THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 29, 1994 TAG: 9409290465
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines
It was 9:45 a.m., and the North Carolina Advisory Budget Commission was running late.
The group's sleek-looking tour bus pulled into the K.E. White Center at Elizabeth City State University, while an ad-hoc sentry hurried inside to alert those assembled of the commission's delayed arrival.
As more than 75 dignitaries from the school and local government waited in a conference room, commission Chairman George B. Daniel, a state senator from Caswell County, greeted Chancellor Jimmy R. Jenkins outside the building. Daniel's 15-member panel, on a whistle-stop tour to hear pleas for state money, was in tow.
``Let 'em keep walking,'' the harried chairman instructed greeters whose welcome slowed his companions' entry into the building. Discussing refreshment logistics with another official, he said, ``They'll always drink another cup of coffee.''
The commission, composed primarily of state lawmakers, is charged with advising the governor's office on budget issues. In anticipation of next year's long session and two-year budgeting process, the group is touring the state and making tightly scheduled stops at selected sites.
Hosts, which included ECSU and College of The Albemarle on Wednesday morning, have bent over backward to accommodate the whirlwind travelers, organizing 45-minute programs aimed at leaving some unique impression of why their facilities should top state funding lists.
The commission spent a week in the west earlier this month and plans to whisk through the Piedmont area starting Oct. 10. This week was set aside for the state's eastern third.
Stops included schools and hospitals in Goldsboro and Greenville on Monday, Somerset Place state historical site in Creswell on Tuesday and the Chowan County Courthouse Wednesday morning. The team was scheduled to arrive at COA at 8:15 a.m., but they didn't show up until they were supposed to leave.
Closely timed programs were sliced to bare bones as COA President Larry Donnithorne rattled off topic sentences and introduced two student testimonials before sending commission members to look at school facilities.
``You're always rushed,'' Donnithorne said of the proceedings. He said his goal was to ``try to spark their interest. . . . I appreciate their willingness to come to the community colleges in this region.''
Donnithorne pushed COA's mission of providing better jobs and lives through accessible education. He listed such budget concerns as funding for the information superhighway and pay equity for non-faculty staff, who were left out of significant raises this year.
The group's bus nearly left COA without two commission members, who rushed up to the moving vehicle like field trip stragglers shouting, ``We got lost!''
At ECSU, Jenkins and his staff highlighted growing programs in biotechnology, music and telecommunications. But Jenkins' goal was to hammer home a single point with commissioners - the connection between ECSU and regional development.
``I am fast-forwarding everything I say to you,'' he reminded them near the end of the clipped program. ``But I hope you can understand . . . the strategic location of this university for the growth of northeastern North Carolina.''
ECSU presented a request for $10.4 million, a number similar to what it asked for two years ago. The university that year received about $3 million, officials said.
The presentation concluded with the distribution of gift umbrellas for the visitors.
``I want you to put that in a positive light and say, when it rains it pours,'' Jenkins said.
``I thought everything flowed smoothly,'' Jenkins said after the bus had carried commissioners off to a waiting flight to Mount Olive. ``I think we got our points in.''
Daniel, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, credited the commission's stops at some less-visited Albemarle locations to Senate leader Marc Basnight of Dare County. Basnight pressed the body to spend more time than usual in the area.
``I wanted them to see some of the sights that in the past people from Raleigh have not reviewed,'' Basnight said.
And at least one host pulled off a visit that wasn't rushed. Somerset Place, which is seeking $700,000 for reconstruction of slave facilities on the historic plantation next year, scored a coup Tuesday.
``They were supposed to have been in a hurry,'' said manager Dorothy Redford, who fed the group catfish in a cast-iron pot, black-eyed peas and corn bread. ``They stayed for an hour and a half, which is an extraordinary amount of time.''
Despite the brevity of most visits, Daniel said the stops serve their purpose.
``They give you an idea of what you're dealing with back in Raleigh,'' Daniel said, stopping to pose for a photo on his way out of ECSU. ``All you got to do is get a feel for it.
``They can do a much better job here on campus than they can in Raleigh.'' by CNB