LETTERS
Reactions to Economy
and the Impact on UNC
As a staff member of The University of
North Carolina, I am committed to the
University’s mission. I am willing to take
for a limited time leave without pay as long
as I don’t sacrifice health benefits or retirement contributions. If a temporary furlough allows the University to continue its
mission and provides funds for the continued employment of lower-paid staff, I
accept the decision.
I realize the UNC General Administration has difficult decisions to make, and I
trust GA, the BOG and Chancellor Thorp
will provide the leadership necessary to
steer the UNC community through these
difficult times.
Katherine O’Brien
GIS Coordinator, Engineering
Information Services
Why doesn’t everyone just take a pay
cut above a certain salary level until this
thing we’re all in blows over? This, along
with other cost-cutting ideas, could keep
everyone employed and still maintain a
certain student/staff service level that
would be of benefit to all.
Ray Lippincott ’ 71
Roswell, Ga.
If you lay off 121 faculty and 86 staff
members to meet budget requirements for
a total of 209, and only reduce the number
of classes by 282, the result is 1. 35 courses
per employee. I can’t imagine any private
sector job having so little work requirements and such minimal time demands as
this.
Max L. Daniel ’ 68
Charlotte
These letters were in response to an online
article in “Out of the Blue,” the GAA’s e-newsletter. A news story about the budget
begins on page 3 of this issue.
Johnson’s Work, Service,
Compassion Applauded
Thank you for honoring Dr. James
Johnson with the GAA’s Faculty Service
Award. I’m a graduate of the UNC School
of Social Work and worked with the
Durham Scholars Program as a graduate
How to reach us
Offices:
(919) 962-1208
Fax: (919) 962-0010
E-mail:
CAR@unc.edu
Web:
alumni.unc.edu
Mail: P.O. Box 660
Chapel Hill, N.C. 27514
Updates with news about the University and
the GAA can be found on the GAA’s Web
site at
alumni.unc.edu.
student under Dr. Johnson’s leadership. It
was a wonderful opportunity to see our
institutions’ research implemented into
practice in such an enriching way. Dr.
Johnson’s compassion and commitment for
the communities we live in and serve is
beyond measure.
Sharon Holmes Thomas ’ 98 (MSW)
Durham
Thomas is director of recruitment, admissions and financial aid at UNC’s School of
Social Work. This letter was in response to an
online article in “Out of the Blue.” The article also appears in this issue on page 51.
Treasuring Gerrard,
Preserving the Past
I was happy to read that Gerrard Hall
has been renovated and then saddened to
read that it has suffered a fire (“From the
Hill Online,” November 2008 news item).
My hope is that the repairs will be accomplished soon.
Too many of our older structures,
nationwide, are simply torn down to make
room for some ugly temporary concrete and
glass box. Other countries seem to be able
to honor and revere their elders, buildings as
well as people, while we have put very little
value in them. I am very pleased that UNC
is taking steps to rectify this situation.
I have fond memories of attending
church services in Gerrard Hall during
my student days there, from fall 1959
through spring 1961. The Olin T. Binkley
Memorial Baptist Church met there for
several years from its beginning until
another facility was located. I attended
other programs in Gerrard as well, always
admiring its architecture and the atmosphere of history that it engendered. The
old creaking wood floors seem to speak of
orators, music and drama of the past, ladies
in long full skirts with many petticoats,
pompadours and feathered hats escorted
by gentlemen in frock coats or tails, high
collars, ascots and high silk hats.
Thank you, UNC, for preserving our
past.
Sarah MacKenzie ’ 61
Louisville, Tenn.
In Memory of a Man
Who Enriched Many Lives
We all know the expression “life is for
the living,” but I’d like to take a moment to
honor a man who recently passed away
who made so many lives better because of
his love for UNC. A. Warren James Jr. ’ 49
(Class Notes, Janu-
Loving Old Wilson / The Endowment and the Long View
CAROLINA
ary/February 2009),
January/February 2009
ALUMNI REVIEW
who also earned his
master’s in English
from UNC in 1959,
was the dean of boys
at The McCallie
Hanging
With the
Legends
School when I was
Tyler Hansbrough
can rearrange Carolina’s
record book
there, and it was pri-
marily Dean James
who convinced this Florida boy to come
to Chapel Hill. Not only did he make
every effort to make sure that an out-of-
state kid like myself could get in, but he
did so with a love of UNC that was
unbounded. I thank him every day for his
efforts, and I’m sure there’s no shortage of
other McCallie boys whom he directed to
UNC who feel the same way.
Wherever you are, Dean James, there are
plenty of us in the land of the living whose
lives are so much more rich because of you.
John Dunlap ’ 75
Concord
Address Inspires
Across Generations
Thanks so much for publishing the
December 2008 Commencement address
by Professor Valerie Ashby ’ 88. I found it
very inspiring and meaningful even after a
quarter-century of kicking around in the
“real” world. I’m even printing out a copy
for my mother to read.
Peter Niels Heller ’ 81
Somerville, Mass.
Professor Ashby’s Commencement address
appeared online and is linked from a news
story dated Dec. 15, 2008, titled “Apply
Yourselves to Service, Ashby Tells December
Graduates,” at
alumni.unc.edu.
