MAKING YOUR VOTE COUNT FOR CAROLINA -

$3.1 billion bond referendum would mean $23.4 million for School

If endorsed by North Carolina voters this November, the $3.1 billion bond referendum approved in May by the North Carolina General Assembly will provide $499 million to Carolina, of which $23.4 million will fund needed building projects for the School of Public Health. Funds totaling some $13.4 million would supplement the construction of the School's planned $40.8 million teaching and research building. An additional $9 million has been designated for renovations to the School's longtime home, Rosenau Hall.

"PASSING THIS BILL IS CRITICAL IF WE ARE TO FULFILL OUR MISSION OF RESEARCH AND PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF KNOWLEDGE."
- Bill Roper

"Passing this bill is critical if we are to fulfill our mission of research and practical application of knowledge," said Dean Bill Roper. "The proposed new building is no luxury, but would address current deficiencies," he said. Roper referred to a report released by Eva Klein and Associates, Inc. in December 1999 after an extensive campus study. The Klein study, which includes an extensive facilities profile and ten-year capital plan, estimates that the UNC system will need approximately $6.9 billion over the next ten years, with $1.6 billion of that amount needed at UNC-Chapel Hill. (The study is available online at http://www.uncbuildings.org/reports/UNCCHFinal.pdf.)

Antiquated, unsafe, and cramped laboratories in the basement of Rosenau Hall are areas of particular concern to the School of Public Health, Roper said. "Our world-class researchers have been reduced to off-campus laboratories, our campus facilities are so inadequate," he said. University resources and private fundraising will be required for the remaining $27.4 million needed to complete the new teaching and research building adjacent to Rosenau Hall.

The Michael K. Hooker Higher Education Facilities Financing Act, named for the late UNC-CH chancellor, would allocate $2.5 billion for new construction, repairs and renovations for the UNC system's 16 campuses. Another $600 million would go for critical building needs at the state's 59 community colleges. If approved, the bonds will be issued over a six-year period beginning in 2001 and will be repaid over 25 years. According to State Treasurer Harlan Boyles, no extra tax dollars will be needed to fund the bond referendum.

As the bill states, "the General Assembly finds that although the University of North Carolina is one of the State's most valuable assets, the current facilities of the University have been allowed to deteriorate due to decades of neglect and have unfortunately fallen into a state of disrepair because of inadequate attention to maintenance." In signing the bill, the General Assembly and Governor Jim Hunt pledged to "reverse this trend."

Carmen Hooker Buell,vice president of government affairs for Quintiles Transnational Corporation and widow of former Chancellor Michael Hooker,discusses the planned laboratory building with Dean Bill Roper as Ken Otis,retired president and CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina,looks on.Hooker Buell,Otis and other members of the School ’s Advisory Council toured existing facilities this spring and examined a color rendering of the planned laboratory building.The $40.8 million research facility is part of the $3.1 billion Michael K.Hooker Higher Education Facilities Financing Act going before North Carolina voters November 7.

The Hooker Act goes before North Carolina voters on November 7. As part of North Carolina's "no-excuse voting" program, polls will be open at all county boards of elections from October 16 through November 3. Some counties are also operating satellite sites for early voting. Orange County, for instance, has early-voting sites at Carrboro Town Hall and the campus' Morehead Planetarium. For satellite site details, contact your county board of elections or visit http://www.sboe.state.nc/us/.

For information on how to get involved with the referendum outreach effort, contact Evelyn Hawthorne, associate vice chancellor for government relations, at 919-962-1560 or evelyn_hawthorne@unc.edu or visit the University Web site at http://www.unc.edu and click on 'Bonds for Education.' For details on the School's fund-raising activities, contact Keith Todd, associate dean for external affairs, at 919-966-0198 or keith_todd@unc.edu.

Carolina Public Health is the twice-yearly newsletter of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health.
Office of External Affairs
422 Rosenau Hall
Campus Box 7400
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7400
919-966-0198
http://www.sph.unc.edu

Lisa Katz
Director of Communications and Editor

Lisa Carl
Associate Editor

Laura Beskow
Renee Kinzie Staehle
Sarah Strunk, MHA ’91
David Williamson
Contributing Writers

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