Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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snnroRD • cortirued froiri cap, Sanford said he hopes to stir up debate on consolidation, while also lowering tuition costs for students. “He does have a point that we have a huge amount of institutions of higher learning here,” SG President Tommy Preston said, reacting to the governor’s statement that USC Union and USC Salkehatchie should be closed. “But when you think about our state like the rural state that it is, you can’t tell me that closing down Union and Salkehatchie isn’t going to have a major impact on the people in those communities.” “I don’t think he s thinking about those issues,” Preston, a third-year political science student, said. Holt and Preston told Sanford they thought the solution to high tuition costs was more state-allocated money. Sanford quoted statistics that placed South Carolina seventh in the country for funding higher education as a percentage of the total state budget and asked the students to step into his shoes and decide where they thought the money should come from. Third-year political science student Andrew Bullard, a former SG senator, said that one possible solution would be for the state to devote some tax revenue to higher education. Using a cigarette tax as an example, Bullard said funding would provide “an avenue of revenue, plus what we get from the Legislature.” Scott English, Sanford’s senior policy adviser, said that even increasing the cigarette tax to meet the Southeastern average, 35 cents per pack, from the current 7 cents per pack would only generate $35 million per year. “That’s not enough,” Sanford said. “You’re still not giving me enough juice.” cut oullard said higher education would still benefit from having more money. The students also took issue with the fact that Sanford’s statistics included $200 million from lottery money in addition to state-allocated funds. Holt argued that students who get scholarships could choose to go to private schools. Preston said after the meeting that money from LIFE scholarships belongs to the families of students who receive those scholarships. “That money subsidizes the family,” he said. “The governor can’t imply that money coming from mom and dad is the university’s money, and I think that’s what he’s trying to do with the scholarships.” Sanford maintained during the meeting, however, that lottery money does count as state-appropriated money. Higher education took $200 million of the $230 million generated for the state by the lottery last year. Sanford said the state could use that money to fund other programs but chooses to fund higher education. Students at the meeting were caught off guard when Sanford asked them how they proposed to fix the issue of high tuition. “I thought we were here to talk about tuition caps,” Holt said. 1 he cap is directly tied to this larger conversation,” .Sanford said. Kelly Sheldon, a Clemson student and chairman of the South Carolina State Student Association, said his organization had briefly discussed the issue. Representing 12 colleges and universities, Sheldon said the students’ sentiment was that if getting a better quality education meant paying more tuition then students would pay. “If the student knows that in 10 years the value of the diploma hanging in their office is going to accrue, then they’re willing to support their institution of higher education,” Sheldon said. Preston said education quality is the biggest problem students have with a tuition cap. He asked the governor if he could guarantee that a cap wouldn’t hinder students’ quality of education. Sanford said that with a cap some students would absolutely be affected. “But you’ve gotta look at the big umbrella,” Sanford said. “What we’ve got right now is expensive.” Sanford also said that while middle- and upper class students could afford to pay higher tuition, there is a danger that high tuition might “price out” students with a low socioeconomic background from getting a higher education. He said accessibility to education is “a huge deal for our society.” Sheldon asked Sanford whether he had given any thought to how universities would make up money they might lose from a tuition cap. m me mstory or man, creativity is really unleashed when there’s a problem,” Sanford said. Pressed further by Sheldon, Sanfbrd said that his administration proposed several ways for universities to cut costs. His proposal to close USC Union and USC Salkehatchie was immediately shot down, he said, but he still advocates the idea. Sanford also said his administration has “gone hard” at closing some of the agricultural extension services offered by Clemson. “What we’ve got to look at is recognizing all programs are not equal,” Sanford said. Citing the change in South Carolina from an agriculture-based economy to one more focused on services, Sanford said universities should also adapt to the times and reduce duplication within the system. Asked if he had gotten student opinion about the issues he was talking about, Sanford said, “That’s why you’re here,” but he added, “I don’t go to ffat parties if that’s what you mean.” He also said that if provided with an opportunity to talk to a room full of average students from other universities, he would absolutely do so. Sanford said he doesn’t spend a lot of time with students, but he also doesn’t spend a lot of time with other constituents either. Preston said later that the governor might lose perspective because he is isolated from students. “He’s making all these plans and ideas and isn’t talking to the people who are going to be directly affected by it,” he said. Preston and Bullard said that from what they heard from Sanford, it seemed that .a tuition cap could be a reality soon. Bullard said he would be'OK with the tuition cap as long as it was only a temporary solution. Preston said he didn’t think their meeting Wednesday had an influence on the governor’s decision, but he said it was important that the students had a chance to speak to the governor. •“I think we have a long way to go in addressing this issue, and I still don’t think this is the right approach,” he said. Holt said he was impressed that the governor didn’t try to placate the students. “He was very forward and very direct in showing us what he felt,” Holt said. But Holt said that the governor should let the Board of Trustees decide what the tuition should be, not the government. “That’s concerning to me, especially in a gubernatorial administration that focuses on less government control, that it’s trying to push into •higher education and tell universities what they should decide.” Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocknews@gum.sc. edu SOLDIERS • CORTinUEDFROmi Three of Thursday’s speakers were linguists. Patrick English, a Korean linguist, said he was directly responsible for the capture of more than 75 foreign insurgents through intelligence work done in Iraq. English recalled a time when his unit came under attack from a suicide bomber near the Syrian border. “At that moment, I can guarantee you that I wasn’t worried about my sexual orientation ... and I can also guarantee you the comrades I served with weren’t worried about it either,” English said. English said several soldiers knew he was gay while in the Army and received a positive response. Jarrod Chlapowski, another Army Korean linguist who trained at Fort Jackson, said that a conservative estimate places at least 65,000 gays and lesbians currently serving. Chlapowski said he chose to come out while in the Army and experienced little adversity, but he chose not to reenlist after five years for fear of “one moment of vindictiveness” that could result in being discharged. Alan Steinman is a retired Coast Guard rear admiral heavily involved in opposing the ban on the federal level. He is an honorary board member of the Servicemembers Leg^l Defense Network, a Washington lobby dedicated to repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” that filed one of several lawsuits in 2005 challenging the ban.. Coincidentally, Thursday’s event marks the anniversary of the introduction of Military Readiness Enhancement Act to the U.S. House last year, which would allow gays and lesbians to serve openly. The bill has 110 co sponsors, only four of whom are Republican. Steinman said he believes the bill will die in committee at the end of this year but that there is and will still be strong support behind the ban. Jtight out ot 1 U Americans said gays should be allowed to serve openly ... it looks like there’s been a sea change in attitudes, particularly in this generation of Americans,” Steinman said. The tour will go through 25 universities through April, with the intent of reaching out to those who might not fully understand the effects of the ban. “We’re trying to reach out to conservatives,” Nicholson said. “We just came from the Clear Channel building (in Columbia) doing a call in radio show.” Nicholson said the calls varied from supportive to reactionary. “We had one guy call in who said, ‘Not only should gays not serve in the military, but women, too!’” Nicholson said. Nicholson graduated from USC in December 2004 with a degree in international relations. He lives in Washington, D.C., working for a government contractor. Andrew Collins, a second year history student and former chairman of the Student Senate Minority Affairs Committee, said he collaborated ,with Student -Sen. Charles Appleby of the School of Law to acquire the law school auditorium for the event. 1 m just glad the event s here on campus, personally ... just having it out there, bringing these people to campus and opening up questions on the subject,” Collins said. Comments on this story? E-mail gamecocknews@gwm.sc. edu I KjKimimiMikiA^I IkLiLUUMkijLiftLULdLki^d I ? b|bbD3BBHP SOLUTION!!! .-.-...H