North Carolina
This Saturday March 20, people from communities across the South will participate in a global day of action for peace: The World Still Says No to War. For the first time (that I'm aware of) we will be taking the movement to Fayetteville, where many of the soldiers currently serving in Iraq and Afghanistan are stationed.
On March 20, a march and rally is planned in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Nearby is the home of Ft. Bragg, one of the largest military bases in the U.S., and home of the 18th Airborne Corp, the 1st Corps Support Command, the JFK Special Warfare School, and the Joint Special Operations Command. It is also adjacent to Pope Air Force Base, which includes the 43rd Airlift Wing, and the 23rd Fighter Group, and the 18th Support Operations Group.
We join with our sponsoring organizations - Military Families Speak Out, Bring Them Home Now coalition, Quaker House of Fayetteville, September 11th Families of Peaceful Tomorrows, and the Fayetteville Peace with Justice Coalition, and Veterans for Peace on March 20 under the banners:
So, because of the endless appeals of North Carolina legislative districts, North Carolina's primary elections for 2004 have been delayed until July at least. In order for North Carolina to be represented at the Democratic National Convention, delegates will have to be selected before that time. In order to avoid the expense of conducting a statewide presidential preference primary all by itself, Democrats will have a statewide caucus for the first time in more than 25 years.
I have been wondering how this is going to work for those of us who vote in Orange County. According to the state Democratic Party website, we will be conducting the caucus on Saturday April 17, 2004 between 8 AM and 12 Noon. As near as I can tell, this will be very much like a primary election except that:
With the state redistricting in limbo, the NC Dem Party has posted a contingency plan just in case the primaries can't be held on time www.ncdp.org. Everyone needs to check out this plan and comment before the public review process is over. If the primaries don't happen (likely at this point) then caucuses would be held by county. Since the caucuses are county caucuses and the final delegate selection is by senate district (I think), then Orange and Durham votes will be added to create a grand total for the 4th district. This makes it important that Dems (registered independents won't be able to vote) show up for the caucuses if they are held. Whichever candidate -Dean- turns out the people -Dean- will win the nomi-Dean-nation.
Any thoughts on the contingency plan and its effects on our local input into the process?
It's no secret that UNC plans for Carolina North (CN) to be a research park, along the lines of NCSU's Centennial Campus (CC). In fact, the guys in charge of creating Carolina North specialize in it, which I think is sort of unfairly stacking the deck for research, when earlier plans for CN indicated there would a be significant academic (ie: teaching) activity there.
Associate Vice Chancellor Mark Crowell was recruited by UNC directly after working with CC at State. (He's quoted as saying "We don't give away football tickets, why should we give away technology?" Doesn't that just warm your cockles?) And the leader of development of Carolina North is Vice Chancellor (and UNC alumn) Tony Waldrop, who came to UNC after building a similar institution at the University of Illinois.
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