Posted 2 months, 17 days ago in 
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The July 17 front page showed clearly what is wrong with the United States. Government at all levels develops a tempest in a teapot to take up time and public attention to avoid the real problems.
Our nation has no energy policy, yet Congress debates outlawing the slaughtering of horses for human consumption. The United States exports almost nothing of value overseas. All we send is money, which is rapidly becoming worthless, and Congress holds hearings on professional athletes using steroids. Where are our leaders? Obviously not in Grand Junction, either.
Here’s an idea, based on the success Ireland has had recently in revitalizing its economy. College education in Ireland is now virtually free for all citizens. You can’t do it all at once, but imagine what would happen to the Grand Junction area economy if Mesa State was graduating 500 local students a year more than it is now. An educated work force attracts industry (that pays more than minimum wage).
Put your minds to work on a plan to offer free Mesa State education to Grand Junction High School graduates. When the city gets its plan going, get the county and surrounding towns to join in. Imagine progressive, useful, productive thought coming from local government. Maybe if we can get locals thinking, state and federal people might notice.
LARRY SIMS
Montrose
3 Responses to “Providing free higher education”
Posted July 21st, 2008 at 4:19 pm Login to Send PM Report this comment
Mr. Sims does have a point, but not in offering only Grand Junction High School graduates a ‘free’ education as Mesa State is not the property of Grand Junction, but of the state. The only school I am aware of that did offer a ‘free’ college education was the College of the City of New York (CCNY). But, that was a city owned college. Unfortunately, it no longer does.
Should ‘education’ be free? I believe it should, at least through the college undergraduate level. However, that is not likely to happen as most members of the public view education as an ‘expense’, and not an investment, even those for whom the education they received was ‘free’, whether paid by the state or ‘mommy and daddy’.
Posted July 21st, 2008 at 6:56 pm Login to Send PM Report this comment
For many years (and yet today to some extent) The UK offered free higher education. However it was offered only to a select few who had passed the rigorous exams in their equivalent of our high school. This automatically loses the late bloomers and those who mature in their desire for higher education at a later date. I believe it is important for us to educate at the university level as many of our citizens as we possibly can. However, short of turning us into a socialist nation, I doubt that we can afford to educate everyone on the public tax base. But the truth is that even given the present system, anyone sufficiently motivated can find a way to get through college no matter how poor he/she is.
Posted July 22nd, 2008 at 8:04 am Login to Send PM Report this comment
I think everything should be totally free and at no cost to the taxpayers.
You two super brains gonna provide a method of achieving that goal?
Or just more of the typical, “we’re college educated and everybody else is too stupid to figure it out”?
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