Another Issue That West Virginia Democrats Do Not Understand: Two Year Colleges

If it ain't broke don't fix it. That is the tried and true engineer maxim. One of the few things in West Virginia that ain't broke is the college and university system. However, Senate Education Chairman Bob Plymale seems determined to fix it.

His target is West Virginia University at Parkersburg. Somewhat like Potomac State College, WVU-P is a branch campus of West Virginia University. It serves students in Wood and at its own branch in Ripley. Like Potomac State students, many in the mid Ohio Valley want to get a degree from West Virginia University eventually, but do not want to make the complete leap from high school to mega campus. Campuses such as WVU-P and Potomac State give state students more options. A student can earn a two year terminal degree or go on to WVU. In the smaller campus they have a wide range of majors to pursue. The trend recently has seen WVU's two year schools expand their offerings in both two and four year programs.

This not only allows for more choices, if allowed to continue it ensures continued economic development in these communities at less cost to the state over time. As the cost of tuition in the Northeast rockets to amazing heights, these small colleges increasingly serve out of state students and earn their mother institutions more money. Imagine the benefit to Keyser and Mineral County as a whole if Potomac State becomes a four year school? Parkersburg is another former industrial city that could use such a shot in the arm.

Plymale has his own very limited vision for state two year schools. He sees them as useful for workforce development alone and wants to slice away WVU-P from its mother campus. Sorry all you history, literature, and political science majors who are not quite ready for a 30,000 student campus. Senator Plymale says small colleges are for workforce development only. Potomac State's relationship with WVU is much tighter and is likely going to remain unaffected, at least for now. Who knows what plans Plymale has for the future?

Basically Plymale seeks to limit the options available to state students because he thinks he has a better idea. Liberals often do prefer to think for others since the common people surely cannot decide such important issues on their own. Fortunately WVU-P has Republican allies in the Legislature such as Frank Deem and Donna Boley. Boley accuses Plymale and others of "back room" dealing.

Deem and Boley need help if they are to save WVU-P from having to break from WVU. Marshall University also has a major branch campus in Point Pleasant and they need to watch these developments closely. WVU president Mike Garrison needs support from his peers as well as Governor Manchin to ensure that the Legislature keeps its hands off institutions such as WVU-P.

Senator Clark Barnes and the Law of Unintended Consequences

The law of unintended consequences is a fact of life in West Virginia. Our Democratic leadership has unleashed this draconian condition time and time again because they rarely think through the effects of the laws that they create. Here is one example from several years ago. Sweeping anti-drug laws remove the prerogatives of school principals to deal with their own students, resulting in children expelled from school for illegally passing a Halls cough drop.

This is how it all starts. The people come to their legislators with a problem, such as poor attendance and dropout rates in West Virginia schools. Now everyone wants to increase school attendance and keep kids in school until they graduate. That point is hard to dispute. The law says that kids can opt out of school after age sixteen, so what leverage do we have to keep these kids on track to graduation? The answer is a state driver's license. Licenses are privileges, not natural, or constitutional rights (although most liberals rate it above the right to use a gun to protect your family.) The state Legislature wants the dropout rate to improve so driver's licenses are revoked on minors that are not attending school.

Terrific! Watch the school attendance rate rise and we feel much better about ourselves. We used the power of government to create positive social change.

But we forgot something. We forgot to think it through. We forgot about the exceptions to our scenario of lazy kids just ducking school to play video games. Some sixteen and seventeen year olds are not in school for a good reason. They have to work to help put food on the table. Some have children of their own. In Clark Barnes' district one minor mother has a child with a severe birth defect. The defect is so severe it requires constant monitoring. The mother made the right decision and put her child first. The law said that she could not have a driver's license, but she sometimes has to rush her child to the hospital from her rural home.

When a concerned citizen brought this to Senator Barnes' attention, he immediately went to work and got the Senate to amend the law. Luckily he acted in time. However what if the child had a severe problem before he acted?

We should all thank the humanitarianism of Senator Barnes because he did work to change a fairly popular law. However the lesson here is that we need to think very carefully before using the power of government to adjust the non criminal behavior of individuals. This usually does too much damage to warrant the assumed good.

Secret Denunciations Soon to be Legal in Mineral County

When the Mineral County Clean Up Committee finalized its discussions on the proposed clean up ordinance last fall, one thing was made clear. Those who file complaints would have their names included on the complaint. Our legal system recognizes that those facing accusations must know the name of those making the complaint. It is only fair to the accused.

The Mineral County Commission just altered the proposed ordinance so that unidentified complainants can get the enforcement official to file the complaints on their behalf. This performs an end run around the spirit of the ordinance and of our legal system itself by encouraging secret denunciations. Those who support this measure would claim that having the enforcement official file the complaints on behalf of those who would remain anonymous serves as a sort of vetting process. A reasonable official, they would state, would eliminate unreasonable complaints. However what if the enforcement official is unreasonable, incompetent, or corrupt? Such scenarios have happened in the history of this state.

What is particularly galling is that this was passed to protect complainants who would hesitate to step forward because they were elderly, handicapped, ill, or feared reprisal. When measures were proposed that would protect property owners who were poor, ill, or otherwise vulnerable, these were rejected as "reverse discrimination" against the rich. Now the county commission is proposing that the ill, handicapped, elderly, etc. need extra protection so long as they are not the target of the complaint!

If we are going to have a law err on the side of protecting anyone's rights, it ought to be the property owner. Indigent, ill, disabled, or other property owners have no protection whatsoever. Supposedly vulnerable accusers, however, are accorded protective status over and above that of even victims of criminal acts. The latitude of free speech rights is rightfully extensive. assumed to cover almost any form of pornography or dissent. Other natural rights such as those regarding gun ownership and property are not taken nearly as seriously. This is the case because these rights limit the power that government has over the people.

Sometimes issues of security do need protection for those making official reports. If suspicious people are seen boarding a plane, it is important to get the information quickly so authorities can determine the validity of the threat. Since unused barns are less likely to escape the property line to wreck havoc and terror in various parts of the nation, this is a case where government power needs to be restrained.

We've Been Here Before . . .

A presidential race should be about a lot of things. It should reflect an intelligent discussion of the issues between experienced candidates. The people should take in reasonable arguments from both sides and make an informed choice. Presidential elections ought not be a beauty contest where feel good rhetoric overwhelms sensible discussion.

The Democratic contest right now reflects a struggle between those who support a candidate who has positions on real issues versus a guy campaigning on good looks and a fairly vague message of hope. Conservatives (Karl Rove included) seem to gravitate towards their old enemy Hillary Clinton and increasingly see Barrack Obama as a nightmare scenario. Republicans have actually switched parties to help Clinton win primaries.

The media says this happens because Republicans see Clinton as more vulnerable. Actually Clinton is the tougher candidate for McCain to beat because they appeal to the same moderate swing voters who likely would not go to Obama. Many Clintoncrats would tend to vote for McCain if their candidate lost. Many Republicans want Clinton to obtain the nomination because if worse comes to worst, many would rather see another President Clinton than a President Obama.

America has been here before. In 1920 the Republican Party ran Senator Warren G. Harding. His main characteristics were a congenial nature, good looks, and the vague idea that America needed to "return to normalcy." Harding had almost no real experience. Party officials supported him because they figured women would turn out in droves to support an attractive male (some did more than just vote for him.) Harding asked America to turn tail and run from the mess in Europe and disengage from the problems emerging there. We voted for the good looking guy who appealed to our emotions rather than our heads.

Harding was in over his head. He failed to prevent the Battle of Blair Mountain in which thousands of Americans fought each other on a thirty mile front over labor issues. Harding failed to even address the issues. Unlike the staunchly Republican President Grant two generations before, Harding failed to tackle the reformation of the Ku Klux Klan than terrorized blacks, Jews, and Catholics. He could not even manage his own friends as they used their position to enrich themselves at the expense of the public. Worst of all, America's disengagement from Europe set the stage for it to descend into the hell of World War II.

Obama wants to be president very badly (at least Harding had some misgivings about his lack of experience and knowledge.) This is not the right time in history for someone like this to end up in the White House. The United States faces challenges from terror groups as well as established powers such as Russia. We need to hammer out an energy policy to secure our nation and its economy. Poor decisions by large numbers of individuals have destabilized the economy. Obama wants to raise taxes considerably while pulling the US out of the Middle East so that the evil forces therein have free reign. Under such plans our economy and security suffer tremendously.

It's not time for a neophyte. It's not even time for a Clinton. It's time for McCain. Only a Republican has the principles proven over time to set it right.

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Prayers should go out to Senator Robert C. Byrd. We all hope that he makes a speedy recovery and returns to his post soon.

Financially Illiterate

Auto loaning just reached a new milestone recently. Some credit outfits now offer nine year loans to purchase new automobiles. While this helps consumers to negotiate much lower payments, it also benefits the credit firms who will bring in much more on interest. Unfortunately the value in a car at a certain point declines so quickly that many will find themselves owing more than the car is worth or paying on a car that died. This comes from a credit industry currently reeling because they greedily encouraged marginal buyers to make poor decisions on home loans.

The answer does not lie in more regulation. People got what they paid for and reaped the rewards of their judgment. To help consumers make good decisions, education is needed.

West Virginia currently requires four years of math to obtain a high school diploma. This contains an element of absurdity currently because most students never need higher math, not to mention the fact that advanced math subjects must have lower standards to ensure a decent rate of passage. What West Virginia and every state needs to do is to offer an alternative real life mathematics course for seniors. Few students ever need trigonometry or calculus in their chosen fields (although you should never stop offering these subjects.) Every student needs to know how to balance a checkbook, create a household budget, figure up a tip, do their income taxes, negotiate loans on a limited budget, and other real world skills.

Is it not amazing that schools have thoroughly embraced the idea that fifth graders need to know every last detail about sex, but they have not given the same attention to finances? Poor decisions about sex can ruin a life, so can uninformed financial decisions. Our economy is experiencing problems because entire generations have gone uninformed about how serious credit decisions can affect their lives. It is time that every high school in our state offer a math course on how to deal with the real world.