While I know that UNC has programs that attempt to help students afford college, with the current economic downturn,  the problem is going to become more wide spread.  In addition UNC is likely to find a further economic squeeze, from State budgets to reduced alumni contributions.

It is my belief that affordability should never limit a qualified student once accepted from attending that college.  I also do not like the idea that a student graduates with massive debt.

So my question is should UNC be planning any changes to assure affordability for any student to whom it sends an acceptance letter?  Should it change priorities, e.g. slow growth,funnel a larger share of  money from the state, contributions, endowments to ensure the affordability for all accepted students?

As part of our move to sustainable energy practices, the University is partnering with Orange County on a project to turn the landfill gas from the Orange County Landfill on Eubanks Road into energy. On Monday, October 13, from 7 - 8:30 p.m. Orange County will host an information meeting on the project at the Seymour Center at 2551 Homestead Road in Chapel Hill.

Landfills like the one on Eubanks Road produce landfill gas, created as the waste stored there decomposes. The landfill gas then escapes into the atmosphere and is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. This project would collect the gas and transport it to University property where it would be converted to electricity. This electricity would be used for power at the Giles Horney complex on Martin Luther King Boulevard and later for buildings at Carolina North.

According to the meeting agenda:

The Council will seek input from the public regarding the proposed process for guiding development at Carolina North. At the request of the Mayor this item has been moved to the beginning of the meeting due to extensive public interest

They used to have this in Memorial Hall when I was a a student. Via e-mail:

Sunday, October 123:00 pm to 4:30 pm
Polk Place, UNC Campus
 
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will install Dr. Holden Thorp as its 10th chancellor on University Day, Oct. 12, the birthday of the nation's oldest state university. Thorp will give an installation address, and the University will honor distinguished alumni during a festive ceremony steeped in campus history. If rain is forecast, an official announcement will be made in advance about moving the ceremony to the Dean E. Smith Center. For more information, visit www.unc.edu/installation/, call 919-962-4463 or e-mail installation@unc.edu.

On October 12, Holden Thorp will be installed as the University's 10th chancellor - this will be an historic and festive event and I hope the OP community will attend.  Also wanted to be sure you knew about Chancellor Thorp's blog of his statewide tour which you can see at www.unc.edu/chan.  Here's the email I just sent with all the details:

Dear Friends and Neighbors:

Yesterday the Chapel Hill News reported without questioning a study* saying that the economic benefit of a new airport in Orange County could be four times the impact of the current Horace Williams Airport. Would a new airport be four times as big and have four times the traffic? Who would want that? And for that matter, who the hell would use it?

I understand the benefit of the current airport to the University, the hospital, and the state. But I just don't see how having an alternative to Raleigh-Durham benefits the average Orange County resident. Most of us don't have private planes, and when we need to fly, we use the commercial airport. The tax benefit to local government is negligible compared to other possible uses of the land.

I'm just not buying this.

I attended a meeting at the White Cross Community Center last night. The meeting was held and attended by close to 300 concerned Orange County residents who discussed UNC’s possible THEFT of homes and homesteads through eminent domain.

Why do I call it theft? Well, many interesting facts were presented such as cost (40 MILLION), economic and ecological impact to our communities and of course, kicking people out of their homes and off their farms so rich dudes can fly in for ball games and not be inconvenienced by having to drive an extra 5 minutes from RDU! I implore anyone who cares about the environment, local economy, justice or not letting your fellow citizens get SCREWED to help STOP this Jackassary NOW!

You can educate yourself on the facts by reading the following: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sworangecounty

On Thursday evening September 25th, at 7 PM, the Chapel Hill Town Council held a special meeting at the Friday Center.  In addition to all of the Council members (except Councilman Bill Thorpe who is absent due to medical issues) the Council Members were joined by UNC representatives Roger Perry (Chair, Board of Trustees), Bob Winston (trustee, Chair of the Building Committee) and Jack Evans, who is is chair of the Carolina North project for the University.

One of the important points that was made early by Roger Perry was that he and Bob Winston speak for the trustees and he gave assurances that anything that they agreed to in principle would be supported by the Trustees.  Another important issue was that of timing.  Roger pointed out that in July there will be 6 new trustees (out of 13) and that these new trustees would come in with little or no background.  Thus he urged the Council to consider a timetable that would complete by the Council's summer recess the necessary steps (e.g., rezoning, development agreement?) to allow Carolina North to go forward.

This is interesting. I may have missed the announcement of this high-level negotiating process between UNC Trustees and the Chapel Hill Town Council. It's not clear to me whether it's open to the public, or if we just get to watch the highlights later.

[Long-time lurker, first time poster]

Two paths diverged in the woods and I took the third.

It occurrs to me that there might be another way to meet (or even exceed) AHEC's needs while also preserving land and avoiding a protracted debate and a souring of town-gown relations.

So far the paths being argued are:  1) Build a new airport in the county or 2) Base all operations from RDU.  I believe there is a third path that hasn't been considered.

In short, build a heliport.  Let that sink in for a minute and then read on for more...

We all know helicopters don't need much space to operate, so this is an easy one.  In fact, it could even be sited on the existing Horace Williams airport while still allowing for plenty of space for the new campus.