In 1993, ESPN and former N.C. State men’s basketball coach Jim Valvano founded The V Foundation for Cancer Research. In only 14 years, the foundation raised more than $70 million and awarded cancer research grants in 37 states and the District of Columbia.
According to the State Center for Health Statistics, cancer has surpassed heart disease as the leading cause of death in North Carolina. This trend is expected to continue as baby boomers age and the deaths associated from heart disease decline as people turn to healthier diets, smoke less and exercise more.
In a press release from UNC-Chapel Hill News Services, Dr. William L. Roper, dean of the School of Medicine and chief executive officer of the UNC Health Care System, said there are 41,000 new cancer cases and 17,000 deaths annually in North Carolina. One in three North Carolinians will develop cancer. Nationally, 560,000 people die every year from cancer.
“Cancer is an economic, social and personal burden for our state and affected families,” Roper said.
To combat cancer’s growing societal effects, the N.C. General Assembly created the University Cancer Research Fund. According to the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, “the University Cancer Research Fund’s mission is to save lives and reduce suffering from cancer in North Carolina and beyond.” The legislature included $25 million in the 2007 budget for the UCRF, an amount that will grow to a $50 million per year appropriation by 2009.
You may have heard and seen some of that money being spent, rather inappropriately, with the various radio and print commercials touting the creation of the fund. Just like Carolina to toot its own horn with precious state resources. After all, it’s the same institution that gave football coach Butch Davis a $291,000 raise after a losing season. The raise put Davis’s annual salary at more than $2 million.
Imagine what an additional $2 million would do for cancer research. It should be noted that Davis is a cancer survivor.
NCSU has its share of cancer stories as well; including Valvano. Women’s basketball coach Kay Yow is battling the disease. Yow won the “The Spirit of North Carolina Award” for her “courage and inspiration to others and for being a true ambassador for North Carolina and its citizens.” The award will be renamed the “Kay Yow Spirit of North Carolina” award in 2008. Yow’s Hoops for Hope has raised thousands for cancer research.
But the real reason I am writing this column about cancer is for Jimmy V. ESPN began its inaugural Jimmy V. Week Wednesday. It’s a weeklong initiative across all of ESPN’s networks to raise awareness and increase funding for The V Foundation’s work in cancer research. To help the fight against cancer, log onto jimmyv.org or call 1-800-4JIMMYV.
Although NCSU has done everything in its power to distance itself from the former men’s basketball coach and athletics director (there are no buildings, scholarships, monuments, plaques dedicated to Valvano), it’s important that we remember and support this great and dynamic figure in our University’s storied history.
What are you going to do to support cancer research? E-mail viewpoint@technicianonline.com.