Audit: UNC worker was using false Social Security number

A state audit released this week found that a 30-year "higher-level" employee at UNC-Chapel Hill had been providing the Social Security number of a dead person to university officials for identification purposes.

Chris Mears, a spokesman for the State Auditor's Office, said the office is prohibited from identifying the employee, who retired earlier this month. But he said the employee was a "higher-level" employee who had worked there a little over 30 years. Mears said the employee was not a faculty member. UNC-CH officials said they could not identify the former employee or comment further because it is a personnel issue.

In their written response to the audit, university officials said they made several attempts to get the employee to explain why he had given them an invalid Social Security number. They said federal regulations warn employers not to arbitrarily suspend, discipline or fire an employee on the basis of a questionable Social Security number because that could trigger a violation of state or federal law.

"The University believes that it exercised due diligence in notifying the individual of the issue and repeatedly requesting that the individual resolve the discrepancy with the [Social Security Administration]," the response said.

State Auditor Les Merritt has conducted several audits to determine whether illegal immigrants are in state jobs. It was not clear in the audit if the former employee is an illegal immigrant. Mears said the retiree is collecting a state pension.

The university began using Social Security numbers in 2001 for verification purposes.

For Lumbees, costly progress

The Lumbee tribe of Robeson County cleared another hurdle in Congress on Wednesday.

But they did it with a big concession, agreeing to give up any pursuit of gaming.

A bill by Rep. Mike McIntyre to grant the tribe full federal recognition was approved by the House Natural Resources Committee. McIntyre, a Lumberton Democrat, now begins work to get a vote on the House floor.

McIntyre said he has been working the House floor these past two days getting colleagues to agree to attend Wednesday morning's hearing and cast a "yes" vote for the tribe. Afterward, he was on the phone with Speaker Nancy Pelosi to discuss next steps.

"It was a dramatic victory," McIntyre said.

The Lumbees have tried for decades to get federal recognition, but their efforts have been blocked by other tribes. The principal chief of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee in Western North Carolina, for example, has testified that the Lumbee are trying to use Cherokee history in their quest. Rep. Heath Shuler, a Waynesville Democrat who represents the Cherokee, voted against the bill.

The vote passed Wednesday after an amendment that prohibits the Lumbee from gaming was approved. The Lumbee have said they wouldn't pursue the chance to open casinos on their land near Interstate 95. But they also have said they don't want to be restricted.

"That's no longer an issue," McIntyre said. "Gaming has been removed from the table."

Bill to ban smoking is on hold

House Majority Leader Hugh Holliman has again pulled his bill to mostly ban smoking in state government buildings, hotels and restaurants. The legislation had been scheduled for a vote in the House Wednesday, but Holliman said some of his supporters were absent for what he predicted would be a close vote.

The legislation has drawn opposition from the tobacco industry, some business groups and others concerned that it could infringe on personal property rights. Holliman, a Lexington Democrat, recently altered the bill to take out a smoking ban in work places, but the legislation allows local governments to take up such bans. Holliman said he plans to have the bill up for a House vote on Tuesday.

Town OK'd as collards kingdom

The Pitt County town of Ayden is a governor's signature away from being the official home of the state collards festival. The state Senate voted Wednesday to give that designation to the town, which has celebrated the leafy green vegetable for the past 32 years.

Sen. Charlie Albertson, a Beulaville Democrat, counted himself as a supporter, but he hinted that festival organizers might not want to try cooking collard greens and chitterlings in the same pot. He saw an old buddy doing that at his Georgia home. "It was the only place in my life where the flies were trying to get out of the house," he told his colleagues.