CFCC bond referendum

Here are the real facts about this issue that have not been accurately reported in previous posts: CFCC and Downtown: CFCC already owns all the property it needs to expand. No new property will be needed for the bond. Downtown vs. the North Campus: The college is building at both campuses because each location has different offerings. Health care programs are downtown. The expansion of health care needs be downtown. Most of CFCC's technical programs are out at the North Campus. That's why the industry training center will be located out there. Keeping them separate keeps overall costs down. If you want to move what's downtown out to the North Campus, you'll need a MUCH bigger bond and also deal with all the downtown businesses that will close because they'll lose a lot of their customers. (One note about the North Campus: The North Campus doesn't have as much space as you might think. Much of the land is wetlands and large power lines run through the middle of the campus - that means you can't build anything underneath them except for parking lots. Building codes also are a factor. In the northern part of the county, the tallest building you can build is three stories. In downtown, you can build higher.) The bottom line is that the college needs to develop both campuses to keep up with the needs of our area. The old WPD Building: Next year, CFCC will have to move several programs out of three buildings in the far northern part of downtown. That's why the police station is being renovated. It will be used to house the classes and programs housed in those buildings. Tuition: CFCC can't build buildings with tuition because it does not get to keep any of the tuition it collects. It all goes back to the state. (Note: NC universities get to keep their tuition. The universities also don't have to ask for bonds to pay for their facilties. They can get all the buildings they want from state lawmakers. Not so for our community colleges...that's another story altogether...) By the way, Vote yes for CFCC! It's the best deal we've got.

We can still have that vibrant growing economy by making those who play, pay! Why do they get a pass while sticking it to the taxpayers? Everyone needs to ask themselves how these bonds will benefit them. If you're young, college-educated, and childless, why should you vote to raise your taxes? You may still be paying off your own college debt. Better to save and invest your money so that one day, if you decide to have children, tuition won't be a problem. If you're retired, your children are probably out on their own, likely don't live here, and have already established their own life without being financially dependent on you. If you want to help them, don't cut their inheritance by paying more in taxes when you don't have to. The simple fact is that there is no guarantee to a college education. Their open-door policy is the source of the overcrowding. If they're turning away applicants, it's a monster of their own creation! Perhaps they need to be more selective in who they let in....AND raise the tuition for those attending. Sooner or later we are going to wake up to the idea that the tax revenues are not a bottomless well of money to fund open door policies, youth soccer, WAVE, and all these other pet projects that benefit niche populations. Want to go to college and don't have rich parents? Take out a loan...or win a scholarship like one of my kids and her father did. If you are so inept that you can't get a loan, a grant, or win that scholarship, there shouldn't be a seat reserved for you at the local community college. The world needs ditch-diggers and burger-flippers, too.

If you want to attend college, you should plan on paying for it. You shouldn't expect a free ride on the back of the taxpayers. How about a bond referendum to improve the golf course so that they don't have to raise greens fee? I mean, if we put a little thought into it we could sell bonds so that no one has to pay for anything except a ridiculously high tax bill. Make the students pay more for the education they are receiving. THEY are the ones benefitting from it.

It wasn't just the students with a negative reaction following the Mcain speech, there were some older liberal kooks there too. And god forbid we actually spend some tax dollars on education.