N.C.'S STATE: Something was rotten at N.C. State. After a series of articles in the N&O revealed the involvement of former Gov. Mike Easley in the hiring of his wife, the provost and the chancellor resigned and Mary Easley was fired. (The chairman of the board of trustees had already left.) Though an interim chancellor has already been named, the university is not out of the woods yet. Expect further turmoil.

CONVENTIONAL WISDOM: The N.C. Republican Party met in Raleigh to plan a comeback. Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory was scheduled to outline his path to victory this morning, while delegates debated whether candidates should pledge loyalty to the state platform, whether primaries should be closed and — in what's turned out to be the nastiest race in years — who should be the party's new chairman.

SENATE BUZZ: U.S. Sen. Richard Burr says he's not thinking about which Democrat might run against him next year. He's the only one, apparently. The chattering classes spent more time this week wondering whether Secretary of State Elaine Marshall or U.S. Rep. Mike McIntyre might make another run for it, while Iraq veteran Cal Cunningham and Obama fundraiser Kenneth Lewis kept trying to build buzz.

IN OTHER NEWS: The fight over the state budget continued, with House Democratic budget writers calling for $784 million in new taxes. ... A House committee passed a bill to allow billboard companies to cut down more trees. ... Elon University police detective Dan Ingle was chosen by Alamance County Republicans to replace former Rep. Cary Allred.

President Obama called Coach Roy Williams last night.

On board Air Force One, the president phoned the UNC-Chapel Hill men's basketball coach to congratulate him on the team's win over Michigan State in the NCAA championship.

"The President offered Coach Williams his congratulations and thanked him and his team for vindicating him in front of the entire country," said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs in a statement.

Obama had picked Carolina to win in his NCAA bracket. He also played a pickup game with the team during last year's primary.

"The President told him he’d done a great job and asked the Coach to tell the players how proud he was of them and that he looked forward to seeing them at the White House soon," Gibbs added.

No word on what Gibbs, an N.C. State grad, thought of the game.

Gov. Beverly Perdue was wearing light blue for her close-up camera shot last night at the big Tar Heels-Wolfpack basketball battle.

Her attire prompted the play-by-play guys to wonder if Perdue had made a smart political choice. Wasn't she alienating half the state, they mused?

Perdue's powder blue sweater wasn't shocking, though. Her husband, Bob Eaves, is a big Carolina fan and the two often attend games at the Smith Center in Chapel Hill.

The Tar Heels won last night, 89-80 over the Pack.  

Andy Taylor thinks it will be the usual N.C. fare.

The N.C. State politics professor and ubiquitous academic commentator picks John McCain, Elizabeth Dole and Beverly Perdue to win in North Carolina.

"I have a feeling that it's going to be all 'incumbents' or all the fresh faces—no mixed result," he writes Dome. "Of the two I have a slight hunch that it will be the former—McCain, Dole and Perdue. All very, very close. Not for any particular reason other than a hunch."

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole will visit be tailgating on Saturday.

Dole will attend the N.C. State University football game Saturday and participate in the NCSU Students for Dole Tailgate at 10:30 at Carter Finley Stadium. It will be at Gate B off Trinity Road.

If Mary Easley's $170,000 salary is approved this week, she will make more than all but 94 of 3,455 N.C. State faculty and administrators.

An executive in residence who runs a lecture series, the state's first lady received an 88 percent pay increase earlier this year along with new duties. The changes drew criticism at N.C. State and other state universities.

Pay raises that large are supposed to be reviewed by the UNC system's Board of Governors, but N.C. State did not present it initially.

Many of those with higher salaries include Chancellor James Oblinger, who earns $390,835, and Provost Larry Nielsen, who earned $290,000. Others were current and former football coaches.

Just 23 employees who made more than $170,000 were faculty members without administrative duties.

If approved, Easley's pay would put her in the top three percent. (N&O) 

Bill Bradley's trip to North Carolina was set up in the spring.

The former New Jersey senator will speak at N.C. State's Millennium Seminar Series and he will also campaign on behalf of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

The seminar series is run by First Lady Mary Easley.

N.C. State spokesman Keith Nichols said that Bradley was booked in the spring and will only speak on the conflict in Georgia and Russia. He said it is "up to the speaker" if they want to do other events while in North Carolina.

Bradley is receiving about $350 for hotel and transportation and an honorarium of $5,000 paid for by funds raised for the series. His transportation costs do not include travel to and from the Obama event in Chapel Hill.

"We do not subsidize campaign events," Nichols said.

Paul Cox, a spokesman for the Obama campaign, said that Bradley has been campaigning for Obama since the spring.

He said former Democratic Party executive director Ed Turlington, who has worked for Bradley in the past, got in touch with the Obama campaign to suggest that he do a campaign event while in town.

Bill Bradley will talk up Barack Obama today.

The former New Jersey senator and pro basketball player will speak at the UNC-Chapel Hill student union at 2:30 p.m. today.

He is one of the first major surrogates to appear in North Carolina during the general election season, although Obama had a roster of notable politicians speak on his behalf during the run-up to the May primary. 

Bradley's trip was not entirely for campaign purposes, however.

He is in town to speak on Russia and the Georgian conflict at N.C. State's Stewart Theatre at 6 p.m. The speech is free and open to the public.

He will kick off the college's Millennium Seminar Series, which is run by First Lady Mary Easley.

Andy Taylor is the press corps' favorite professor.

As chairman of the political science department at N.C. State University in Raleigh, Taylor is often turned to for an academic take on the day's events.

There are several reasons: Taylor is pithy, neutral and accessible. For television reporters in need of a talking head, he's a short drive away. And his British accent is a nice change-up for radio reporters in need of an expert.

Taylor attributes his readiness to talk to the press to his job.

"It's an important part of our job responsibilities at N.C. State as a public institution," he said. "One of our charges is that we're here not just to serve our students but also the greater community. I take very personally the responsibility to inform the public."

He's also a reliably neutral source, more likely to talk about the history or context of a news story than to take a stand on an issue. He says his students regularly complain in their course evaluations that they don't know where he stands.

For years, Taylor had an excuse: As a British citizen, he couldn't vote.

"I could honestly say I didn't have a dog in the fight," he said.

More after the jump.

   Comments (1)

John Edwards is ending a pilot scholarship program.

The former North Carolina senator had started a privately funded program at Greene Central High School offering to pay the cost of tuition, fees and books at public college for one year if students worked at least 10 hours a week, took college prep courses and stayed out of trouble.

In his presidential run, Edwards often touted the program as a model for a national program he would start.

No longer running for president, Edwards recently informed Greene County officials that he would end the program, which cost a total of $600,000 for the first two years and helped 190 students go to such colleges as East Carolina University, Lenoir Community College and N.C. State.

The program will help a third class of students who graduated this spring attend college in the fall.

"The program was a huge success," said Pamela Hampton-Garland, director of the program. "The numbers soared. The interest from students and parents and the community rose. It seemed the whole notion of college access changed." (N&O)