A snow day smorgasbord …

Had enough cute pictures of dogs and kids in the snow? Take a break. Here's what Daily Views is browsing while waiting for the white stuff to melt:

A smokin' poll
The latest Elon poll shows strong support for anti-smoking laws in the state tobacco built - so strong the poll director predicts a statewide smoking ban is a done deal in the state legislature.

“I suspect this may be the year that we see North Carolina go smokeless,” said
Hunter Bacot.
There's also interesting results about driving and cell phones, transportation and the death penalty. Click here for the link.

The ugly details
UNC Chapel Hill has posted the specifics of its 3, 5 and 7 percent budget cuts online. (a nod to the News & Observer's Eric Ferreri for reporting this in his Campus Notes blog.)
It's hard to read in places and the names of staff and faculty affected are blanked out. But it's worthwhile browsing. It shows the detailed kinds of things the oldest public university in the nation is doing to live within means in a terrible economic environment.

Black like Rand?
Sen. Tony Rand, D-Cumberland, is one powerful pol in Raleigh, and a well-know face across the state. His family can trace its roots back to the 1700s. But until he watched the 2008 CNN documentary "Black in America," he had no idea that some of his relatives were black.
Here’s the story.
Here’s a great Fayetteville Observer column about it.



- posted by Mary Schulken