tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4161781017528873219.post1050568715019246621..comments2023-10-17T04:51:04.961-07:00Comments on Telemachus: 'The Center for the Eradication of Poverty Through Free Enterprise at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill'Frank Hillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13948885430465501408noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4161781017528873219.post-92056305146386065982015-03-14T20:14:12.396-07:002015-03-14T20:14:12.396-07:00erratum: facts, not fast... erratum: facts, not fast... Tom Rickettshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03523705857156160647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4161781017528873219.post-45310750748300782912015-03-14T20:08:50.113-07:002015-03-14T20:08:50.113-07:00I am surprised by your and others' presentatio...I am surprised by your and others' presentations of a "counterfactual" that posits a center or institute that would support free enterprise and capitalism and fails to mention the Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Free Enterprise. http://www.kenan-flagler.unc.edu/kenan-institute. That Institute, a part of the Kenan-Flagler Business School, itself an entity of the University dedicated to supporting and extending the reach of business and private enterprise, also pays attention to the eradication of poverty. It has a functioning working group that attempts to develop entrepreneurial solutions to expand the economy in eastern North Carolina. I occasionally attend those meetings as my work supports the development of health care business and programs.<br />Your statements about the State Employees Health Plan (SEHP) describe it as a "Cadillac" type plan. That may have been so in comparison to other workplace-based health insurance coverage, but it is now much reduced in the scope of its benefits and has shifted much more of the costs to the member. I think an objective reviewer would find it somewhere in the middle range of such plans. Yes, the retirement plan is in good shape and part of that is due to the costs cutting and investment policies put in place by the Treasurer. That office, which oversees the SEHP has also cut benefits and raised member costs with the same attention to solvency that it pays to the retirement program.<br />You make much about university employees being state employees and that is so. There are important differences and many exceptions relating to the medical schools and other groups—there are abundant exceptions for physicians, and coaches and executives at the University and the idea of academic freedom is a real principle that the State recognizes in one way or another by granting a form of tenure—meaning a person in an academic position may not be fired for reasonable political expressions. It does not keep them from getting let go because of lack of funding or any other legitimate reason. Tenure does not guarantee anyone a job, just a limited set of reasons why they cannot be relieved of their job.<br />I take very serious my position as a public servant and have done so ever since 1970 when I first became a state employee (and was required to sign and oath of allegiance to the State of North Carolina at the time—something that was a relic of the state's rights efforts and dropped. <br />My job is to use research and analysis to bring factual information and informed opinions to policy discussions and debates. I have done this for administrations of both parties and General Assemblies or individual houses of the Assembly governed by both parties. They get the same fast, the same information and the same opinions no matter who asks.<br />I do this while I raise funds to support my and others' work through grants and contracts and, at the same time, I teach and supervise students research. The latter is often gratis due to my external support. Still, I remain a state employee—a public servant.<br />I have, on two occasions, also been a federal employee. The most recent time was last year and that ran parallel to my part time employment by the state as a professor. I was required to undergo training and repeated review of the requirements of federal service with regard to political activity. I saw that as a mirror of my obligations as a state employee. I accept and understand that whatever I do when I am working for the State is open to the public—my email, my written documents, any expenditures I make, my salary, and any other documents related to my work. That is the nature of public employment. For my federal job I was required to fully disclose, every six months, all of my and my wife's investments and any business relationships I had. I have had to do that on prior occasions when I worked on an advisory committee or as a commissioner. That's part of the reality.<br />Thomas C. Ricketts<br />Tom Rickettshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03523705857156160647noreply@blogger.com