WFBMC Photo
A view of Wake Forest Biotech Place. ^
Medical Center opens
' eye-catching downtown facility
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
Wake Forest Baptist
Medical Center has opened
the doprs to Wake Forest
BiotiEn Place in downtown
Winston-Salem.
The new state-of-the-art,
world-class 242,000-square
foot biotechnology research
and innovation center is
designed to allow more
growth of Wake Forest
Baptist's many renowned
research departments and cre
ate incubator space to pro
mote start-up companies gen
erated by researchers' discov
eries and space for established
biomedical research compa
nies.
The facility is located at
the comer of Fifth Street and
North Patterson Avenue and
is comprised of two com
pletely restored former tobac
co facilities once owned by
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.
and donated by the tobacco
giant to PTRP. Baltimore
based Wexford Science &
Technology, LLC, completed
the careful restoration and
retrofitting of the buildings,
creating a unique structure in
only 18 months at a cost of
more than $100 million,
making Wake Forest Biotech
Place the largest capital
investment for a construction
project in the history of
downtown Winston-Salem.
Biotech Place is Wake
Forest Baptist's newest
research facility and its sixth
building in the growing
Piedmont Triad Research
Park (PTRP), a large section
on the eastern edge of down
town that has seen low uti
lization for decades.
Medical Center and city
leaders officially open the
facility on Tuesday.
"The opening of this
modern, high-tech research
and innovation center repre
sents a major milestone in
Wake Forest Baptist's devel
ppment and growth of a new
biotechnology-based econo
my in Winston-Salem
designed for the 21st
Century," said John D.
McConnell, chief executive
officer of Wake Forest Baptist
Medical Center. "We are
heralding a new era of social
and economic progress for
current and future generations
that will bring new jobs, new
businesses, and medical
breakthroughs to the people
of Winston-Salem, Forsyth
County, North Carolina and
beyond"
The new Wake Forest
Biotech Place features a
7,500 square foot glass atri
um that illuminates the
building's center, is Yive sto
ries tall on the south side and
three stories high on the
north side. The south end of
the building was originally
constructed in 1937 and fea
tures a distinctive glass block
exterior that was painstaking
ly restored The northern end
of the building has a brick
facade and was completed in
1962.
Wake Forest Baptist will
host tours of Biotech Place
for its employees and the
public on Friday, Feb. 24,
from 2 to 5 p.m. The last
tour will end at 4:45 p.m.
that day.
Dr. McConnell
CIAA
from page AI " i~~
weren't like the way we were
used to partying, I said
before I completely walk
away from homecoming, I
wanted to see if I could
throw a party and make it
happen," Reed said.
This year, his CIAA
party with rapper Biz Markie
is the first time he's promot
ed an event diring the bas
ketball tournament. While
Reed's party is an unofficial
event, meaning during the
promotion of the event he
can't use the logo of the
league or even say CIAA in
party advertising, it doesn't
mean that some of the prof
its from his event won't go
back to a CIAA school.
"I always give back to
Johnson C. Smith. I make
some sort of donation. I
always participate in some
sort of Smith activity. Like
the upcoming Arch of
Triumph Gala (a fundraising
event at Johnson C. Smith)
I'm going to purchase a
table," Reed said.
A request for an interview
with a CIAA official for this
story was not fulfilled by
press time, but in the past,
officials have expressed a
desire to have more of a
focus on the basketball and
not the parties. In 2009,
then-CIAA Commissioner
Leon Kerry, who retired in
November, told Charlotte's
Creative Loafing the tourna
ment made Charlotte the
place to be and it was impor
tant to keep fans inside Time
Warner Cable Arena watch
ing the basketball games.
But there are a number of
people who are there for the
parties, not hoops. And pro
moters like Mike Kitchen,
owner of The SolKitchen,
target them. This year,
Kitchen is hosting a number
of day parties and several
evening events in Uptown
Charlotte with tickets costs
ranging from free to $35.
But does he give back to the
league?
He has. However,
Kitchen admits that not
enough promoters do it.
"When I do stuff with the
CIAA, you have to [donate
to the scholarship fund]. You
can't really make promoters
donate unless it's a CIAA
sponsored event. And of
course you have to pay to
use their logo, name and
likeness. It's really kind of
hard to say you have to
donate when you're doing an
event. I think it would be
kind of cool if promoters
did," said Kitchen. "At the
end of the day, it's all about
the scholarships for the
HBCUs."
Reed said many of the
promoters don't have loyalty
to the schools and care more
about spending money
bringing in celebrities and
renting pricey venues rather
than giving to the scholar
ship funds or member
schools.
"I'm hoping and assum
ing when you see the official
school parties, like the VSU
or Winston-Salem State day
parties that they are giving
back to the schools," he said.
"But you do see more people
that don't give back than
those who do."
CIAA schools are getting
in on the action. Winston
Salem State University
Foundation is hoping to
raise tons of money with its
'The Love, Peace and Soul
Party," slated to take place
March 2 from 10 p.m. - 2
p.m. at the Marriott City
Center in Charlotte. The
WSSU Alumni Association
will hold an event of its
own, also at the Marriott, on
March 1 from 10 p.m. - 2
p.m. WSSU alum Maria
Howell will perform. Tickets
to the Soul Party, which
will feature the group Sugar
Hill, are $40. Alumni party
tickets are $25 in advance
and $35 at the door.
Go to
www.wssu.edu/ciaa for tick
et information. The 100th
Anniversary CIAA
Tournament will be played
in Charlotte from Feb. 27 -
March 3 at the Time Warner
Cable Center. Go to
www.ciaatournament.org for
tickets and/or additional
information.
WSSU Photo by Garrett Garms
Maria Howell performs at a '11 CIAA fundraising
party for WSSU.
Holder
from page A4
Holder became the nation's first African
American AG when he was sworn in on Feb.
3, 2009. Before that time. Holder was a lit
igation partner at Covington & Burling LLP
in Washington. From 1997 to 2001, Holder
served under President Clinton as the
Deputy Attorney General, the first African
American named to that post.
The New York City native has a long and
distinguished law and public service career.
He graduated with an American history
degree from Columbia College in 1973. He
graduated from Columbia Law School in
1976. While in law school, he clerked at the
National Association for the Advancement
of Colored People Legal Defense Fund and
the Department of Justice's criminal divi
sion. Upon graduating, he moved to
Washington and joined the Department of
Justice as part of the Attorney General's
Honors Program.
He was assigned to
the newly formed
Public Integrity
Section in 1976 and
was tasked to investi
gate and prosecute offi
cial corruption on the
local, state and federal
levels. In 1988, Holder
was nominated by
President Reagan to
become an associate ?
judge of the Superior Court of the District
of Columbia. In 1993, he was selected by
President Clinton as the U.S. Attorney for
the District of Columbia.
Boger
Housing
from page A4
Carolina, there are only 33
rental homes per 100 house
holds that are both affordable
and available to low income
renter households, those
earning 30 percent or less of
the area median income.
Nationally, the data shows
that while there are'9.8 mil
lion extremely low income
renter households, there are
only 3 million rental homes
affordable and available to
them, leaving 6.8 million
American households with
out access to decent housing
they can afford. No state in
the nation has an adequate
supply of affordable, avail
able rental housing, the
analysis found.
"This gap is more than
just numbers on paper," said'
Chris Estes, executive direc
tor of the North Carolina
Housing Coalition. 'These
are families in North
Carolina sleeping on couch
es, skipping meals,' living,
one illness away from total
disaster. It's a recipe for
homelessness."
State advocates say a
stronger investment in the
North Carolina Housing
Trust Fund is one of the
solutions. Over the last 25
years, the award-wining
Trust has financed nearly
25,000 homes and apart
ments, most for very low
income families, and created
more than 16,000 construc
tion jobs and generated mil
lions in local and state tax
revenue. Nationally, advo
cates are calling for funding
of the National Housing
Trust Fund, which would
provide communities with
funds to build, preserve and
rehabilitate rental homes that
are affordable for those
househplds impacted by the
affordable housing shortage.
Signed into law in 2008, the
National Housing Trust
Fund has not yet been fund
ed. President Obama included
$1 billion for the National
Housing Trust Fund in his
new budget.
"Solving the shortage of
affordable rental housing is
the most important home
lessness prevention measure
we can undertake," said
Sheila Crowley, president
and CEO of the National
Low Income Housing
Coalition. "Investing in the
National Housing Trust
Fund is our best chance of
ensuring affordable housing *
for all Americans."
AAUW
from pane A4
She received a BS degree
from Brown University, a
MS in nursing from Yale
University and MPH from
Columbia University. She
began her career as a public
health nurse in New York
City. She married Dr. H.M.
Dillabough, who is now
deceased, and had two chil
dren. Deborah and Edward,
and two grandchildren. She
was president of the
Winston-Salem Branch of
AAUW from 1959-61.
Recently, she was active
with the Focus on Reading
Excellence (F.O.R.E.) proj
ect and is still active in the
Miller Pointe community,
where she lives.
The local branch of
AAUW meets on the second
Tuesday of each month to
promote the mission of
AAUW. Branch members
study current legislation and
topics affecting women and
girls and support the mis
sion by being active in leg
islative issues, supporting
women through giving to
the AAUW Legal Advocacy
Fund, and helping to fund
scholarships (through the
Educational Foundation) for
women students pursing
graduate degrees. Janice
Imgrund and Marilyn
Cardwell are the co-presi
dents.
The organization can be
reached at
aauw. winston. salem@gmail
.com.
Hairston
. T
North Carolina's
Electric Cooperatives
Your Touchrriw* Energy" Cooperative!