Wednesday, May 14, 2003

Wilmington, NC – Programming for the week of May 26 for UNCW Community Link, a new interactive, public affairs television show, features a segment discussing the future of Wilmington and mental health reform.

This week Betty Ann Sanders speaks with Publisher of the Wilmington Star-News Ken Svanum, President and CEO of the Greater Wilmington Chamber of Commerce Connie Majure-Rhett, and UNCW Political Science Professor Dr. Earl Sheridan, concerning current issues facing Wilmington and their impact in the year 2014.

"Wilmington will be larger, and hopefully, not as congested. I imagine we’ll have to deal with all kinds of issues concerning development and green space,” stated Dr. Sheridan. He added, "Maybe by that time we’ll have city/county consolidation.”

Ken Svanum said,“Maintaining the quality of life and developing leadership that allows planning to accomplish specific needs is important to Wilmington’s health in the year 2014.”

Connie Majure-Rhett agrees. She said, “Maintaining the quality of life we are so happy to have will be a huge challenge, but very important.”

Also this week, H. E. “Hunter” Thompson, Jr. discusses mental health reform with Dr. Art Costantini, regional director of Southeastern Center for Mental Health and Marianna Higley, a patient at Southeastern Center for Mental Health.

Funds for mental health care are drying up, leaving many citizens without the help they need. Southeastern Center Patient Marianna Higely stated that she was scared “she would fall through the cracks.”

UNCW Community Link reaches beyond the television studio to allow citizens to sound off on compelling issues facing Southeastern North Carolina. Hosts Betty Ann Sanders and H. E. “Hunter” Thompson, Jr. engage and challenge the region’s newsmakers and opinion-shapers and then ask viewers to voice their opinions. Through collaboration with the Southeast Public Interest Network of North Carolina (www.SpinNC.org), citizens can use the latest Internet technologies to continue the dialog on show topics and community ideas.

UNCW-TV has won four Awards of Excellence from the Alliance for Community Media.

For more information on the show topics, please visit:

Southeastern Center for Mental Health

http://www.secmh.org

Southeastern Center for Mental Health Local Business Plan

http://secmh.centersite.org/images/clientid_108/lme/updateplan.pdf

New Hanover County Planning Department

http://www.nhcgov.com/PLN/PLNmain.asp

City of Wilmington

http://www.ci.wilmington.nc.us/default.htm



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