TIP SHEET

The following University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill professors are available to media for comment on current stories in the news:

Presidential debates and the campaign:

• Dr. William E. Leuchtenburg, (919) 967-1257, one of the nation's top experts on the U.S. presidency and a UNC-CH professor emeritus of history, is available Wednesday (Oct. 4) for comment on the Oct. 3 debate. He will not be available the rest of the week. He will be available in advance only for comment on the Oct. 11 debate. He will not be available after the Winston-Salem debate on the night of Oct. 11 because of early morning travel plans on Oct. 12. Leuchtenburg, whose books include "In the Shadow of FDR: From Harry Truman to Bill Clinton" and "The FDR Years," was an expert commentator for C-SPAN during Clinton's second inauguration in January 1997, and for CBS during Clinton's first inauguration, with Dan Rather and the late Charles Kuralt. Leuchtenburg also commented for national networks during George Bush's inauguration in 1989, for PBS, and Ronald Reagan's second inauguration in 1985, for CBS. A past president of the American Historical Association, Leuchtenburg won favorite faculty awards in 1990 and 1997. He joined Carolina's faculty in 1982 after teaching for 30 years at Columbia University. He also has taught at Harvard University.
  
  
  
• Ferrel Guillory, (919) 962-5936, office; (919) 782-6798, home; or Guillory@unc.edu, director, UNC-CH Program on Southern Politics, Media and Public Life, and lecturer, School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Guillory, formerly a reporter and editorial writer for The News & Observer in Raleigh, can comment on how Southern voters view the race and the candidates, the issues that interest them most and whom they're more likely to support. Guillory also is following the race for governor in North Carolina. Guillory was co-author of the recent "State of the South" report, which looks at the Southern economy and prospects for the future, issued by MDC Inc., based in Chapel Hill.
  
  
  
• Dr. William (Bill) Balthrop, (919) 962-4982, office; (919) 643-0101; or vwb@email.unc.edu, professor and chairman of the department of communications studies. Balthrop was the Director of Debate at UNC-Chapel Hill from 1976 to 1990. He has served as a communication advisor in several statewide political campaigns, concentrating on debates. He also served as an advisor and commentator for CBS News for the 1984 Presidential and Vice-Presidential debates. He currently teaches a course on political communication using the current national and statewide campaigns as case studies. Balthrop has also provided commentary on political debates for various print and broadcast media.

U.S. Supreme Court opening (Monday, Oct. 2)

• Dr. John Semonche, (919) 962-8079, history professor and author of "Keeping the Faith: A Cultural History of the U.S. Supreme Court" (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Inc., 1998). Semonche, a member of the North Carolina and U.S. Supreme Court bars, can decipher the workings and procedures of the court.

Unrest in the Middle East:

• Dr. Sarah Shields, (919) 962-8078, associate professor of history, teaches courses on the modern Middle East.

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