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on the competition. During the transition period, about three to five years, as we became a new company each time; yes, there were tradeoffs; yes, there were uncertainties; lots of curiosity; lots of skepticism with new colleagues. But in the end, who benefited? The patients; patients with acute and chronic diseases who now have access to more quality medicines and more opportunity for access to quality medicines in the future. Employees like myself benefited by learning new skills, understanding a new culture, tremendous building of new relationships, and leading best practice standards. The community benefited by the growth of this fine company and its ability to share financial, commercial, and human resources with the residents. If you asked me in 1995 if I wanted to merge with another company equal or greater to mine in size, I would have said, "No way." I was totally comfortable in my earner of the world. Tonight I'm here an behalf of the children in all of Orange County. The measure of excellence should be access to any educational opportunity that's possible within a countywide public school system. I am confident there is a win-win agreement for everyone here tonight. Please have the crucial conversations with the State legislators or any other decision makers that influence the current budget formula and ask what can be done and ask why not. Structure a plan that outlines concrete resolutions to end the competitive nature of funding inequities the districts have endured. I urge you to explore new possibilities. To name afew -magnet schools of choice at the middle and high school levels, pilot programs, which involve shared curriculums and shared personnel resources. Exhaust all options, forge new ground, and show the people of this fine community you are accountable for change in June of 2003 when the dollars for school budget are finalized. All of us in this roam have at least three things in common - we are all human beings, we care about the future of the children, and six simple letters we all place in the box marked "County" on our applications, our insurance forms, and our voter registrations: O-R-A-N-G-E, Orange. Thank you. Jim Williams: Thank you for the opportunity to express the following perspective on possible merger, which reflects my family's views and those of the tremendous majority of my neighbors. My wife Kim and I have been residents of the area for the past two and a half years, and we have two children in second and sixth grades at a K-8 school within 3/4 of a mile of our home in Carrboro. And we're also about 3l4 of a mile from Chapel Hill High School. We strongly oppose merger of the City and County school systems, at least under the current hurried approach. In sum, we believe that the issue of equitable funding for both school systems can be resolved separately and expeditiously and that no compelling reason far merger has yet been presented. Indeed, the weight of arguments against merger within the current process seem overwhelming. The merits and demerits of the proposed merger of the City and County school systems absolutely requires more in depth analysis than has been undertaken to date, which has left so many important questions unanswered. A thorough examination of possible alternatives and which course of action would be best for the citizens and children of all parts of Orange County is essential and has also not been done yet. There should also be a direct and definitive demonstration of public support for merger before such a drastic action is considered for a vote by the Board of County Commissioners. We support a change in funding for the County schools that would provide apparently needed additional resources, provided that the additional taxation to