AS GENERAL ASSEMBLY STARTS SESSION, A CALL FOR LEGISLATIVE ACTION

With the Virginia General Assembly in session, John R. Broderick, vice president of institutional advancement, asks the Old Dominion community to consider contacting local legislators and urge them to support budget recommendations in favor of higher education and the university.

Gov. Gilmore recommended several attractive items for Old Dominion in his proposed budget but did not include funding for the university's proposed Engineering/Computational Sciences Building or any of its other major initiatives. Except in a few instances that involved the use of tobacco settlement funds, and cases such as residence halls and athletic facilities that rely on nongeneral funds, the governor did not recommend "bricks and mortar" projects for higher education. Consequently, there may be a construction package for higher education that is based upon some measure of bond funding. Items such as Old Dominion's proposed Engineering/Computational Sciences Building and Tri-Cities Center on the TCC campus in Chesapeake would appear on such a list.

Broderick asks all members of the Old Dominion community to consider writing their legislators to ask them to support university budget initiatives that expand and improve the current recommendations. When writing a legislator, identify yourself as a constituent and a member of the Old Dominion University community.