I was struck by the circular logic displayed by UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp in his Chapel Hill News interview. To me, (and I admit having researched the issue and made my mind up about it) the notion of taking land by eminent domain, tearing up the countryside and spending 40-50 million of my tax money is just not justified by a dodgy economic "working paper" and Thorp saying "It's better for us to have a regional airport".

CHN: If RDU was acceptable then and it's acceptable in the interim, what difference does it make whether you take 35 minutes to get to an airport or 25 minutes to get to an airport.

Thorp: Because we can develop our own operations.

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:

I'm not even sure if this is a story, but it seemed interesting to me. It seems that UNC's new chancellor Holden Thorp was a partner with an RTP-based venture capital business that supports biotech start-ups.  The chancellor had planned to continue his role there, but his brother Clay Thorp (who went to UNC with me) is the general partner there and felt it would be best to cut official ties.

Thorp is no longer a venture partner at Durham’s Hatteras Venture Partners, says his brother, Hatteras general partner Clay Thorp. And Holden Thorp’s equity stake in Hatteras has been put into a blind trust.

Clay Thorp says the decision was made as Holden Thorp took over the top spot at UNC on July 1.

“We decided mutually that it was best for him to have no formal role,” Clay Thorp says, “and to avoid any confusion.”

Holden Thorp starts his new job tomorrow. I'm feeling very encouraged about his potential to establish a more collaborative relationship between the University and our local governments. I hope he will remember that neither can thrive without the other.

What advice do you have for him?

Today, according to the Chapel Hill Herald, is the day.

An agenda for the UNC Board of Governors' monthly round of meetings includes a mid-day session of the full board Thursday with a closed-session report of the Committee on Personnel and Tenure, followed by an open report and a final item: "Election of a Chancellor."

The BOG typically spends Thursday in committee meetings, gathering in a limited full board session at 5 p.m. before adjourning until the regular meeting on Friday morning.

Details about candidates for chancellor have been carefully guarded since the UNC Chancellor Search committee was formed last September. Nelson Schwab, a UNC Trustee and chair of the search committee, has said repeatedly that only the final choice would be announced publicly.

The BOG must vote to approve the Search Committee's recommendation.