STEPHEN MOORE

News

Budget spares system projects

By STEPHEN MOORE | August 19

July 13 - By signing the final version of the state budget into law in early July, Gov. Mike Easley put the finishing touches on the spending plan. But legislators didn't spend time in Raleigh without making decisions that will affect UNC and the rest of the state's public colleges and universities: No budget cuts to be had this year For the first time in more than five years, the UNC system was able to increase the number of projects it can fund instead of deciding which could be cut.

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UNC system strongly against checks

By STEPHEN MOORE | August 19

June 22 - When legislators proposed a mandatory background check for students applying to any UNC-system school, students and system leaders gave mixed reviews. The UNC system cemented its position in late June when Leslie Winner, system vice president and general counsel, went before the N.C. Senate finance committee. "We don't support the legislature telling us that we have to do background checks on everyone," Winner said in an interview later that day.

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Future uncertain for Black, aides

By STEPHEN MOORE | August 19

June 8 - After North Carolina legislators finalized the budget, a single question hovers above them, lingering in the not-so-distant future. Allegations against House Speaker Jim Black, D-Mecklenburg, and a number of his aides pertaining to campaign ethics have left open the possibility for a change in the leadership in the House. It remains to be certain, however, just how likely such a shift could be. "Each year when we start a new session, it actually starts a new ballgame as far as who the players may be," said House Majority Whip Larry Bell, D-Sampson.

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Carolina North has precendents

By STEPHEN MOORE | August 19

June 22 - Sometimes, it's easier to follow the way of those who have gone before us. Such is the lesson that University officials and Chapel Hill leaders can use to help resolve the continuing conflict that is Carolina North - especially because UNC-Chapel Hill has two prime examples to look to for guidance. In 1984, then-N.C. Gov. Jim Hunt moved to allocate 835 acres of unused farmland to N.C. State University to create the Centennial Campus, a satellite campus located about 1 mile south of the main campus.

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State leaders wary of lottery funding

By STEPHEN MOORE | August 19

May 18 RALEIGH - Many North Carolina legislators have called for a variety of changes because of concerns that money from the new lottery might be used to supplant money from the General Fund already earmarked for education. A watchdog committee will be created within the N.C. General Assembly to monitor lottery activities and spending, said Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight, D-Dare. Currently in the form of a bill sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand, D-Cumberland, the legislation would create the Lottery Oversight Committee, a nine-member panel to oversee spending.

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Wesleyan could be 18th UNC school

By STEPHEN MOORE | August 19

June 1 - How serious legislators are about making N.C. Wesleyan College the potential 18th member of the UNC system is questionable. The proposal included in the final state budget would create a $50,000 study of the college, catching many legislators and system leaders off guard. "We haven't, at any of the board meetings, had any discussions about that," said UNC-system Board of Governors member Fred Mills.

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Former BOG head led eventful tenure

By STEPHEN MOORE | August 19

Walking in the shadow of the UNC-Chapel Hill Bell Tower, trudging through the soft snow at Appalachian State University or feeling the cool, salty breeze blowing across UNC-Wilmington, one can't help but see something grand. For nine years, Brad Wilson - a member of the Board of Governors, the policy-making body for the state's 16 public universities - has helped make that majesty possible.

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Assembly reacts to reforms

By STEPHEN MOORE | August 19

May 18 RALEIGH - A flood of campaign finance reform has hit the N.C. General Assembly as legislators work to close loopholes and clarify discrepancies. Bills that would address issues such as barring lobbyists from serving as campaign treasurers and decreasing allowed cash donations from $100 to $50 have bombarded the N.C. House of Representatives. Ten bills recommended by the House Select Committee on Ethics and Government Reform would be greatly beneficial to the reform effort, said House Majority Leader Joe Hackney, D-Orange.

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New BOG chairman has hopes

By STEPHEN MOORE | August 19

June 15 - Jim Phillips comes to the helm of the UNC system's policy-making body during a time of dramatic transformation among the system's leadership. Voted in as the new chairman of the Board of Governors on June 9, Phillips is a major part of the reshuffling within the university's leadership that has come with recently installed system President Erskine Bowles.

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Local legislative efforts fail to muster unified support

By STEPHEN MOORE | August 19

While the N.C. General Assembly is pleased this summer with the generous state budget, several issues favored by officials in Orange County never made it past the drawing board. Given the approval of salary increases for state and university employees, a minimum wage increase of $1 and a cap on the gasoline tax, it can't be said that county residents won't be affected by this summer's work. Yet proposal after proposal directed toward helping Orange County and Chapel Hill is foundering, most never escaping House and Senate committee meetings.