THE BACK PAGE 



"The Back Page" is an update 

 on Sea Grant activities — on 

 research, marine education and 

 advisory services. It's also a good 

 place to find out about meetings, 

 workshops and new publications. 

 For more information on any of 

 the projects described, contact the 

 Sea Grant offices in Raleigh 

 (919/737-2454). For copies of 

 publications , write UNC Sea 

 Grant, Box 8605, NCSU, Raleigh, 

 N.C. 27695-8605. 



Five students from 

 Elizabeth City State 

 University have been 

 awarded National 

 Marine Fisheries Service 

 summer stipends for 

 study in the marine 

 sciences. The students will spend eight 

 weeks in Beaufort and Morehead City, 

 with their time divided between the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service 

 Laboratory and the UNC Institute of 

 Marine Science in Morehead City. 

 They'll be attending classes as well as 

 assisting scientists with their fisheries 

 and estuarine research. Sea Grant 

 Director B.J. Copeland says the 

 program is part of an effort to increase 

 the marine and coastal curriculum at 

 Elizabeth City State University. 



The five students are: Pretlo 

 Knight, Tyrone Speight, Anna Joyce 

 Digiovanni, Timothy McLendon and 

 Gregory Robertson. 



The summer stipends are just one 

 way that Elizabeth City State Uni- 

 versity hopes to increase its marine 

 science program. In February and 

 March, the university presented a 

 Marine Seminar Series for faculty, stu- 

 dents and local school teachers. Dirk 

 Frankenberg, Director of Marine 

 Sciences at the University of North 

 Carolina at Chapel Hill, provided an 

 introduction to marine science. 

 William Cleary, a professor at the Uni- 

 versity of North Carolina at 

 Wilmington, presented a seminar on 



coastal geology. Sea Grant Director 

 B.J. Copeland gave an overview of 

 marine environmental problems in 

 North Carolina and Sea Grant 

 researchers Stan Riggs, Hans Paerl 

 and Charles Peterson summarized 

 some of their research. Lundie Spence, 

 Sea Grant's education specialist, gave 

 a workshop on marine-science teaching 

 resources. 



UNC Sea Grant Director B.J. 

 Copeland is chairman of an N.C. 

 Marine Science Council committee on 

 marine biotechnology. The committee 

 will address the ways that North 

 Carolina might become involved in 

 marine biotechnology. "Marine 

 biotechnology is near the verge of a 

 major breakthrough and North 

 Carolina is uniquely situated to be a 

 leader in this future," says Copeland. 

 Genetic engineering of fish and 

 shellfish and the production of marine 

 pharmaceuticals are just two of the 

 many possibilities for marine bio- 

 technology, he says. 



Other members of the committee 

 are: Bill Queen, Director of the In- 

 stitute for Coastal and Marine 

 Resources at East Carolina Univer- 

 sity; Ted Rice, Director of the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service - 

 Beaufort Laboratory; and, John Bone, 

 executive vice president of the Outer 

 Banks Chamber of Commerce. 



The committee will report to the 

 council at its meeting in Manteo, May 

 24 and 25. 



More and more folks 

 are choosing to live on 

 the water. And with the 

 growing number of 

 floating homes or house 

 boats, local governments 

 have become concerned 

 about the environmental, safety and 

 health risks that may be associated 

 with floating-home development. 



Walter Clark, Sea Grant's coastal 

 law specialist, says the 1983 session of 



the N.C. General Assembly amended 

 one of its statutes to give counties 

 more control over development in 

 state-owned waters within the coun- 

 ties' jurisdiction. 



New Hanover County recently 

 adopted an ordinance which places 

 some regulations on floating homes in 

 that county. Clark says court decisions 

 in other states have generally upheld 

 local ordinances which regulate 

 floating homes so long as the ordinance 

 is meant to protect the public's health, 

 safety and general welfare. 



If you'd like more information about 

 the requirements for house boats, con- 

 tact Clark at the Sea Grant office in 

 Raleigh. 



It's been 30 years 

 since Hurricane Hazel 

 thrashed the coast of 

 North Carolina. Could 

 this be the year when 

 another major hurricane 

 strikes? The state's Divi- 

 sion of Emergency Management wants 

 to make sure you're prepared. 

 Hurricane Awareness Week will be 

 held June 3-9. And, it will be a time for 

 you to learn about hurricanes, what 

 they can do and how you can be 

 prepared. 



Al Hinn, meteorologist-in-charge at 

 the National Weather Service in 

 Wilmington, says the next hurricane 

 which strikes the coast has the poten- 

 tial to cause even more damage than 

 Hurricane Hazel. "In the years since 

 the 50s, we've seen a lot of develop- 

 ment and growth take place on the 

 barrier islands, and the day of reckon- 

 ing will come. I think we'll pay a much 

 dearer price when that time comes 

 because we have much, much more to 

 lose now than we did back then." 



Hinn says that from a statistical 

 point of view, North Carolina is 

 hurricane-prone. "Hurricanes have not 

 gone out of style," he adds. We've just 

 been lucky lately. 



For more information on hurricanes, 

 Continued on next page 



