Rick Martinez has a good column on the continuing problem of mold that has made dorms at NCCU uninhabitable — for human beings at least. You can read it here.
This is the latest manifestation of a deep-seated problem within the UNC system, and indeed within all governmental systems that have to manage tangible assets: the tendency to overlook maintenance in order to have more to spend on glamorous items. The essence of the “crisis” that led to the $3.1 billion bond issue in 2000 was the neglect of maintenance over decades. UNC officials and the politicians who provide most of their funds would rather build new buildings than they would maintain old ones.
What no one really owns, no one has a strong incentive to maintain.
If the mold problem had broken out at any of the private colleges or universities in the state, it would have been quickly lysol-ed out of existence and the cause fixed.
The Constitution of North Carolina says that there will be a University of North Carolina, but it does not say how many campuses it must have….