COASTAL 



TIDINGS 



Around the Network: 



Scientists 



Discover 



Genetic 

 Similarities 



Between 

 Humans and 



Dolphins 



Texas A&M University 

 scientists, in a project funded by 

 Texas Sea Grant, are comparing 

 human chromosomes to those of 

 dolphins and finding that the two 

 share many similarities. 



"We've found that the 

 dolphin genome and the human 

 genome are basically homolo- 

 gous," says researcher David 

 Busbee. "It's just that there are a 

 few chromosomal rearrangements 

 that have changed the way the 

 genetic material is put together." 



The scientists are trying to 

 determine if the same similarities 

 are true for individual genes on the 

 chromosomes. 



"We expect there are a 

 number of places where the 

 dolphin genome will reflect 

 differences with the human 

 genome," Busbee says. He hopes 

 these differences will tell scientists 

 how long ago dolphins and 

 humans embarked down different 

 branches of the evolutionary tree. 



According to their genes, 

 Busbee says, dolphins are more 

 closely related to cows, antelopes 

 and giraffes, and the domestic pig 

 may be their closest relative. If 

 scientists can determine the genetic 

 information shared by humans and 

 dolphins, he says, then they may be 

 able to save time in constructing a 

 genetic map of dolphins. 



Two Scholars Win Knauss Fellowships 



Two scholars from North 

 Carolina are heading to 

 Washington, D.C., after being 

 selected for the 1999 Dean John 

 A. Knauss Marine Policy 

 Fellowship. Created in 1979, 

 the fellowship offers a unique 

 educational experience to 

 students with an interest in 

 marine, ocean and Great Lakes 

 resources and in the national 

 policy decisions affecting those 

 resources. 



The fellowship, sponsored 

 by the National Sea Grant 

 Program, matches highly 

 qualified graduate students with 

 hosts in the legislative or 

 executive branches of the 

 federal government. 



North Carolina's recipients 

 are Catherine Wannamaker and 

 Kathleen Moore. 



Wannamaker completed a 

 master's degree in the Zoology Department 

 at North Carolina State University in 1998. 

 Because of her interest in policy, she also 



Kathleen Moore 



Catherine Wannamaker 



completed an interdisciplinary 

 minor in environmental law 

 and policy. 



Her thesis, which focuses 

 on fish response to hypoxia, 

 already has generated interest 

 from researchers at other 

 institutions across the country. 

 Wannamaker is assigned to the 

 Senate Commerce, Science 

 and Transportation Committee. 



Moore is finishing a 

 master's degree in environ- 

 mental management at Duke 

 University's Nicholas School 

 of the Environment. Her 

 master's project researches 

 local governments' role in 

 addressing opposing view- 

 points and creating a proactive, 

 effective coastal policy. 



Moore is using a proposed 

 ocean outfall to assess local 

 governments' ability to address 

 a regional issue. She is assigned to the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service Office of 

 Protected Resources. — AG. 



Democracy Betrayed 



If you've enjoyed reading David 

 Cecelski's coastal history columns in 

 Coastwatch, be sure to find a copy of his 

 latest book, Democracy Betrayed. 



On Nov. 1 0, 1 898, the streets of 

 Wlmington were filled with turmoil as 

 white supremacists, marching in a 

 procession 2,000 strong, battled the city's 

 black citizens in an explosion of violence 

 that has since been referred to as the 

 Wilmington race riot of 1898. 



One hundred years later, Cecelski 

 and historian Timothy Tyson clarify that 

 the racial violence that besieged the 

 bustling port town was no "riot." What 

 happened in Wlmington, the co-editors 

 write in their introduction, "was part of an 

 orchestrated campaign to end interracial 

 cooperation, restore white supremacy, 

 and in the process assure the rule of the 



state's planter and industrial leaders." 



Democracy Betrayed: The Wilmington 

 Race Riot of 1898 and Its Legacy marks the 

 centennial of the racial violence. The 

 collection of essays is edited by Cecelski and 

 Tyson with a foreword byjohn Hope 

 Franklin. The book "is intended to draw 

 public attention to the tragedy, to honor its 

 victims, and to bring a clear and timely 

 historical voice into the lively debate over its 

 legacy," write Cecelski and Tyson. The 

 editors comment that they hesitated to 

 refer to the racial violence in Wlmington as 

 a "riot" in the subtitle of the book, but they 

 reluctantly settled on the term to ensure 

 that it would be understood. 



Democracy Betrayed is available from 

 bookstores or the University of North 

 Carolina Press at 800/848-6224. It costs 

 $16.95 in paperback and $45 in cloth. 



WINTER 1999 



