VOLUME 6 ISSUE 2
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WWW.NSJONLINE.COM
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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10, 2021
the Wednesday
NEWS BRIEFING
NC Senate nominates 6 for UNC Board of Governors Raleigh The N.C. Senate is set to vote soon on a slate of nominees for the UNC Board of Governors. Nominations were made earlier this week to reappoint three members and add three new members to join the university system’s governing body. The three who will be reappointed are Jimmy Clark of Greensboro, Art Pope of Raleigh and board chair Randy Ramsey of Beaufort. Kirk Bradley, a real estate developer from Sanford; Lee Roberts, who worked as former Gov. Pat McCrory’s budget director before launching a Raleigh real estate investment company; and Sonja Nichols, who ran unsuccessfully for the N.C. Senate in 2020 and is a well-known Charlotte businesswoman and philanthropist, would be the three new appointees. NSJ STAFF
Pentagon set to OK extending Guard deployment at Capitol Washington, D.C. The Pentagon is set to approve an extension of the National Guard deployment at the U.S. Capitol for about two more months, defense officials said Tuesday. Officials said final details were being worked out, but Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is expected to give final approval and have Guard troops continue to provide security. Officials have been scrambling in recent days to determine if and how to fill the request for more than 2,000 Guard forces. Military officials have said the cost of deploying about 26,000 Guard troops to the U.S. Capitol from shortly after Jan. 6 riot to this Friday, is close to $500 million. No cost estimate for the next two months has been released. The costs include housing, transportation, salaries, benefits and other essentials. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Pence to give speech in SC, his 1st since leaving office Columbia, S.C. In his first public address since the end of the Trump administration, former Vice President Mike Pence is traveling to South Carolina. Next month, Pence will keynote a dinner hosted by the Palmetto Family Council. The group most recently helped push through a ban on most abortions in South Carolina. That law is now being challenged in court. Pence, who since leaving the administration has been doing work with the Heritage Foundation and Young America’s Foundation, has not indicated if he plans a future run for office, but his choice of making his postadministration debut in South Carolina helps set down a marker for a potential 2024 presidential bid. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kerry in Brussels to relaunch US-EU cooperation on climate Brussels U.S. special envoy for climate John Kerry traveled to Brussels to relaunch trans-Atlantic cooperation with European officials. Like EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Biden has said that fighting global warming is among his highest priorities. Biden had the United States rejoin the Paris Climate Accord in the first hours of his presidency, undoing the U.S. withdrawal ordered by Donald Trump. “It’s the greatest opportunity that we’ve had since perhaps the industrial revolution,” said Kerry. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
GERRY BROOME | AP PHOTO
ACC Tournament kicks off in Greensboro Miami, left, and Pittsburgh basketball players stand for the National Anthem prior to the start of the first game of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament in Greensboro.
NORTH
STATE
JOURNaL ELEVATE THE CONVERSATION
UNC Law student letter calls out ‘culture of bullying,’ silencing of dissent Those sharing factual arguments or opposing opinions are labeled ‘white supremacists’ or ‘racists’
‘racists,’ and shut down,” the letter reads, going on to say that there is such a hostile environment that students are afraid to speak up. “Merely having a visible American flag as part of your room decor over Zoom puts a target on By A.P. Dillon your back,” says the CTA letter. North State Journal The letter goes on to cite one CHAPEL HILL — A letter law school student posting to sopenned by a group of University cial media that an “American flag of North Carolina at Chapel Hill hanging on your wall and cenlaw students details a “culture of tered in your zoom background bullying” at the school and push- is big MAGA energy, and I apprees back on allegations of racism ciate my (white male) MAGA law school colleagues ‘outstemming from a deing themselves’ so easbate during a January ily and visibly.” Zoom call. Liberty Pro Se said The letter obtained they hope their letby North State Jour- “Merely ter encourages others nal, titled, “Bullying having to come forward and at UNC Law: A Call speak out, but also for to Action,” contains a visible the administration at a preface describing American flag the law school to take themselves as a large group of “multicultur- as part of your a stand. al students from ev- room decor The January ery law school class at over Zoom Zoom call the University of North Carolina School of puts a target The group of law Law.” They also make on your back.” students who creatclear they do not coned the letter wants to done racism. make sure the whole “The subjects of bul- Call to Action story is being told follying were once called letter lowing an article by victims,” the Call to the News & Observer, Action (CTA) reads. which they say “report“They now categorize them as suffering from an inabil- ed on the incident but did not proity to understand or ‘white fra- vide the escalating context.” During a Jan. 14 Zoom call, the gility.’ Those who oppose being threatened, bullied, or shouted subject of colonialism was raised, down are called ‘white suprema- and a student made the claim cists,’ ‘white nationalists,’ ‘bigots,’ that “Amazingly, Native people lived here for 60,000+ years w no or ‘racists.’” One of the students involved in problems, and in 600 years of cocreation of the CTA letter spoke lonialism the planet has been set with North State Journal about on fire.” That claim was countered, the intense bullying and “cancel culture” activity at the school. with another student arguing The student wished to be identi- that “Conquest, enslavement of fied only as “Liberty Pro Se,” out defeated tribes, human sacrifice, ritualized rape, etc. were all of fear of retaliation. “Anybody who speaks out is at war tactics used in tribal warfare, risk, including professors and fac- from the Mayans to the Comanulty,” said Liberty Pro Se. “This che. This does not excuse Spanculture has built in the law school ish or English colonization, but in the name of academic honesover the past few years.” “This culture has broken us all ty, thought it was worth mentiondown. We have no voice; we can- ing.” From there, the conversation not address our bullies; and we must remain faceless. Those who escalated. The transcript shows speak out against this bullying are immediately denounced as See BULLYING, page A5
Antibody study aims to show extent of COVID-19 spread What one leading scientist has learned a year into pandemic By Matt Mercer North State Journal WINSTON-SALEM — Early in the coronavirus pandemic, learning the true extent of the virus’ spread was a critical component of decisions made for treatment, limiting the spread and learning how many people had truly been infected. On April 13, 2020, the N.C. General Assembly gave $100,000 in seed funding towards an initia-
tive Wake Forest Baptist Health and Atrium Health began to test a representative sample of the population. At the time, Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Eden) said the study would help fill a critical data gap. Nearly one year later, the study has enrolled over 23,000 individuals to log daily symptoms, and nearly 11,000 of those enrolled have taken at least one antibody test. Dr. John Sanders, chief of infectious diseases within the internal medicine section at Wake Forest Baptist Health, has helped lead See ANTIBODY, page A2
NCDHHS to expand COVID-19 testing pilot in K-12 schools, Supt. fights for clear metrics By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — On March 4, the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) announced it would be expanding its COVID-19 testing pilot, which was rolled out to participating K-12 schools late last year. According to the program details and NCDHHS, the tests used are rapid antigen tests, and they are free to participating schools and districts. Testing is not required for schools to provide in-person instruction, nor is participation by students mandatory. “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends diagnostic and screening testing as an additional prevention measure to the essential mitigation strategies of mask use and physical distancing, among others, which aligns with DHHS’s StrongSchoolNC guidance,” NCDHHS said in its statement announcing the expansion. “Layering mitigation efforts is essential to reduce the spread of the virus as we re-open our schools,” said state health director and NCDHHS chief medical officer Dr. Elizabeth Cuervo Tilson. “We are excited to be expanding beyond pilot schools to offer this additional layer of mitigation to interested LEAs and charter schools.” All public-school districts and charter schools will be eligible to request tests as of March 4. The pilot expansion information was also presented to the N.C. State School Board at a meeting held the same day as the announcement. Dr. Aditi Mallick, director of the COVID-19 Operations Center, told the state board that 53,000 tests were sent to the 200 schools in
17 districts and 11 charter schools that took part in the pilot that began last year. Several slides Mallick presented described the difference in types of tests and screenings. She noted that antigen tests detect current infections and are fast and inSee NCDHHS, page A2