UNC

OWASA-UNC project should be model

Chapel Hill Herald, Saturday, January 22, 2005

Two weeks ago, I wrote of the importance of valuing, using and protecting our local water supply. Although the OWASA system provides an abundance of fresh, high-quality water, its vulnerability was apparent during the drought of 2002 when water supplies fell to a harrowing 30 percent of reservoir capacity.

Spurred in part by that experience, OWASA and UNC last year began planning for a water reuse system to meet a significant part of the university's nonpotable water needs. This will involve the reclamation and reuse of highly treated wastewater from the Mason Farm Wastewater Treatment Plant. Much of that water will be channeled toward the university's chiller plants and perhaps ultimately to the cogeneration plant.

When the project comes online in 2007, it will initially reduce water demand by 10 percent. At build-out, the reduction will be 15 percent. This is equivalent to expanding the water supply that much.

Summer reading takes a hard look at race

Guest Post by Paul Jones, cross-posted at The Real Paul Jones

Former governor of Mississippi William F. Winter recently reminded the Seminar for Southern Legislators that 1970 was a watershed year. "[A] remarkable group of so-called New South governors had been elected across the South. Running on platforms promoting racial equity, educational quality and economic development, they brought a new tone to the political arena which had been dominated for so long by the one issue of race. Their names would soon be known across the nation - names like Jimmy Carter of Georgia, Reubin Askew of Florida, Dale Bumpers of Arkansas, John West of South Carolina, and Linwood Holton of Virginia."

But Tim Tyson, who was only 10 years old at the time and living not far from Chapel Hill in Oxford NC, saw a different world. The murder of black veteran Henry Marrow sparked riots and burnings and marches, showing that racial equality was far from a done deal.

Collective bargaining testimonials

Chapel Hill Herald, Saturday, December 18, 2004

Two weeks ago, the International Worker Justice Campaign and UE-150, the N.C. Public Service Workers Union, sponsored a public hearing on the need for collective bargaining rights for public sector employees. The testimony at that event, from numerous university and Chapel Hill employees, was unsettling to say the least.

It has been pretty well established that certain blue collar job categories both at UNC and with the town have historically had a disproportionate number of African-American workers. These workers have suffered under difficult working conditions, poor pay, discriminatory promotion policies and grievance procedures that are often stacked against them.

Those were some of the topics discussed by workers at the recent hearing. Particularly harrowing were the descriptions of the effect of some of the chemicals that cleaning crews are required to use at the hospital. Exposure to these chemicals has caused respiratory problems, nosebleeds and other health problems. Some workers were coughing up blood.

UNC needs to say ‘no' to funding offer

from: Chapel Hill Herald, Saturday, December 04, 2004

For most of us, it would be hard to say no to $500,000 a year, especially if it promises to be followed by a gift of $12 million. But "no" is just what UNC should say to the Pope Foundation in response to its generous yet tainted offer to fund a Western civilization minor for undergraduates.

Much of the controversy surrounding the proposed donation is over the Pope family's association with the Pope Center for Higher Education, an aggressive critic of those areas of the UNC curriculum that suggest the scope of undergraduate education might be broader than the traditional Western canon.

UNC Master Plan workshop

UNC is updating the Campus Master Plan. This update seems to be hapenning rather quietly, considering its great importance. ("Quiet" meaning I haven't seen any publicity or listings and can't find any information about it online.) The Master Plan is an internal document UNC uses to guide its growth, and as such it has no formal connection to the Town. However, it is often cited by UNC as a justification when requesting Town approval for various development projects, so it is involved in most of the town-gown conversations about growth.

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