,t'tull
ltctrtutt
tl
those who were manied or single (55% vs. 44% and Not
Worried
Don't Know
37%, respectively). Democrats, blacks and women
had greater fears about the adequacy ol their retire ment incomes than did Republicans, whites and males, respectively. The cost ol health care* also concemed the people of North Carolina greatly. Almost four out of
w
o
your retirement income will not be enough to meet your needs?
\,lt'. lrlttls nttl
Somewhat A
Worried Worried Worried
How worried are you that...
will lose
werc more concemed about retirement income than
l8
41
15
l0 said they were
.very
worried" that they or their
families would not be able to alford medical cover-
ffi
age. Another one
about
'A$uy 23
12
in four was "somewhat wonied'
this. The lower the respondents'education
and income, the more likely they were to be "very
19
worried'about medical coverage. 0f those with no college education, 49 percent were "very wonied,"
ffi
l3
26
compared to 31 percent of those with some college or a college degree. Almost half of those with household incomes less than $40,000 were "very
21
worried'about medical coverage, compared to
20
percent of those with higher incomes. Males and females did not differ in their concern about this
.*d,H"
ffi W
issue, but blacls were more worried than whites (51% vs. 37% were "very worried'), and Democrats worried more than Republicans (44% vs. 33%).
t5
28
Widowed, separated and divorced respondents were more likely to say they were "very wonied"
nturttltn!
about medical coverage than were married or never-married respondents (50% vs, 36 and 39%,
f I I
n the months leading up to the 1992 presidential
"The primacy of economic concems in the
election, Americans locused on a number ol
1992 presidential election could have been predicted
issues they considered important to their future,
Irom these spring survey results,' said John Shelton
Like most Americans, North Carolinians were con-
Reed, director of the Institute for Research in Social
cemed about the economy. In a survey conducted
Science. "Economic conditions in North Carolina
by the UNC{H School ol Journalism and Mass
aren't the worst in the country but these data suggest
Communication and the lrstitute for Research in Social
that they're not experienced as good.'
in February ol 1992, almost a fourth ol re spondents (24%) said they were "very worried" that they or a member ol their families would lose a job.
economic concems were not limited to the immedi-
Science
Another
18 percent were "somewhat
wonied" about
this possibility. Only 15 percent of respondents were "a little worried," and 41 percent were "not worried" about job loss. North Carolinians with less than a i2thgrade
The survey revealed that North Carolinians' ate threat of job loss. Respondents were even more
worried that their retirement incomes would not meet their needs. Forty-live percent of respondents were "very worried" and 23 percent "somewhat wonied'about this
issue.
0nly
12 percent of respon-
dents reported being "a little wonied," and 19 percent
education were more likely to be "very wonied'
said they were "not worried."
about job security than were those with a higher education (31% vs. 23%). Those with household
Respondents 65 and older were much more likely than younger persons to say they were "not
incomes less than $30,000 a year were more than
worried" about retirement income (37% vs.
twice as likely to be "very worried" about job secu-
CollEe graduates were less likely to be 'Very wonied"
rity as those with greater incomes (35% vs.
than those with no college degree (37% vs. 487r.
15%).
15%),
Democrats were more likely to be "very worried"
Respondents
than Republicans (30% vs. 19%); blacla than whites
$40,000 a year were more likely to be'Very wonied"
(38% vs. 21"/,); and women than men (28% vs. 20%).
than those with higher incomes (51'/, vs,32"/,).
respectively). The same survey found that North Carolinians were wonied about the plight of those less fortunate
than themselves. While 24 percent indicated being 'lery wonied" about their own jobs or jobs of family members, 41 percent said they were "very worried' that services for the poor and needy would be re duced or eliminated. Concem about services for the poor and needy was $eatest among Democrats (52"/"vs.29% of Republicans), blacls (63% vs.36% of whites) and women (48% vs. 32% of men).
Information in this article was gathered in the February 1992 Carolina Poll, in which 621 adult
North Carolinians were interviewed by telephone. The expected enor is about plus or minus four percent for the total sample, but is larger for comparisons between goups.
I
BEVERTY WIGGINS is the
ksociate Director for
Research Development at IRSS.
with household incomes less than ',\i,r /){r(? |
tut reurl rrune ctboul heaLth
urltrtin islntt i
n
ttue p,,Ltc.r
LrtLl
E.N.D.E.A.V.O.R.S
Mr. Thorpe Goes to Washington Deueloping a Cure for Hyperactiue Health Care Cost by Scott Lowry
: enneth Thorpe's work became a little more ^ +f'i interesting a few months ago. A professor in . 'I, the health policy and administration depart-
';
The health care predicament lirst caught
rea\
a
ight now
Thorpe's attention a decade ago when he worked
"We are
at the Congressional Budget 0ffice in Washingon,
in terms of the direction that we're going
ment since 1991, he has spent the past eight years advising states from North Carolina to New York
D.C. Since then, he has spent as much time in city hall as in ivy halls. Before moving to Chapel Hill,
to tahe in health policy, futh at a state
how to cope with an increasingly expensive national
health care industry. But Thorpe was growing tired
Thorpe kept busy teaching at Columbia Universityand helping to design a new hospital palment system
0f treating slmptoms. Convinced that the industry's
for New York state based in part 0n his research,
ills could only be cured with aggressive therapy, he welcomed candidate Bill Clinton's campaign promises of comprehensive reform. Clinton's election gave Thorpe reason for optimism for the lirst time in a decade. Thorpe's subsequent appointment to
He has also worked at the federal level, primarily as
sctor try to control the growth in spending.
a consultant to Congress.
look at health insurance, focusing on the uninsured and the special needs that they have. We do a lot ol simulations of proposals that exist [that address]
the president's health policy transition team now gives him the opportunity to play a major part in
the industry's recovery.
Thirtyliue million are nou going uithout health insurance so they can balance the monthly budget, while hoptng that
no medical catastrophes come along
at
crossroads
and notionol leuel." -Kenneth Thorpe
Thorpe brought his dedication to research and relorm to the Tar Heel state. He quickly jumped
We also
how to try to control costs as well as provide every-
into the state political process, advising the legislative study commission on health policy as it worked
body [with] health insurance." Thorpe is outspoken about his findings in
on recommendations for the General Assembly. Meanwhile, he continues studying local and national
these areas. "We have lound that the worst option
health care systems, documenting what is being
is to do nothing. The implications of that for the
local economy and for the American economy are
done and what needs to be done. "Much of the research we're doing focuses
very drastic, as health care gobbles up valuable resources that could be used elsewhere. Every
on two major issues," explains Thorpe. "0ne is the
[industrialized] country has done a more effective job of controlling costs than the United States, and
growth ol health care spending and expenditure, where we have done several evaluations to look at different ways the public sector as well as the private
every country except South Airica has a universal insurance system. We have the dubious distinction
to banhrupt them.
of having the highests costs in the world by a long shot and 35 million people who don't have health
During the Reagan and Bush administrations,
insurance. And the quality of care, by any indicator ol
the cost of health care relentlessly climbed much
mortality or morbidity, is no better in this country than you see in [countries like] Canada or Germany,'
faster than inllation in the general economy. Health care now bleeds off 14 percent of the gross national
The problems of spiraling health care costs
product. That s $820 billion every year. As health costs rise, insurance premiums follow, forcing more
and lack of access to health insurance and hence
and more Americans into a dangerous form ol gam-
Thorpe maintains. The money to help low-income
bling: 35 million are now going without health insurance so they can balance the monthly budget, while
people obtain health insurance should come in large part from savings generated by federal cost
hoping that no medical catastrophes come along to
controls in both the public and private sectors, "You could easily save $65 to 70 billion within the
health care must be addressed simultaneously,
bankrupt them. The numbers are depressing, but lor the first time, Thorpe believes that we can turn the trend
next eight years if you adopted some reasonable cost-containment programs on the Medicare system
around. Because President Clinton made health care
alone," Thorpe calculates.
one of his three primary issues, we have a chance
t0 restructure our national health policy. No longer will Thorpe's elforts be limited to helping states limit the damage caused to state, local and family budgets by the national problem ol health care spending running out ol control. He can now apply
"We are really at a crossroads right now in F
terms of the direction that we're going to take in health policy, both at a state and national level," continues Thorpe. "lf you listen to plans lor putting money into the infrastructure and manufacturing,
o
those dollars will not be there until we can some
his research to actually eliminating the causes of these financial woes. "This is a very exciting time,"
how redirect monies from the health care industry."
Thorpe says.
job more than interesting over the next lew years. E
Helping meet this challenge promises to keep Thorpe's
E.NoD.E.ArVrO.R.S
10
Convercations lvithin a Tumor Cancer Cells Moy Tell Each
)ther
Not to Spread
by Christina S, Stock
etastasis, the unpredictable spreading of cancer fiom a single tumor to multiple sites,
can ravage the human body. A means may exist, however, to prohibit the often uncontrollable spreading by using one
tlpe of tumor cells to
keep
the others in check. Researchers at UNC{H have discovered proteins, produced by cancer cells themselves, that impede cell movement directly related to metastasis. Dr. James L. Mohler, assistant professor
of surgery and member of the UNC{H Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, has demonstrated that proteins produced by non-metastatic cells, when in contact with metastatic cells, stop the spontaneous motion, or motility, of the metastatic 8
cells and drastically reduce their ability to break
q
free from the tumor and spread to other sites.
@ .E
"We're very excited about this work," Mohler
6
o
says. "This is the first time to our howledge that anyone in the world has demonstrated that one tumor
cell makes a protein that can alter the properties of another tumor cell. In other words, within a tumor,
u lhree4rntensranul
gr.uph (rrgltl
).
cancer cells 'talk' to one another" Metastatic cancer cells embark on an odyssey before implanting themselves in a new site. They must break ofl lrom the primary tumor, make their way into the blood stream or lymphatic system, leave
the blood or lymph vessel, enter a new, distant site, bind themselves to the new tissue, and then grow
to create a secondary tumor. Mohler's research concems itself with the first phase of the journey. He has asked what makes some cells capable of severing themselves from the primary tumor. And what he discovered is a correlation between cell motilig spontaneous motion within the cell, and a cell's ability to metastasize, leave the cell and create a tumor elsewhere. His motility research began at Johns Hophns University in the
"Why can't you ... fool the cancer cell?
...
use
somethtngthat good cancer cells use
to talh to one another and hamess that to tell the most Wessiue cancer cells to behaue?" L. Mohler -James
mid-i980s, working at the Brady Urological Institute
with Dr. Donald
S. Coffey, professor of urology,
He cultivated non-metastatic cancer ce[[s in a feeding solution, and then put the solution on highly
pharmacology and oncology.
motile cells. He observed the results using a micro
MoNer was determined to discover how to stop the motile cells. "Lots of people have described
scope connected to a timelapse VCR and a television
proteins and growth factors that make cells move
highly active cells became lethar$c. "l didn't expect
that aren't moving, but I'm more interested in the
it to work, but it not only worked, it worked beauti-
opposite. I want to take the ones that are moving and paralyze them.
fully," he says.
"Many scientists are motility promoters. We're
not interested in making cells that can't spread,
screen. To the amzement of the researchers, the
Mohler and his colleagues, Iormer medical students Dr. Elaine Broskie and Dipak Ranparia; research analyst in surgery Dr. Yousuf Sharief; post-
spread. Basic scientists are, but, as a cancer surgeon,
doctoral fellow in pathology Dr. William Coleman
I'm interested in making cells that spread, not
and Dr. Gary Smith, associate prolessor in pathotory,
spread," he explains.
published their findings in the April 15, 1992, issue ol Cancer Resesrch, a professional ioumal.
Mohler and his colleagues at LJNC{H have since
demonstrated that highly motile cells will continue t0 move no matter what nutrient fluid they grow in. The researchers faced the challenge of how to stop
week instead of the normal
the highly active cells. "Short of killing the cells, we
years people have theorized that inside of a cancer
"V,lhy Cancer Reseorch published this in eight one year and why there
has been so much interest in this work, is that for
could not stop their motility,' he says. Then an idea
all of the cells talk to each other. And people have
struck him."We tried a new approach. We wondered
theorized that the good cells in a cancer keep the
il cells that weren't metastatic and weren't moving
bad cells in check somehow, but nobody has ever
made something that could stop the movement of
shown any evidence that this is really so. And no
highly metastatic cells."
one has identified a factor that is the conveyor of that communication. This is potentially the first time that it has been shown that one subpopulation
E.N.D.E.AoV.O.R.S
of the tumor can talk to another cell population and say'hey, straighten up cells!"'Mohler says.
because they are too heavy'. But because the needed
Rather than externally attacking a tumor, his discoveries open the possibility of intemally control-
means of isolating it will not work And the ruearchers
ling it, "a novel approach to cancer therapy," he says.
on tumor cells and metastasis.
"ln cancer therapies that are currently available, that I krow of, you do something to the cancer, either cut it out, shoot X-rays at it, freeze it, cool it or shoot drugs at it. In short, you try to kill it. "Why can't you, instead of trytng to harm the cancer cell by some means that a cancer cell does not itself use, fool the cancer cell? Why don't you
protein exists in such a low concentration, ordinary must isolate the protein to further study its effect The means to isolate it are not direct. The researchers Iirst need to produce a tool to isolate the protein. Their chosen tool is a monoclonal antibody. Monoclonal antibodies only recognize specific
antigens, in this case, a specific protein. But there are hundreds ol possible antibodies from which to
use something that good cancer cells use to talk to
choose. lf the researchers can locate the antibody that matches up with the correct protein, they witl
one another and harness that to tell the most ag-
be able to extract as much of the motility-inhibiting
gressive cancer cells to behave?'
protein as they need. Once it is isolated and identi. fied, they can use bacteria to exclusively produce
This innovative approach to cancer therapy could have great repercussions. Mohler explains that when radiation or chemical treatment is used
the protein.
to destroy a cancer, often the treatment only harms
separate the proteins. And one way to do
the cancer cells that may actually be sending mes-
make antibodies specific to each of the proteins of
sages that inhibit the stronger, more dangerous
interest, and then go back and identify which antibody is specific to each protein. And once you
ones Irom spreading. "There is some stability in the fact that a tumor is very heterogeneous. And if you simplify
it by
Chay explains, "We need to find a way to
it is to
know, you can pull out that protein specifically."
To produce the antibodies, the researchers
radiation, chemotherapy, or in prostate's case,
inject proteins from the.non-metastatic tumor cells
by takng away testosterone, you release the most
into a mouse. The foreign proteins cause the latent antibodies in the mouse's spleen to activate. Then the researchers' lenghy process of determining pairs of antibodies and antigens (in this case, pro teins) begins.
aggressive cells, because they're the ones that are
immune to whatever treatment you're giving. Then they grow faster and more widely. [f you give a noncurative treatment to a cancer, you clonally simplify
it and you cause it to be more aggressive." Clonally
The pairing process is something like fishing
simplifying a tumor is like upsetting an ecosystem,
blindfolded. You have many kinds olbait that will
explains Chris Chay, a premedical student working
each only attract one kind of fish. But you don't
with Mohler.
know what kind of bait you are using or what kind of fish you are catching, only that they comprise
At first Mohler did not know what was inhibiting the motion of the cells when he performed the
motility testing. 0nce the agent prohibiting cancer cell motility was determined to be a protein, the task began to sxtract and identify the specific protein
or proteins responsible for the motitity inhibition from the other hundreds of proteins existing in the
discrete pairs. 0nce each protein (bait) in the mix is linked
to an antibody (fish), the researchers meticulously perform a series ol trials, removing one protein at a time from the mix and testing whether motility in the metastatic cells is inhibited.
non-metastatic cancer cells. Smith, Chay and postdoctoral fellow William
Smith explains: "We're actually fishing for something we're not going to be able to see by the
E @ @
o Chris Chay. a pre-merlical undergraduate, und llilliant Colenan (foreqround.). u ktrmer postdoctoral felloa in patholoE". aorh uith nonctcbnal antibotlies to isolate a pr(tein responsible for slowing doan the ma)ement ()f metastati( cancer cells.
"ln theory down the road," he says, "it may be
that you can develop some kind of new treatment; you'll cause cells in a primary tumor to be less able to spread, but more importantly, you may be able to cause the ones who already have to slow their growth." Doctors some day may use a test for the
motility-inhibiting protein in a cancer to determine if it is metastatic. Mohler explains: "We might be able to take a cancer in a human being and stain it for this protein. If the tumor is mahng this protein, then we krow it is composed of cells that are very
Bakewell, who all work in the department of patholory,
standard approach. And that's not an uncommon
are performing the painstaking laboratory work to identify the protein or proteins that inhibit cancer cell motility. Although it is clear that a protein, and
finding. That's the reason you want to have the
not some other substance, sends a signal to the motile cells, inhibiting their motion, it is extremely
you to quantitate
fficult to identify bcause
It used to be that making monoclonal antibodies was really black magic, but now that's gotten fairly
ing cure by removal futile. So the antibody itself may
commonplace. "The only bad thing about making monoclonal
of a given human tumor."
of its dilute concentration.
The media Mohler uses to slow down the active cells is highly concentrated to get a visible effect.
antibody, because the antibody allows you to visualize the protein. It allows you to purily iti it allows
i!
and it's the most sensitive and the most specific ol screens. It's an essential tool.
favorable in telling their neighbors not to spread. The tumor may therefore be cured by removal. If there isn't any of the protein, the tumor may be aggressive and have spread prior to diagnosis, mak-
have some application in determining the prognosis
we see the protein, but that's pretty common. A lot
antibodies is that it's a shot in the dark," he adds. "The hard part is to get the protein pure the first
Mohler says it is impossible to know how long it will take to develop his findings into any practical application. And he emphasizes that the uses of his
of things that are secreted are active at levels of
time.'After the protein is made pure lor the lirst
discovery do not include an actual cure for cancer.
micromoles to picamoles, so you're talking about
time, Mohler will be able to erperiment with pssible
If this research does, however, lead to limiting the
parts of millions to parts of billions."
uses for it. His research may prove useful in devel-
spread of cancer and to the early diagnosis of meta-
The researchers have narrowed the selection of proteins down by weight, ruling out certain proteins
oping a means of prognosis assessment and a treatment to inhibit the spread of metastatic cancer.
static tumors, it could be vital in the treatment ol cancer patients.
"The media is concentrated at least i00 times,'Smith says. "And we're still not sure that
I
E.N.D.E.A.V.O.R.S
12
Information Interns Graduate Students from the
khool of Information and Library
Science Work in
o
Special Enuhonment
by Scott Lowry
::ti,til:a.ti.
r,iiiitillq&!1 it,i,...r:].1l:41,'-j:
'lda:,'
*
ddly enough, one of the deepest economic downturns since the Depression helped
!
establish a valuable research and training program at UNC-CH s School of Information and
Library Science (SIIS). Back in
l}year tenure
1974, early
in his
as the school's dean, Edward Holley
talked with an administrator in the federal Environmental Protection Agency @PA) who wondered if Holley could hetp the agency. The EPA, which was merging libraies from three Southem states into one at Research Triangle Park, had run into a problem.
The new library had no librarians and the federal
hiring freeze imposed by President Nixon meant that only a head librarian could be hired. Money was available, however, t0 contract for service. Would the school be interuted in providing librarian
services?
"l was immediately interested," recalls Holley, now a William Rand Kenan professor, "because no dean ever ceases to worry about how to support students." Holley was also then looking for a way to provide graduate students with experience in realworld libraries. The proposed work-study progam
/;
,;
r.
'
rt,l' L
1: 5 r.! \! 'lli,;t
.,.
.""
looked to be a great way t0 meet both needs. A contract was signed, and by September 1974 eight students were working half time at the EPAs library The result has been acclaimed as one of the most innovative work-study programs among the nation's library science and information schools. It is one reason why the school is recognized as among the best in the country. And just last June,
the Special Libraries Association honored Holley, recognizing his pioneering roles in setting up the program and placing SIIS students in special libraries. These libraries are one of the most exciting
recent developments in library science. Tuned
to provide institutions with the information their researchers need when they need it, special libraries are evolving from traditional libraries into computerized information centers. "You don't last in [special] libraries unless you produce quickly and efficiently
and accurately," Holley says. "One of the characteristics of special libraries is that they care less about what it costs than that they get it nou;. II a researcher has an experiment going and really needs a piece of
ht lxlun
etnpktttng \tudutt ilterns ufler lpconunq heud
ltbrarrLLrt (11 \1LH\
information, this person is going to be losing time
that he or she could be spending more productively funtil the information is retrieved]."
E.N.D.E.ArVoO.R.S
The school's intemship program at the Environ
13
The increasing need for speed in inlormation
mental Protection Agency and the National Institute ol Environmental Health Sciences has given about
retrieval means that many tchniques being periected
200 graduate students handson experience with
and even public libraries in the near future. Like
the latest information techniques and equipment.
todays academic libruies, the LPA library in Research
Holley is excited that the program has grown to where
Triangle Park 18 years ago was predominantly printoriented. Now, computers give researchers there
it now supports between 14 and 18 students every year. "lt gives our students better training in an area that will increasingly affect all kinds of libraries, not just the special libraries,'he says. "The traditional
in special libraries will find their way into academic
quick access to a vast store of information from across the nation, even around the globe. Such technological advantages are beginning to trickle
intro
library is still a necessity, because most material
out to other libraries. Holley sees the recent
has never been converted to computerized informa-
duction of the first scholarly joumal published only in electronic form by the American ksociation for
tion. But clearly, if you're talking about information in the nanow sense, as iust things you want to Imow about, I think that increasing amounts are going
the Advancement of Science as the beginning of a
to be computerized." Intems do more than observe what's happening in the area of information and library science;
types of libraries.
they can actually help make things happen. About
expensive. Users are demanding faster and more
hall ol the progam's intems base their master's
comprehensive searches. Communication among
research paper on their experiences in the libraries. There they have what Holley calls "a ready-made
libraries and with clients is growing ever more critical.
flood of electronic reform soon to wash over all New methods will bring new problems. Necessary periodic updates of hardware and software are
laboratory'where they can study two of the hottest
But with their experience at special libraries, SILS graduates will be better prepared than graduates
topics in information and library science: how people
from other universities to hamess the energy of
access information, and the problems of organizing
this deluge of change.
materials. Holley notes too that interns help keep faculty members posted on the latest developments
in the fastpaced world outside academic libraries.
of us are unlikely to associate with the field, such as accounting firms or newspapers. And one 0r two
graduates, harbingers of things t0 come, have set up shop as information brokers, independent contractors who will lind information virtually anywhere for those who need it but lack the resources to find
it
themselves.
"The world ol information is changing, and
ou could say that Dav Robertson knows the LJNC{H internship programs at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and National (l\,llEHS)
libraries inside and out. He was a member of the first wave ol intems at the EPAs tibrary in Raearch Triangle Park in 1974. When he graduated with his
ally and specilically lor the research community," says Holley. "ln this school, we are a very important part ol [the effort to reach that goal], helping people who are conducting both basic and applied research Iind the information they need to carry out their
work.'I )uer the past decade, the khool of Information and Library kience has receiued $2,705,105,10 lor the intemship prcgram in a seies of contracts with the Enubonmental hotection Agenq.
The distribution of jobs SIIS graduates hold reflects this expertise. While many still find iobs in traditional libraries, Holley is proud that nearly hall
efits all parties involved: student intems, agency .As Iibraries and UNC{H professors. an intern,'he
says Robertson. "uNC is one of the very few schools
says, "l saw how a real library worls, I had worked
in a public library and an academic library as an undergraduate, but never h a tchnical 0r corporate
of technolory." As a library director, Robertson loola forward to the anival of the ne,w interns each year. "lt's like
intems every year since. Today, the intemship progam is so well respected among corporate libraries that almost all those in RTP employ at least one lormer intem,
done any better?' It keeps us 0n our toes, and that's what I like about it.' He is pleasd too that the winds
ln fact, Robertson notes that several past intems are presently directors of libruies in RT?. Quite
ol change blow both ways, with intems keeping their professors uptodate on how things are done
a contrast to the days when he and seven others
in the outside world. The ultimate goal of the intemship program is to better prepare students t0 meet the increasing
backlogged,' Robertson remembers. "We had to jump in and feel our way through. By the end of the Iirst year, we were caught up, and since then
it
[has
beenl iust keeping up with day-today requests and loohng ahead to the future.'
in
it continues to set the standard
1974, and
for other schools of inlormation and library science,
to ofler students experience worhng in a library. It really is a good illustration of how the federal govemment and a statesupported university can cooperate in a progam for the benefit ol
wuyone.'
I
library, what we call special libraries. Things are
took the iob of library director at the neighboring NIEHS. ln 1985, he brought intems to the NIEHS
boxes ol books, articles, interlibrary loan requests and literature search requests. "Everything was
it
began
done differently in special libraries, [which generalty] have more money and can stay on the cutting edge
walked into the new EPA library to find nothing but
The intemship program was unique when
students with something to put 0n their resume. Robertson appreciates the way the program ben-
master's degree in 1975, the library hired him as supervisor of student intems. Two years later, he
Iibrary, subcontracting through the EPA for three
it
is essential to have trained people who know how to exploit information for the good of society gener-
The program does much more than provide
Both Sides Now
lnstitute of Environmental Health Sciences
work in special libraries. Some are librarians for government agencies, many others work in medical Iibraries, still others work for employers that most
'It causes us to look at our ways of doing things and question, 'Could it be
a breath of fresh air,' he says.
challenges of libraries outside academia. Graduates work everywhere, Irom a bookmobile in Michigan to the bureaucratic mazes ol Washingon, D.C. But because their internship experience opens new
\i l
r,nr.
ri
l!
l1p
)1 1y:
/he
/irii.i
opportunities, Robertson says, an unusually large
Ir,ntlrls
proportion ol UNC{H graduates find work in special
llrt, \71'.H\ tilt lilmu'iun tlprL:
and academic libraries.
idcnl l/tlelrs ul tlte l:1,.\ ltlnu.y.
ylru1 l tl t r.u t t?
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llr
trtu tg un i s lt, lttttqhi
t irripii s.red u til t tl t,:
ltr btllt libnnt' utd
.slutlL'nls lfuLl
ptt1rturt ulk:t'bcconurt! ltewl
E.N.D.E.A.V.O.R.S
14
Eerie Voices "Twin Peaks"' Danid Lynch and German Romonticism by Lisa Blansett
f I I
Kuzniar presented one aspect ol her vision in a recent paper she read on campus, focusing on Lynch's strange television series "Twin Peak."
Kuzniar linds that David Lynch's worla play with puns on voices and hearing, blindness and
her your ear.
Some may best remember the series as the well-
An associate professor of German and comparative literature, Kuzniar listens for voices not
spring for cult media-mania, culminating in headline alter headline ashng "Who killed Laura Palmer?"
Heart,' plays with hearing sounds and seeing things in its very title. "[n 'heart'you have the word 'ear,'
only in written texts by German Romantic authors
as well as repeated images of the plastic-wrapped,
but also in more recent filmic texts, particularly the work of David Lynch, While latel8th- and early-
murdered woman around which the show ostensi-
f ruice Kuzniar tells you that she thinks you're hearing voices, you piobably don't need to take a mental health day. In fact, you should lend
lfth<entury German writers and contemporary
bly revolved. In her paper Kuzniar discussed how the series
seeing, One of Lynch's more recent films, "Wild at
but can't hear it in the pronunciation of'heart,'' Kuzniar says. And later, according to Kuzniar, when Laura Dern's character, Lula, says,'Wild at heart and weird on top," one can hear the sound 'ear' in the
'eir' of 'weird,' but you can't
see it.
filmmakers may seem an unusual merger, Kuzniar
isolated what is heard from what is seen. "Hearing
More play on the hearing/seeing conflict
finds that both groups tend to examine the grotesque
means not to see, to be blinded," she says. Kuzniar
comes in a scene from Lynch's "Blue Velvet," which
and arabesque, a resemblance which gives her a
discovered that in the series the woman's body
starred Dennis Hopper, Isabella Rossellini, I-aura
way of using one genre to read the other. "l am
served as a mediator or transmitter o[ messages.
Dern, and Kyle Maclachlan. A drug dealer named
trained as a German Romanticist," says Kuzniar, "and my interest in Romanticism indirectly led me
For instance, says Kumiar, "Lucy, the Sheriff's 0flice
Ben lipsynchs to Roy 0rbison's song "ln Dreams,'
receptionist, would relay phone messages in the
to David Lynch. There is a link-l see in any casebetween Lynch's work and the Romantics'uncovering of the darker side of human nature in response to the enlightenment." The German Romantics, says Kuzniar, also portray "very strange characters and
office and act as the voiceover for the commercial
in which one of the lines is, "l close my eyes.' *Dennis Hopper's "At the same time,' says Kuzniar,
break.'A character called the Log Lady can be read
character mouths the words to the song." Kuzniar
similarly as relayer, trarumitting enigmatic messages
suggests that this scene uses a form of what she
from the small log she canied constantly. The show's
calls "inverted ventriloquism." "The live person acts
central but always-absent character, Laura Palmer,
as the dummy while the song comes lrom a
tell very bizarre stories"-features they clearly share with Lynch.
remained as a voice, mimicked by a mynah bird and
She finds a discrepancy, then, between body and
rcorded 0n tapes. "The woman's voice,'says Kumiar,
voice and between sound and image. Kuzniar says
ln both the German Romantics'and Lynch's texts she has discovered the difference in ways that women's and men's voices are represented, discrep
"is fetishized and separated from the rest of her
other instances abound, citing examples ol voices
body, functioning as a surrogate for what remains hidden from view and thereby generating a power-
heard from other rooms, various images of blindness,
ancies between how women's voices and bodies are portrayed, and relationships between seeing and
ful longing lor a more complete revelation."
the cutoff ear Macl-achlan's character finds in a field.
hearing. "ln film, very often you'll hear a woman's
Kuzniar, the female characters are actually silenced.
Another line in the Orbison song caught Kuzniar's ear: "The candy<olored man they call the
voice scream ofl camera; in the next couple of shots,
"The woman is an object to look at, she cannot be
sandman." She heard the relerence to the sandman
you'll see a woman's body. A woman's voice becomes relegated to the body," says Kuzniar. "By contrast,
heard," she says. In preparation for the Miss Twin Peaks contest, Kuzniar explains, Audrey and Annie
writer
inspired an essay by Freud. "The essay called 'The Uncanny,"' remembers Kuzniar, "focuses on the problem of enucleation, or blinding, as a symbol of
While the woman's voice is highlighted, says
a male voice, such as you Iind in documentaries, is
learn speeches that were essentially constructed by
the voice of authority." While this formulation may
Ben Horne and .Agent Cooper, who coached the
at first seem to articulate a derogatory status of
women through their lines. These women function
difference for women and their voices, Kuzniar
only as ciphers to a masculine voice.
prefers to avoid this reading in favor of celebrating the difference of women and their voices. "l want to be able to read against the grain of seeing women
"Twin Peala"' men, on the other hand, are not empty vessels but powerful manipulators and
dcod
ers of lanEage. 0ff+creen male voices, says Kumiar,
pre
and the film's most powerful image of
tape.'
mutilation-
and immediately thought of the German Romantic E. T. A. Holfmann whose tale "The Sandman"
castration.' In the Hoflmann story, the main character Nathanael fears that his eyes will be gouged out .a by the Sandman. [n "Blue Velvet,'says Kuzniar, similar preoccupation with the eye and with blind-
cutoff ear.'She then
purely as victims; I don't think we always have to
"issue from a person, place or force that is
read the association of women's bodies and their
sumed to lmow more than any of the characters
finds a parallel play between the aural and the visual in
voices as detrimental."
but that periodically inhabits or possesses them." Giants and bach,vard/forward speaking midgets
Hoffmann's tale. "Nathanael hears things before he actually sees them,'she says. "Hearing seemed to
inhabit Agent Cooper's dreams, bringing him enig-
take preference over seeing, but hearing was never
matic messages from a realm beyond. And then
sufficient on its own; it had to be followed up by visual confirmation."
there is B0B, the source of evil who, in the last episode, finally possesses Agent Cooper.
ness transferred over into the
EoNoD.EoAoV.O.R.S
15
The visual and the aural, particularly gendered representations of sight and sound, ol body and
voice, surface in another German Romantic writer, Friedrich von Hardenberg. His novel, Heinich uon
)fterdingen,is abildungsromon, or novel of education, which chronicles the gfowth of a young poet. .But this poet doesn't actually ever compose anything," says Kuzniar. "The poetic voice belongs much more to the women he encounters." His
be
loved, Mathilde, appears in his dreams as a blue Ilowgr and speaks to him. While in "Twin Peals' women had functioned only as filters for messages, the women in Hardenberg's novel seem to be poetry incamate.
.The
male character, by contrast, has
become what the women already were in their very
essence,'says Kuzniar. "He has to undergo a sex change, so to speak.'In the novel's final lragments
(t{ardenberg died before he completed the novel), Heinrich tums into a rock, and like Mathilde, a speahng tree and flower.
Critia of Kumiar's work may
argue that woman
has always been seen as the muse or as iust a voice. But Kuzniar responds that in the German Romantic
texts, women are not simply inspiring the poets, "Rather,
it is the women who are sin$ng more than
the men,'says Kuzniar. Kuzniar finds the German Romantic tales to be more radical in their representations of women
and their voices than the representations Lynch -Twin
gives us, particularly in
Peak.'
Moreover,
Kuzniar wants to read the difference between how men and women are represented not as a "site of oppression," (a phrase she bonows from lilm theo rist Mary Ann Doane), but as a place ol expression. Alice Kuznior herin tolces
thereter
she goes. fiom lhe cinemu
lo the library's German literature sectitn
Kuzniar uses recent theories ol literature and film to analyze disparate texts. She combines both traditional and non-traditional worls with eclectic
'l want to be abre to read canonical worls in German literature from a feminist perspective approacha.
Dauid Lynch's worhs play with puns
on ooices and heaing .., )ne of Lynch's
and thus in a very noncanonical way. I don't believe
more recent films, "Wild at Heart,"
one has to dispense with the canon.' Kuzniar's work reveals to those who will listen, then, that
plays with heaingsounds and see@
there are dilferent ways to hear different voices.
things
in
its uery
title. 'In'heart' you haue
the word'ear,' brlt can't hear
it
in the ponunciation of 'heart."' -Alice
Kuzniar
I
E.N.D.E.A.V.O.R.S
l6
Minority Sclrolars Dirover a Wbdd Itylade fur
@
The Carolina Minoity Postdoctoral Fellowship Prcgram by Dottie Horn
0f
the 2,100 faculty members at
WC0H,
74 are
African-Ameican, 67 are Asian, 30 are Hispanic, and two are Natiue Ameicans.
In other words, eight percent of the faculty membe$ on camp$ are fiom minoity Wups. Six percent of tenured facuW members on campus are minoities, This sparse minoity representation, as reported in UNC{Hb Faculty Employment Review, is echoed in rcpofts from most uniuersities arcund the country. Four to five minority lellows come to
"Scholars who go through our program do
The Carolina Minority Postdoctoral FelIowship program is one way in which UNC-CH,
Chapel Hill each year after being selected from
along with the state legislature, which allocated
applicants from around.the country. "The
extremely well in terms ol negotiating iob offus,' adds Coleman.'They're at the best colleges and
money for the program, is combatting this low
awuds are targeted mainly to scholars in the
universities all over the country.'Former fellows
representation of minorities. The program, says
humanities and the social sciences, because
have accepted faculty positions at universities
Vice Chancellor lor Graduate Studies and Research
these are areas where people do not typically have access to postdoctoral fellowships like
including Duke, Wake Forest, the University of
people in the sciences do," says Coleman.
Angeles. To date, four of the approximately 30
In addition to conducting their scholarly worh fellows meet monthly to leam about campus
former fellows have returned to accept laculty
are intendd,'says Coleman, "to allow the fellows to publish a book from a dissertation or initiate
resources for research and coping with the
aggressive in taking advantage of the pool of
research projects s0 that when they accept faculty positions they will already have a head
minority faculty come and talk to the group
Mary Sue Coleman, provides a twoyear post doctoral experience to promising scholars. Fellows have the option of teaching one class during their two years at UNC{H, 'The two years
start on their research." A few of the fellows already have faculty positions at other colleges or universities when they are accepted into the Chapel Hill program.
realities of academic faculty lile.
.We
have senior
about being an assistant professor: 'What is academic life all about? How do you survive? How do you get tenure?'We have some very practical discussions about the pressures that are put 0n people when they become faculty
members,'says Coleman. The meetings also function as a support group: 'We use it as an opportunity to talk about the research that everybody's doing-who's published a paper, who's negotiated a book contract.
"The
tuo yea$ are
intended to sllow
the fellows to publish a booh from a disertation or initiate research projects so that when they accept faculu
positbns they will already haue a head start
on their research."
-Mary
Sue Coleman
Michigan and the University ol Califomia at Los
positions at UNC-CH.
*We
need to be more
successful academics we've helped create,' says Coleman. "lf we're going to be recruiting Iaculty, we can look to that pool and recruit them back to Chapel Hill.'
E.N.D.E.AoV.O.RoS
17
Television as a Looking Glas?
A I I \-/
n terelrsron. Alacan-Amercans are
on.n casr rn negarve r,les, rncru.rng arun dealers, viilenr criminals, absent
or irresponsible fathers, unsupportive and unfaithful partners, and buffoons, says Patricia Clark, Carolina minority postdoctoral fellow in psychology. There are also positive images ol African-Americans on television, including those presented by "The Cosby Show' and "Reading Rainbow" Clark is studying how portrayals of African-American characters on television affect the self+teem of black children. "Black children watch more television than any other group in American society," says Clark,
adding that 0n average, black children watch eight hours of television a day. "Television may
ilf't *
function as a looking glass for black children,' says
Clar[ xplaining that it may provide children
Dan Sears
images from which they draw conclusions about
how to view themselves. Her UNC{H disserta-
tion used a novel methodology to determine how television affects black children's sell esteem. "lnstead of looking at merely the number ol hours
of television that children watched, I also had a group of raters rate the content of the programs watched,'says Clark. "According to how the black characters were portrayed, the programs were rated as positive, negative, neutral or absent.
Absent meant that there were no black characters in the program." Studying 72 black fourthgraders, Clark measured self+steem using a standardized questionnaire. Clark's study yelded a surprising finding, she says. "lt wasn't so much the negative programs
that seemed to be important for selfesteem. It was more the absent programs. The more black children watched television programs with no black characters, the lower their selfrsteem,' says Clark. Moreover, higher self+steem was
found in children who watched programs with positive portrayals of black characters. Clark is now planning a number of future studies, which will examine questions including how black children interpret the absence of black characters;
the relationship between television, depression and anxiety in black children; and how schools can intervene to improve children's self-esteem.
I
l.rt
tttttL'
( lttt,, ;r,s 1,',1i
Cell Watching uring heart surgery or a heart attack,
scope, Chacon and LeMasters were able to
blood stops flowing through some blood
prove that the pH in the mitochondria is higher
vessels, either because of a surgical
than in the rest of the cell. Furthermore, they discovered that as soon as this pH difference in
clamp or the heart's malfunctioning. The tissue normally fed by these blood vessels receives a dereased oxygen supply and often dies. If scien-
the mitochondria is lost, the cell begins to die. Chacon and LeMasters have been able to
tists can understand more prcisely what causes
observe such changes in cells because of the
these cells to die, they may also leam how to
confocal microscope. This microscope has more
make cells suMve.
capabilities than conventional microscopes,
Keeping cells alive is among the goals of
says Chacon. Because fluorescent dyes are
Enrique Chacon, former Carolina minority postdoctoral fellow in pharmacology and toxicology.
bright and thus easily detectable, conventional
'We want to try to find ways that we can circunr
for example, the amount of hydrogen ions in
vent or delay cell death by intervening with the
cell. However, conventional microscopy has
biochemical processes,' says Chacon. He worked
with professor of cell biology and anatomy John
limits. "ln conventional microscopy," explains Chacon, "you're looking through the entire
LeMasters.
thickness of a cell. Since fluorescence is a light
Chacon's particular interest is in the
mito
chondri4 the main enery-producing components within the cell. "They're like little miniature nuclear reactors within each cell," says Chacon,
microscopy has used them as markers to measure, a
it fluoresces in all directions. You don't krow exactly where that fluorescence is coming source,
from.'Mth
a conventional microscope, you
could determine that the concentration of hy-
adding that there are several hundred of them
drogen ions in a cell had increased, but not in
in each cell. of the mitochondria. Ions are elements such as
what parts of the cell it had increased. The confocal microscope, however, can be used to de tect fluorescence within a cross-sectional slice
calcium and hydrogen that play vital roles in cells.
of a cell. "You can reject a lot of the outo[focus
Hydrogen ions, for example, are responsible for
fluorescence,' says Chacon. "You increase your
pH. Prior to work done by Chacon and lJMasters,
detection limits to a much smaller range.
Chacon studies ion movements in and out
it had been proposed that the pH in the mito
"Now, we're able to see as the cell progresses
chondria was at least i pH unit higher than the pH in the rest ol the cell. [n other words, the
occur," says Chacon. "We're actually getting
concentration of hydrogen ions was geater in
these changes as they're occuring, and that's
the mitochondria than in the rest of the cell.
never been achieved before."
Using an instrument called the confocal
micro
into the cell injury and different ion movements
I
E.N.D.E.A.V.O.R.S
l8
The Politics of an
African Harvest
f I I
n
areas where people could still farm. This ar-
countries can gain money to invest in develop
rangement had been going on between these
ment, agriculture is critical to these countries'
two villages for decades."
economies. However, many Alrican countries have difficulties producing enough crops t0
Bowen, who is on leave from her position
1983. durinp the harvest season in
Mozambique,
as an assistant professor of political science at
f.tlo*
one moming, she went to the local cooperative's
the University of Illinois, Urbana{hampaign, hopes to complete a book manuscript based on her dissertation research while at UNC{H. She
field. She had lived in this particular village,
Iound the visiting harvesters ol particular interest.
production can be increased. Those who say farmers are interested only in subsistence pro duction recommend that states impose their
called IIha Josina Machel, Ior nearly three years
Her book, to be called Slcte, Class, Gender und
policies. Those who say {armers are market
and was surprised to find some unfamiliar people
Rural Deuelopment: The Politics of Cooperotiues
harvesting the maize. Because she was studying
oriented argue that the state needs to intervene less and allow the market to determine prices.
the cooperative, she asked the cooperative's
in Mozambique, looks at theoretical questions about the potential and perlormance of a coop
president about the unlmown harvesters. Bowen
erative development strategy. Mozambique
While Bowen was conducting her research, the Mozambican government was fixing prices at
recalls that he explained, "'These people come
followed such a stratery from 1975 to 1984, when
below-market levels.
from the border, close to South Alrica, from a
the country switched to a capitalist strategy.
village many miles away."' It would have taken
The unknown harvesters Bowen observed in the field that morning provided a concrete ex-
tarolina minority postdoctoral Merle Bowen was gathering informa-
tion lor her political science dissertation. Early
at least two days ol travel to reach the village, called Mapulanguene, says Bowen. "The people
in Mapulanguene were experiencing severe drought, but they had heard that the village
export. Social scientists and development experts have speculated as to how agricultural
What Bowen determined, alter asking
ample that she could use to evaluate a theoretical debate about how peasant farmers view
questions about the visiting harvesters in the field that morning, and after observing many other incidents during more than three years of
field research, was that these particular farmers wanted both to market their crop and to main-
where Iwas lMng had food," Bowen remembers.
surplus agricultural production. Political scientists have two dominant
"Even though there are no phones and transport
theories, says Bowen. "One is that rural producers
The cooperative's farmers remained loyal to
is difficult, there are ways that people communi-
the "traditional" aflangement Bowen obsprved
cate. The president of the cooperative explained
are not concerned about producing for the market, but just want to produce enough Ior
that during periods of llood, the village where
subsistence. Family ties or cultural values are
I was living was usually inundated. And when
considered more important to them than market
it meant reworhng their plans to save maize for winter food and for the next year's seed. However,
this happened, the people sought communities
the decadesold arrangement between the two villages had also been modified. "Historically,'
Now, there was a period of drought, and so the
incentives," says Bowen. "The other theory is that rural producers are very market oriented." The theories are important because they
people lrom Mapulanguene came to the village
carry with them recommendations lor agricul-
outside village just to harvest the maize in or-
where Iwas living because it was one of the few
tural policy. One of the Iew ways in which African
der to keep some of it, but now, they also have
that were higher up, including Mapulanguene.
tain their longstanding tie with the other village.
between the two villages. They did so even though
Bowen says, "it was enough for those from the
to pay lor it. That's an indication of how the .4
qlrl frnnsporls uutet outtile ol a .\kt:arrtbicun
a
a()(
)per\tite
tillule (.unhnu miuuil'
postrlottruul
felku Merle
money economy has permeated even 'tradilJoLten
tional' family survival strategies." The theoretical debates Bowen was study-
deL,ek.)pnlent shuleg.
ing encompass more than the debate over how peasant farmers regard larming, Bowen's research went to the heart of a related longstanding debate
in political science, namely, the role ol the state in agricultural policy and rural development. While the Mozambican government pursued a cooperative development strategy, the state imposed agricultural policy on farmers without their input, and farmers resisted that policy. "Covernment officials would show up in rural communities and just tell the people that they were supposed to larm collectively," says Bowen. "Sometimes they'd appear with the seed for the collctive fields.'lhe peasants were never
clear what the state's responsibilities were in regards to this field. 0ften, when there was a
harvest, the state wouldn't provide the transportation to pick up the produce, so much of it would rot. After a period ol time, peasant larmers just let these lands go fallow." 1';
A-t6nio Mucnave. Coudesy Agencra de l-lorna9ao de Mogambrque
E.N.DrE.A.V.O.R.S
Bowen found that it was not,ust state enors
in
plicy or peasant frustration and
lack of interest
that impeded cooperative development. Local conflicts also interfered with the state's plan. Bowen was in Mozambique as part of a team sent
out by the country's Ministry of ,Agriculture to live in villages and help them develop cooperative farms. The Mozambican govemment required
that Bowen contribute in some way to the country's development in exchange for being allowed to do research in the country Her position
on this team gave her a singular opportunig to observe the process of a cooperative's Iormation. "We had to have many meetings to talk
about how to farm collectively," says Bowen. She recalls some of the questions that had to be
decided in these meetings: How was the harvest
to be distributed? What happened il a member did not show up on the day he or she was sup posed to farm for three hours? 'All these questions are usually discussed perhaps within a family, or perhaps just the man in the family makes those decisions,'says Bowen. [n one of the cooperatives Bowen observed, these questions had t0 be discussed among some 175 members. Bowen remembers one meeting spent discussing what to do about a man in the coop erative who had threatened to beat one of the cooperative's leaders who was a w0man."That's not something that you think about when you're talking about rural development or the economics of cooperative production,'says Bowen. "These issues came up at meetings that were supposed to discuss cooperative development, but in fact were discussing many issua in society.' Bowen says that her work challenges the
orthodox view among political scientists and rural development experts. The orthodox view is that less state intervention in agricultural policy is the answer to African rural development. Bowen argues that state policies can succeed
il they take into account local realities, "Many times one had to actually be there to see things, and that's why it was important to llue at the village level for a long period of time,' says Bowen. She says that we need many more localized studies to understand why some policies do not succeed.
I
t9
Did the Ancients Make Housecalls? s he searches for a solution to this
country's health care delivery problems, Bill Clinton might look to the work of Hector Avalos for a historical perspective. A Carolina minority postdoctoral fellow in reli$ous
studies, Avalos has compared the health care systems of four ancient cultures: Israel, Greece, Mesopotamia, and the
Hittita of ancient Turkey
He has eramined questions including the options
patients had, the level of state responsibility for the ill, and laws conceming the ill, Yet looking back does not produce obvious solutions to present questions, says Avalos. "We haven't learned to totally dominate these problems and probably never will," he says. Avalos cites our country's current delib erations about govemment responsibility for health care. He relates how these earlier societies
grappled with the same issues, between the years 2500 B.C,E. and
lffi
C.E. @efore
the Common
Era and Common Era are used by scholars as
religiously neutral equivalents of B.C. and AD.) "There were a whole range ol approaches to socially and economically burdensome populations,' says Avalos, focusing on the ancient states'
Health care needs are always changrng
soys
Hector
At,alos, a Carolina minority postdoctoral fellrru in
rel(ious sludles. ,4uo/os hos studied hctu ancient societtes prouided health core.
thought there were only about 150 years left till the end ol the world," says Avalos. "During that
built temples where the ill could go to be healed.
l50yeu period, he as a Christian had to convert all the lands that had not yet converted to Christianity. That was the reason that he was going off to distant lands.' Since coming to UNC{H, Avalos has writ-
In Israel, particularly after 500 B.C.E., the state
ten and presented a paper on Columbus' beliefs.
shunned responsibility for the chronically ill,
However, his primary interest remains ancient
exiling them to outside of their communities.
health care systems. "My interest exists partly
attitudes toward the chronically ill. In Meso potamia, he says, there were laws that families had to care for elderly or chronically ill members.
ln Greece, the state as well as societal groups
passed, the health care issues themselves seem
ill patient," he says. "l have chronic respiratory problems. I've seen
chronic, and solutions do not jump out at us from the past. "Health care needs are always
all kinds of problems that an individual in our society has, so I'm trying to go back and see
changing," explains Avalos. Fresh problems are
what it was like then as well."
Despite the thousands of years that have
caused by new diseases such as AIDS, and by new treatments, such as lilesustaining tchnolory.
Avalos has used his postdoctoral fellowship to erpand the dissertation on ancient health
care systems he wrote at Harvard University. His UNC{H research has also included a num-
ber ol smaller projects. "0ne of the main things I like about the Carolina postdoctoral fellowship,' he says, "is that it allows you enough time to expand your interests and develop proficiency in other areas." One of Avalos' smaller projects has been to learn more about beliefs conceming
the end of the world. He is particularly interested
nThe Booh of
Ptophecies, Christopher Columbus'
collection of Biblical passages which supported his eflorts to seek out other lands. "Columbus
because I'm a chronically
I
E.NrD.EoAoV.O.R.S
20
Slave History
lhrough
Advertisements lave owners had an astonishing amount of knowledge about their slaves, says Freddie Parker, Carolina minority post-
doctoral fellow in history. Parker has collected every single advertisement for a runaway slave published in a North Carolina newspaper between
the years 17i5 and 1840. Consider an ad which ran in the Tarboro
Press
on August 24, 1839,
which indicated not only the slave's height,
age
and complerion, but that he had "a good set of
*wel[
lived, they were less familiar with the outside
owners in another state, Parker believes that
world than men, who were frquently hired out to
the majority of the runaways stayed in North Carolina. "According to the owners, only about
work in other cities or states, and who were more often given passes to visit friends or obtain
10 percent of those
who fled were headed for
free states," adds Parker.
supplies.
Parker says that some scholars have
Some female slaves, however, did run, sometimes carrying their children with them.
0f
found that slaves ran away more frequently
110 were children. Parker even found 18 women
during the months belore and during the busy harvest season. "They have written that slaves
who ran while pregnant. In such cases, the own-
ran away essentially to rid themselves of work,
ers were careful to list how far advanced the pregnancy was. Half of these prEnant women
not to find freedom or loved ones, but because
were in their third trimester.
this previous work, Parker found that incidents
the 2,800 slaves described in the advertisements,
they were just
lzy,'
says Parker. Contradicting
of running away were almost equally distributed
Most of the slaves ran away to be with
provided with clothing," teeth" and was .a including very good blue plaid cloak" Accord.0wners
loved ones from whom they had been separatd,
their power t0 get people to recognize their
that stands out in the advertisements is 'lurking,"'he explains. "0wners were careful to say,
away to avoid
Sarah ran away. Her husband was taken to Pitt
slaves ran away for only short periods of time.
County It is probable that she is lurhng there.'
"Those scholars," says Parker, "have attempted
Living and hiding near loved ones, lurking
to deny the existence of the slaves' desire to be free. They say that slaves ran iust to get away for a few days and then come back." ln contrast, Parker found that, on average, the first adver-
ing to Parker,
were doing everything in
absconded human property.'Owners included in ads details of their slaves' scars, whether caused
by whips, brands, or burns, and such details as cropped ears or unusual configurations of toes. "lt was amazing that slave owners were so keenly aware of the ma.keup ol their slave's anatomy," says Parker.
usually
by
among the months and the seasons.
work',' adds Parker.
Some scholars have argued that most
meant that a runaway could visit with them at night. Since slaves were usually sold to owners in
another North Carolina county rather than to
0n leave from his position as an associate professor of history at North Carolina Central Universis, Parker has completd one book manuscript since becoming a postdoctoral fellow at
UNC{H and is at work finishing another. His first book, Runningfor Freedom: Slaue Runaways in North Carolina, 177il40, published in February
1993, ls a descriptive history. His upcoming
threevolume book will be published in Juty
1993. It
will contain only his raw data the advertisements themselves, not only all }3ffi advertisements he found for the period 177!1840, but also later advertisements heis still collecting. "Very little has been written about slavery
in North Carolina," says Parker. "l didn't think I would find very many advertisements bcause nobody had written anything before.' The 2,300 advertisements he found included inlormation about 2,800 runaway slaves. "l am amazed at the information that's contained in one small
advertisement,'says Parker. "lt allows you to peer not only into the slaves themselves, but into slavery as a whole in North Carolina' Parker's findings present a vivid profile
ol runaways and slavery in North Carolina For example, 82 percent of the runaways were male. Parker believes that women ran away less often
partly because they typically became pregnant between the ages of 15 and 17. Women were given responsibility for caring for children, and running away with them was more difficult than running alone. In addition, because women rarely Ieft the farm or plantation where they
"l have not
one case where an owner said that 'John ran
a sale, Parker found. "The one word
Courlesy NC Colletion, Wilson Library
S 50 Reward. RANAWAY from ths Subscriberon thc l0tlr Fehruary last, Lwo degro men,
LUKE
a,?Ld
CA'I
O.
LUKB ir a neg,ro of low Btature, wlth r full hetrl of hair, large wlri.-^kers, entl has lost sofne r.rf hrs front teeth. CATO is of the ordillary sizer uâ&#x201A;Ź. ry trlaclr complexicn, and has also lost sorne of his frorrt teeth i when spoken to, has rather sn imnertinerrt ws}, of expregsing binrself. The Subscriber will give $35 tor the appre. hension aud delivery to lrer, of eitherof the eaid 'Regroes, or $ 5U firr'borh.
DELIA HAYWOOD.
Rrleigh, Dlarch
15.
1?4 4t.
This trdttertiserrtent apppafi h the l[arch /,i. 1&]i rssue of riie North Carolina Standard, a Roleigh neuspaper A Cuolina nLinoit postdrxkua[ felktu in hislon: Frcddie Purher collected runau,a-y slaue aduerttsements bl culling the nearlv 100 extanl neutspapers pubtshed in ,\orth Cunlimt betueen the y"ears li75-1840.
E.N.D.E.A.V.O.R.S
dx rn
21
Confron ting Hormones and
I3EITAIID.-RANA!\IAY
lrom the sub. about the first of January [3st, ltrur E CU sctitrer r,egroes, lo rgit. a negro l'elloq, QALITIX, a- bright lnulatlo, about lrventy-flve years of age, aboul {iue l'cef flt'e or slx ioches htgh, ratliet'stout, hs hus Emall EP{}ts orr his fnce resembling rhe pustules trccasioned by tlre small pcrx, he ha.r a dtr'wn caci. louk but when spoken trr epeat<i rather qoick, he can wrile a legrble hrnd, arrd lre hts a brothEr that caa write a very good hand, The probabiliry is, he hrs obtaioett a ltee pasr* and rnay be trying to Pars ae r free tnalt, \l'[refe he isnot knowo, or may be endeasoring !o get to some free
Hypertension haped like a pecan, but bigger, is how James Boone describes the rat brain.
More precisely, the rat brain is an inch long, hall an inch high and threequarters of an inch wide, says Boone, a Carolina minority postdoc-
toral fellow in exercise science and physiology. For Boone, the brain is a model for understanding how a human brain changes when a person develops high blood pressure or hypertension. Hypertension places an increased burden on
Stare.
lltlCHAEL, is a negro vomen abrrut thirty 1'ears o[ age, rrther dark mulatto, aud has a very bold and rnas' culine sountenance. She carried on a c[ild, ]lARy, about twelve months of age, the ctriid coulcl walk whea
the heart and blood vessels and can result in
she left.
enkephalin. Metenkephalin is known to be involved in regulating blood pressure. Boone's
congestive heart failure, kidney failure, stroke and coronary artery disease. Boone's interest is the hormone
LEytl,, ie a bright mulatto about sevenieen -r'ears o[ agl, she has a very pleasing (.)unte04t1c(r rpeaks ruililly when in cornmro curversation.*iu shrirl, lhe t. bove negroes &re
theory is that a person develops high blood pressure bcause ol the body's dcreased produc-
sll of one furnily.
tion of metrnkephalin. To test this hypothesis, Boone is studying how the rat brain's producilon
is oxpected they are lurking about llobert W. llcI(irrn's, in Johrrson Cuuuty, where all thcir relations live, or about.the erots road.*, in \Vayue C<.runty, neor James E reritt, $ilas Casey, aud r.rthers, where lhey \t'ere
h
of metrnkephalin changes as the rat develops hypertension. Boone studies a strain of hypertensive rats.
raired.
'Their hypertension be$ns at about
The above rervtrd will be given for the delivery of the negroes to lne, or their beiog confined in lail so thrr I get them again. s
ol age," says Boone.
ircl( I NN' u -13;*ll
Tlirsrrrl,,r'fr:t,rrir,rilrirr'tlilrliriii'rl,,11
l/111
t' ili/
12 weela
become progessively
provide a model ol hypertension development, says Boone. He studies some of the rats' brains at age four weeh, before the rats develop hyper-
tension. He studies the rest of the rats'brains at age 14 weela, alter the hypertension has developed. At both ages, he measures how much
Coudesy Nonh Carolina Collection, Wilson Library
\11i11,,111111,1.r1itr1u(1{11/tt1/t.\itfitll\/rl.\1tt/l'.\,t)/1.\'\/(r/1/i'(tlllli')l'ttt\t)ttl\1.'1,'
.They
more hypertensive untll they ultimately die from hypertension-related problems.' These rats
: oJ#*,td |F.The Editore of the Fayettcvill .fournal, IVrlmington Adverti"er end Ncwtlrq gpeetator, will rnreit till forbid and send their eccounts to tbc oftee of the N. Q. Staodqrd.'
1tray n eshpro r rn,
met
,r\
/i, iri\1rri/11'\ortitt;rrolitt;r5l,tttrlir.ii
of a genetic message dictating the production of metenkephalin is present in the cells. In more scientific terms, he measures the expression ol
proenkephalin, which is the gene that makes met+nkephalin.
tisement for a runaway slave appeared 60 days after a slave's disappearance. "There were many
skilled slave,' says Parker. Sixteen percent of the 2,800 runaways Parker studied were shlled
Boone's aim is not only to prove that de creased met+nkephalin production is respon-
advertisements placed a year after the slave ran away, 0r two or three years," says Parker. This
in occupations including carpentry and shoe
sible for high blood pressure, but also to pinpoint which areas ol the brain are involved
length of time indicates not only that slaves were
women, and their shlls were in sewing, cooking
not escaping just t0 get away for a few days, but
or weaving, says Parker. In most cases, Parker was not able to discover what finally happened to the 2,800 runaways he studied. "l wish all slave owners
also indicates the slave's value to the owner, says Parker. "We're talking about an investment gone
down the tubes," he says.
In
1800, Parker explains, a healthy male
slave would sell for $3tD$35r0, and by 1850, this
making. Only five of the skilled runaways were
would have placed an advertisement in the news-
in hypertension. 0nce these regions are determined, he wants t0 implant tissue or genes that would produce met-enkephalin into those parts of a rat brain. The result, he suspects, would be the disappearance of the rat's high blood pressure. The ultimate result, he hopes, may be that
paper telling us what happened to the slave,'
physicians can someday implant humans with
Iigure had risen to $1,200. Parker found that,
he says. However, even if knowledge of the fate
tissue or genes which would make hyperten-
from 177!1840, the average reward o{fered for
of the individuals he studied has been lost, Parker has provided a glimpse of their lives,
sion, just like that, disappear.
a runaway was $24. More was usually oflered
lor shlled slaves, who made more money lor
the world they tived in, and the quests they
the owner. "l have a few cases where owners were
made in running away.
willing to pay more than $200 in reward for
a
I
I
;11
!'l
\,
and limits of freedom after emancipation in 1863.
To help understand their response to freedom, he uses as a vehicle the evolution of the Meth-
odist church in the years following emancipation. The book he completd while a postdoctoral
fellow at UNC{H, tentatively titled 7he limes Were Strange and Stining will be published by Duke University Press
in
1994.
Hildebrand explains why he chose to study
the Methodist church. The various Methodist denominations, he explains, fell into three groups: the Airican Methodists, the Southem Methodists and the Northern Methodists. All of the groups were nearly identical in their theolo gies. What each group used as its unique selling
point in recuiting the newly freed was its answer to the question: How are black men and women going to
fit into the new society?
Hunter's answer to this qustion was typical
of the African Methodist approach. Hildebrand
cdls their approach the'gospel of freedom.' Slavery had encouraged blacls to believe themselves inferior, Hildebrand says, and the Alrican Methodists confronted that notion by vigorously
encouraging pride among blacls. Nearly all the African Methodists were black, and blach occupied virtually all the powerful positions in their Coudosy Nonh Carolina Stato Archives
Built in 1M344, the Centenary Methodst Church in Nea Bem, pictured here, uas standinq in the post<manciptttion era. During this era, different branches of the Methodist church actruely recruited the nerLtly freed blach men and unmen as memfur, each using as
its
unique selltng Wint its oision of hou blacks uould fit inkt the changLng uriery*.
churches. The Southem Methodist denominations preached what Hildebrand calls the 'new paternalism.'The only blacla in this group were those
in the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church,
The Gospel of Freedom
He was trying to give them new ideas about what freedom was going t0 mean. He himsell in
founded in 1870 as an offshoot ol the white Southern Methodist Church. The blacla in this denomination felt it was safest not to go beyond
f I I
the pulpit was a symbol ol what the new black
what whites accepted, though they thought
man was supposed to be.
they could manipulate those limits. Mediating lreedom through linls to powerful Southern
t was February
1865, near the end of the
CivilWar. The Union army had just occupied
Wilmingon, North Carolina. 0n the first
"He succeeded in recruiting about twothirds
Sunday after the occupation, Union officer William
of the black members of that congregation to
whites, the Colored Methodists asked whites to
H. Hunter went to Wilmingon's Front Street
become members ol the AME church," says
help set up their schools and edit their newspaper.
Methodist Church, wearing his military uniform. Hunter was an African Methodist Episcopal (AME) minister and one of the first two black
Hildebrand, adding that many ol the blacks in the congregation had never before seen a black person who was not in a subservient position.
Northern Methodist denominations were proponents of what Hildebrand calls 'anti-caste
chaplains in the Union army. The Front Street
Hunter addressed the congregation under the
ward a society in which race was insignificant.
Methodist Church housed a Southern Methodist
authority ol an order issued by Union Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, which allowed representatives of churches loyal to the Union to occupy the church buildings of disloyal denominations
,As
congregation, including whites and several hun-
dred blacks. 0nce the church seMce had begun, Hunter
radicalism.' Northem Methodists worked
to
the only integrated Methodist churches, they
recruited whites as well as blacla, and attempted
to establish equality within the domain of the church. The African Methodist church was by lar
walked from the back of the church to the front. "lndicating that he was a man of power, he took
or ministers.
the seat that was usually occupied by the minister," says Reginald Hildebrand, a former
was typical of the postcmancipation era, says
lreed black men and women, says Hildebrand.
Hildebrand. All over the South in the years fol-
The African Methodists recruited five times as
Carolina minority postdoctoral fellow in history. "At some point in the service he got up and
Iowing emancipation, Methodist churches of all
many members as the Colored Methodists, and the Northem Methodists recruited twice as many
addressed the blacks in the congregation. He
Such recruitment by Methodist ministers
denominations actively recruited the newly freed black men and women. Now an assistant
the most successlul in recruiting the newly
members as the Colored Methodists. The rela-
in the North, about a black man who had been
professor of history at Williams College in Massachusetts, Hildebrand is interested in how
tive popularity of the three different stances provides insight into hopes and fears regarding
admitted to the bar before the Supreme Court.
black men and women viewed the possibilities
freedom following emancipation.
talked to them about blacks in prominent psitions
I
Student Research
23
SCHOLARTY PI.JRSUIS Southem whites also said that they were justified
The Iire of Intoler:ance
f I I
n the middle of the night on February 21, 1898,
in lynching in many cases because, as they claimed or insinuated, the victim had raped or made sexual
a group of men set fire
advances to a white woman. Joel Wlliamson, a IJNC{H
to the post office in the
small town of Lake City, South Carolina.
Frazier Baker, the postmaster, and his family lived in the post office. As the Bakers woke up and began screaming while trying to escape the burning building, the men outside started shooting through the
post office walls. When the shooting was over, the postmaster and his twoyearold daughter had been hlled, and three of the postmaster's children had been seriously wounded. Almost a hundred years later, David Carter, a
rcent baccalaureate graduate from [JNC{H,
argues
in his honors thesis in history that this lynching, though part of a whole culture of white Southem
asking for this postmaster to be removed," he explains. "They had mostly minor administrative complaints, but the first thing on their list was, 'He is impolite to ladies.'You see this with other black
history professor who served as Carter's adviser,
postmasters in the South too. Whites are honified
argues in his book The Crucible ofRace that a terror
that white women are going to have to go into this post office run by a black man, and there are fears that his black friends will be there.' Southern whites also often said that they condemned lynching in the abstract, though they did defend the right to lynch a black rapist. Because of this caveat and the solidarity among whites, their condemnation of any particular lynching was rare.
of black men raping white women sprang up among 1890s, perhaps in response to the severe
whites in the
agricultural depression in that decade. Many histo rians have found evidence that the actual incidence of this type of rape was exaggerated in newspapers of the day. Carter wanted to find out how the Baker
lpching fit into the framework of rape accusation,
The Baker case was extraordinary because whites
whether Baker was ever charged with rape. 'The more
publically condemned other whites for the lynch-
I looked, there was an element there," says Carter.
ing. It was because of this condemnation that the
'The whites in the town sent a petition to Washington
case attracted Carter's attention.
violence against blacks, is in many ways unique. As Carter used newspapers and lederal documents
to put together the details of the tynching and the resulting trial, he was particularly interested in the mindset of whites in this culture. 'l'm fascinated by this whole period because it's like temporary insanity," says Carter. Although many people associate lynching with han$ng, it actually refers to any time a mob takes a person's Iife. "ln the Baker case," Carter says, 'the lynchers are shooting, but other lynchings involve gruesome mutilations and castrations. In some instances, it becomes a camival atmosphere of violence, where spectators are coming and whites are going to
teach blacls a lesson by having this one example.
In
1916, in Tennessee, they actually hang a circus elephant that has gone 0n a rampage and killed somebody. They can't shoot the elephan! that's not
good enou$. They bring in a railroad crane and hang
this elephant.' The incidence ol tynching peaked in the 1890s,
and the festivalJike lynchings occurred more frequently duing this decade than at any other time in the South. Although lynchers saw their gruesome
punishments as suitable to the crimes committed,
in many cases, the crimes were nonexistant, says Carter.
Althou$ not all lynchings involved hundreds
or thousands ol onlookers, the average lynching, which might attract 20 or 30 spectators, was still conducted during daylight and with the approval of the white community. As Carter sorted out how the Baker lynching I
resembled and differed from other lynchings ol the
O
o
zl
time, he kept in mind what Southem whites were
i
saying about lynching in general. For example,
,9
!
'respectable' whites tended to dismiss lynchers .poor white trash'who were outsiders in the as community where the lynching took place, "ln some
oo E .c
I
,9 I E
instances, I think that was true,'says Carter. But, in
the Baker case, Carter discovered that the whites thought to be involved in the lynching were neither prominent members of the community nor the
o
poorest whites, but rather merchants, shopkeepers and small farmers.
ln the
1890s South, u,hltes often allended h,nchinqs to
enjol the
carniuaL-like atmosphere
E.N.D.E.A.V.O.R.S
24
Normally, lynching was reserved for men.
footprints," says Carter. For example, the town's
Both whites and blacks decried the Baker lynching
white doctor said that he made house calls to two
lic lynchings. After some ll,nchers were brought to trial, whites were n0 longer certain that they would
because women and children were either shot at or
of the accused 0n the night of the lynching. They
not be held accountable for lynching. And so lyrch-
killed. Inherent in the whites'fear of rape, says
could not have been outside that night, the doctor
Carter, is the idea that raping a white woman breaks
testified, because they were sick in bed with the flu.
ing became, according to Carter, "small numbers of people killing in the dead hours of the night."
up the family, which is considered sacred, [n the
When the doctor was asked for a record of the
Lynching became hdnapping or breaking into homes
Baker case, the tables were turned, and white men
house calls, he claimed the book with his records
had broken up a black family. In addition, there was no justification whites could claim for the lynching:
was lost. Instead, he brought in a ledger recording
and killing victims quickly, usually without the torture that was common in the public lynchings. "Something that happens quietly in the middle
whatever fears had existed, there was n0 accusation 0r
the case to trial. Northem blacks, Carter explains,
this ledger was ludicrous, with erasures and things crossed out," says Carter. One accused man who did not claim to be sick on the night of the lpching said that he was fishing in the middle of a lake. "[ don't know the fishing
saw this lynching as a window, their best opportu-
habits of South Carolinians at the tum of the century.
suggestion that Baker had raped a white woman.
The lynching was also unusual because the federal government became involved and brought
his expenses. "According to everything I've read,
nity to press lor prosecution of a lynching. In those
It didn't ring true t0 me," says Carter. "The defense
it appeared that a black man may have
didn't even put up an alibi for one of the defendants. I think they took it for granted that a white jury was
cases where
raped a white woman, blacla tended not to publicly protest a lynching. Many people, both black and white, believed that there were an increasing number of black rapists. "But, Baker seemed like such a clearcut instance of an innocent victim," Carter
of the night is much easier to forget,' says Carter.
"l looked at the Baker case as one of the first instances of what becomes the trend in the South, which goes all the way up into the 50s and 60s and beyond,'Carter says, refening to
lated$t
lynchings.
The Baker lynching was quickly forgotten
never going to convict." The defense's closing arguments, says Carter, urged that it was not these eight
by protesters, by Washingon olficials, and also by historians, says Carter. So little had been written about the case that some of Carter's professors thought he would not be able to find enough information to write an honors thesis on it. ksisted by
men but white supremacy that was on trial.
a grant from the UNC{H Parents' Council, Carter
In the lew instances when lynching cases were
traveled to Washingon, DC, Atlanta, Georgia, and
Iake City to study primary sources. By using the
black votes that pressured Washingon oflicials into
tried in the South, the usual outcome was that after a few minutes' deliberation, the white jury would
prosecuting the case, according to Carter.
announce a not-guilty verdict. In the Baker case, the
orcerpts from the trial testimony, andlheWilliamsbutg
Throughout the Baker trial, the accused and their white townmembers showed a solidarity and brashness that seem repruentative of 1890s, white, Southern attitudes toward lynching. This solidarity
jury was out for
22 hours' Five of the 12 white men on the jury came back lor conviction, and seven lor
County Record, a Lake Cityarea newspaper which allowed him to gamer information about those
acquittal. The judge declared a mistrial. "What people
whites involved, as well as courthouse records,
said at the time was that it was a relative triumph.
black newspapers in the North, background books,
and brashness belie much of what white Southern-
Even five white people being willing to vote for a
and a Department of Justice correspondence lile
ers commonly said about lynching-that it was poor, white outsiders who did it; that lynchings
conviction was so unusual,'says Carter. Officials in Washingon decided the climate for a conviction
housed at the National Archiva, Carter found more
were justified by the tynched man's crime against a
would never be as favorable as it had been shortly
reogized: Carter won the history department's
white woman; and that lynching was wong except in
alter the lynching, and they never retried the case.
Frank
says. It was largely the fear of losing Northern
these cases ol rape. The prosecution's case depended on two of
The Baker lynching is ol further interest, Carter says, because
it foreshadows a change in how
Charleston News and Couneil which published long
information than he needed. His efforts have been
\{
Ryan prize for outstanding undergraduate
honors work But, he still wants more inlormation about Baker's lynching. Although he's 99 percent
the accused, who escaped prosecution by testifying
lynchings were conducted. ln the 1890s, Iynching
certain that the majority of those tried did commit
that they and others committed the lynching. Eight whites linally came to trial. Once the trial began, prominent white town-
was associated with white Southern manhood. "White men don't need to be afraid. They lynch out
the lynching, he wants the smoking gun. Carter, now in graduate school in history at Duke, will continue to
in the open and have spectators, because they never
explore what happened on the night of February 21,
members became involved, "lf the prominent whites
get in trouble,'says Carter. Eventually, almost all
1898
were not shooting the guns, they were erasing the
Southerners came to be horrified by the large pub
in lake Cig, South Carolina.
I