THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Wednesday, June 26, 1996              TAG: 9606260371
SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH THIEL, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   53 lines

TCC HAS BUILDING, NEEDS COMPUTERS THE CHESAPEAKE CAMPUS CAN'T AFFORD TO EQUIP ITS NEW FACILITY.

For a small school like Tidewater Community College's Chesapeake campus, a beautiful new building should be cause for celebration.

But the Marian P. Whitehurst Technology Center, which opened last fall, instead has posed a bit of a conundrum for college officials.

There isn't enough money to properly outfit the $3.4 million facility with technological equipment. There aren't enough modern computers to fill the building's four labs.

The state General Assembly and the Chesapeake City Council kicked in some money this spring - $200,000 and $75,000, respectively - which will be used to buy equipment over the next year.

TCC officials now have begun soliciting private donations to pick up where the legislature and council left off.

Timothy H. Kerr, provost of TCC's Chesapeake campus, said he hopes to raise $500,000 from companies and private citizens who have an interest in the college.

``It's the first time we've tried this as a campus, so we'll see how it goes,'' Kerr said.

``Community colleges were pretty well funded (by the state) in the beginning,'' he said. ``But over the years, the funding is drying up, and we're having to go out and look for other sources.''

It's expected to take about two years to get pledges for $500,000. Half would be used right away to buy equipment; the other half would be deposited into an endowment to provide a steady source of money for equipment in the future.

``Part of the challenge of equipping a technology center is that the technology changes so fast,'' said Susan Slayton, director of capital campaigns for the Norfolk-based Tidewater Community College Foundation. ``The technology you're using today is not the technology you'll be using tomorrow.''

The foundation, a nonprofit group that raises money for the college, is organizing the fund-raising campaign for the Chesapeake campus.

So far, there have been $40,000 worth of donations, Slayton said. The largest, $30,000, came from the children of the late Marian P. Whitehurst, a former mayor of Chesapeake.

TCC officials are asking other individuals to consider at least a $2,500 contribution, enough to equip one computer station, including a desk, a computer, a monitor and a chair - ``Everything it takes for a student to be able to sit down and become computer-literate,'' Slayton said. MEMO: For more information about the fund-raising drive, contact TCC's

Chesapeake campus, 549-5202. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by STEVE EARLEY, The Virginian-Pilot

Timothy H. Kerr... by CNB