Letters on bloated universities, ‘suitable provision,’ gun control, stolen blinds

University system is bloated, too expensive

Here we go again. The Kansas Board of Regents allowed the state’s universities to increase tuition (June 16 Eagle). The universities lament the tuition increases and blame the state. The resulting tuition increases, along with the ever-growing list of added fees, will force more kids to borrow more, look for lower-cost delivery of the education they want or say “no” to college.

By saying “no” to high prices, value-conscious students and parents might actually allow the market to appropriately price higher education by forcing universities to remake their education and degree delivery system.

As it is, the system appears bloated and too expensive, and needs to remake itself for today’s connected world. University salaries are public record and eye-opening. Well into six digits for a Ph.D. in management? Yes, and a state pension, too.

Well-heeled, well-meaning alumni donors fund buildings for their legacy. They are lovely, but come with staffing and long-term maintenance costs. Activity and fitness centers are impressive but wasteful.

Higher education has followed the same path as every program that is government funded or subsidized. Vast sums of money are collected, redistributed and wasted. What’s most troubling to me is that we’re so far down the rabbit hole of spending that it’s irreversible.

Vague provision

The phrase “suitable provision for finance of the educational interests of the state” would likely be found to be unconstitutional because of vagueness in any document other than the one we are dealing with – the constitution of the state of Kansas, Article 6, Section 6(b). That being the case, any four of the justices on the Kansas Supreme Court have the ability to place any meaning on that phrase they feel is appropriate.

Anyone uncomfortable with that state of affairs has three primary choices: accept it and hope for the best, work to change the wording of that constitutional provision, or support the electoral non-retention of justices with whose interpretations they disagree.

Not same as shotgun

“Not assault rifle” (June 19 Letters to the Editor) stated that “the AR is no different in operation from a semi-auto shotgun.” Well, I never saw a shotgun with a 30-round removable magazine and that was lethal out to 300 yards.

The letter writer also asked: “Why isn’t alcohol banned? Alcohol kills more people than guns, so why not do something about that?” Well, I never saw a bottle of whiskey kill 49 people at one time (the great majority of whom were killed within 15 minutes).

For a democracy to function, the more citizens we have who can evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of any given argument, the better. That is why we send our daughter and sons to good colleges and universities. Believe me, it’s money well-spent.

Fuel black market

Crime pays, allowing the bad guys funds to pay any price on the black market for their desired weapons. Did someone say “gun control”? Really? Stricter gun control simply increases the cost of black-market weapons.

Everything was stolen

My daughter, who has been living in a tiny two-bedroom apartment for almost three years, finally saved enough to move to a place large enough for her 6- and 9-year-old daughters to have their own rooms and a place to play in their own backyard. A single mom, she struggles to make a decent life for her girls.

I live on limited funds, too, but had been buying curtains, rods and mini-blinds on sale to help her out when she moved – $200 to $300 worth. She excitedly took them to her new place, and I planned to go over after work the next day to hang them for her.

Everything – all of it – was stolen.

Could it have been a former tenant or a contractor working on the house? Who knows?

My daughter and granddaughters were crushed.

I know they were just window coverings. No big deal, right? Then tell me: How do you instill trust and compassion in children when they see such ugliness in this world?

This story was originally published June 22, 2016 at 12:04 AM with the headline "Letters on bloated universities, ‘suitable provision,’ gun control, stolen blinds."