The UNC System is facing a number of serious challenges heading into 2011, including how the 16-campus system will adjust to expectations from incoming President Tom Ross and how the system will fare in state budget negotiations. Jane Shaw, president of the Pope Center for Higher Education Policy, discusses the landscape as current President Erskine Bowles prepares to depart and a new General Assembly prepares to take control of the legislature. When those legislators arrive in Raleigh in January to face state budget cuts, they will likely focus at least some attention on Medicaid, the health insurance program for the poor and disabled. N.C. Secretary of Health and Human Services Lanier Cansler recently explained to lawmakers why Medicaid cuts can be hard to make. You’ll hear his comments, along with reaction from Joseph Coletti, John Locke Foundation Director of Health and Fiscal Policy Studies. Then we turn to government transparency and accountability. It’s hard for voters to keep track of their government when they can’t tell what elected and appointed government officials are doing. The John Locke Foundation has been one of the most vocal groups in North Carolina pushing for increased government transparency. You’ll hear highlights from a recent presentation on the topic from Becki Gray, JLF Vice President for Outreach, and Joseph Coletti. That’s followed by a look at history. Even if you’re a buff, you may not have spent much time thinking about the 1924 presidential election. Raleigh financial services executive Garland Tucker hopes you’ll invest a little time learning about that 86-year-old contest by reading his new book. It’s titled The High Tide of American Conservatism, and it recounts the last presidential campaign in which the two major-party candidates were bona fide conservatives. And finally, we turn to controversy in the City of Durham over the Mexican ID card known as Matricula Consular. John Locke Foundation Director of Legal and Regulatory Studies Daren Bakst explains the card and his concerns over fraud and federal immigration law.