Tuition woes prompt a need for teamwork

To The Editor:
Yes, there is great consternation on all state university campuses due to the proposed increase of tuition. However, now is not the time to be snipping at each other but rather a time to “circle the wagons” and show some solidarity. We can compare salaries, show statewide averages, pit various segments of the university against each other, or ... tell the truth ... The State of North Carolina has raised the white flag and has made the admission that it can no longer afford to own and operate a public university system. Through years of uninspired leadership in the legislature, North Carolina can no longer afford a system of elementary, secondary and higher education. Yet, through tax incentives (breaks), North Carolina is supporting a private university system. Families who have chosen to send their children to private universities and colleges are on the dole. Certainly this begs several questions: Why is the state supporting a second university system when it cannot afford to operate a public university system? Why, in the longest legislative session in the history of our state, did the legislature do nothing for education, at any level, and nothing for state employees? As a veteran of over 25 years at Appalachian, I assure you that our state budget has always been balanced on the backs of state employees and education. In recent weeks it has been announced that, due to the ineptitude of the legislature, millions of local dollars that were to be returned to cities and municipalities are now being kept in Raleigh. These, too, are education dollars.
No ... now is not the time to break ranks. It is, however, the time to ask our legislature what they have been doing. Appalachian State University is the single largest employer in Watauga County. Appalachian State University, its students, staff and faculty spend more dollars in Watauga than any other entity. Where are our local representatives?
William A. Gora
Professor of Music
gorawa@appstate.edu