Excellent point, Donna!
This sappy locution about UNC “catching its breath” reminds me of other anthropomorphic nonsense that is supposed to make people feel sorry for institutions or organizations. For instance, when people want tariff protection for a particular industry, they’re apt to say something like, “Our steel industry needs some breathing room.” But of course, neither UNC nor the steel industry actually breathes. These sympathy-inducing phrases hide the truth: UNC wants the increasing cost of running the system (including the $170,000 salary for the new Arts Director, as Jon notes) to fall entirely on the taxpayers and the steel industry wants the government to drive up the cost of foreign steel so that it can earn higher profits.
