Voice of the People - January 27, 2009
Technical colleges key to future
During these difficult times, South Carolina's technical college system holds the key to jumpstarting our state's economic engine. The rise in joblessness in Chester, Lancaster and York counties clearly demonstrates the urgent need to retool our work force. York Technical College is well-equipped to get our citizens back to work by offering the types of job skills required by today's employers.
History has repeatedly demonstrated that enrollment at technical colleges rises in correlation with unemployment. As dislocated workers consider their options, a technical education is often the most economical and practical way to gain the skills needed to compete in the job market. Also, technical colleges provide opportunities for those who have the least access to higher education. In fact, many technical college graduates are the first to attend college in their families.
The road map to success can be seen in the statistics:
• Sixty-five percent of the jobs in the future will require advanced training or an associate degree.
• Ninety-six percent of all students enrolled at a South Carolina technical college in 2007 were in-state residents.
• Fifty-six percent of undergraduates started on their road to higher education at a technical college, many going into nursing and teaching.
• Eighty-five percent of technical college graduates remain in state, keeping South Carolina's engine running as they give back by working in Chester, Lancaster and York counties.
In 2009, enrollment at York Technical College is expected to surpass the 7,259 students who enrolled in 2008. Yet, state funding for the college has been cut nearly 25 percent since July 1, and more reductions are likely in the months ahead. The faculty and staff at York Technical College have been tremendously effective in providing quality education and training, while at the same time finding ways to do more with less.
It is essential for York Technical College and the other South Carolina technical colleges to remain accessible to our citizens. This is especially true for those impacted by the current recession. Technical college graduates are the driving force to a sustainable economic future, and funding for technical colleges must be a high priority, especially in these tough economic times.
Tony Vaughan
Rock Hill
Help homeless help themselves
There are homeless people who live under bridges and are in the woods who receive checks from the government. They could use this money and find a room or government housing. There are people I know who can't work and can't get anything, and if they do, it is three years before they receive anything. They have to have an address to get their checks. The postal service doesn't leave mail under a bridge or in the woods.
Many homeless people have families who have tried many times to help them, and they won't stay with them. So it is their choice to live this way. They need to clean up and take these checks to get themselves a place -- and not to the liquor store. And, they could be working.
Instead, people losing their jobs today need help. So help those people. Some of these men have been on the street for years, and they want it that way! I don't want to see anyone be cold and without food. May God help these people to help themselves.
Betty Pressley
Rock Hill
The arts enrich our lives in many ways
Americans who watched the inauguration of President Barack Obama and events surrounding that historic occasion witnessed an amazing array of talent in poetry, song and instrumental music by some the nation's finest performers.
Whenever we, as a nation, celebrate momentous occasions -- from July 4th to the somber observances that followed the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001 -- we turn to the arts. Artists provide an outlet for our deepest: joy, sorrow, patriotism...
It is curious, then, that whenever our elected officials want to cut expenses, arts programs are among the first to be put on the chopping block. Many arts organizations fear that arts education will be eliminated as the S.C. General Assembly tries to undo the Education Improvement Act. (The EIA designates money for arts education in our schools.) This is despite widely accepted evidence that arts education benefits our children in many ways by encouraging creativity, enhancing critical thinking and developing problem-solving skills.
Ironically, in this troubled economy, state support of arts and arts education is in jeopardy even though we know that the arts help stimulate economic growth. A study conducted last year by the Arts Council of York County and the Americans for the Arts concluded that arts organizations and their audiences have an annual economic impact of $7 million in York County, including providing 210 full-time-equivalent jobs!
At the federal level, there is reason to hope that this vital sector of our economy might receive some help. House Appropriations Chairman David Obey, D-Wis., recently released a summary on the structural framework for the proposed $825 billion American Recovery and Investment Bill of 2009, an economic stimulus plan which Congress has tentatively scheduled to start considering next week. The economic recovery package recommendations can be viewed online at www.artsusa.org.
Closer to home, we encourage citizens to contact their legislators and share their concern about the arts and arts education. Let them know that you consider the arts an essential element of our quality of life. Please act today.
Barre Mitchell
President
Arts Council of York County
Rock Hill
Watch out for new fuel taxes
A good politician will tell the people what they want to hear. The recent editorial "Raise the tax on fuel" stated something people really don't want to hear, or see, for that matter.
So here's what I know -- not just think: The vast majority of the American public just doesn't get it any more, politically and religiously! For over half my lifetime, I didn't get it either. Therefore, at one time, I was just as guilty as the vast majority of Americans are today. Then, I realized and figured out some differences -- for example, the distinction between a "politician" and a "statesperson." (Have to be politically correct with that last word).
"Now is a good time, for a variety of reasons, to consider raising the tax," cited the Herald editorial. The editorial cited "a federal infrastructure panel, a 15-member panel created by Congress." Is anyone reading this particular reply, interested or concerned about those "variety of reasons"?
By the way, who supposedly elects those individuals to the Congress? Do these words ring a bell: We, the people? Certainly not, whereas those same people believe that the words "separation of church and state" are found somewhere in the Constitution.
How many of you folks reading this are starting to realize the ramifications the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution regarding taxation are having on you today? Keep looking at your paycheck and in your wallet/purse because you're gonna find that out, too, real soon!
Bill Clade
York
ER stay was more than 30 minutes
I have been seeing billboards and recently received a mailing about Piedmont Medical Center's new 30-minute emergency room. I thought this was very innovative and took my hat off to any medical facility ER to even try to accomplish this.
When I read this, my thought was that patients would be seen within 30 minutes by someone who could help. Well, I was able to test this out when my 92-year-old mother fell ill and had to go to the emergency room. The following is the real emergency room care that all York County persons would and should expect from this hospital.
On Dec. 15 around noon, I brought my mother into the emergency room. At approximately 12:30, they called my mother in to a small anteroom to be seen. Wow, I thought, this is excellent service. In that room is a nurse, I think, who took her temperature and blood pressure. We were then sent back to the waiting room.
Two hours later, we were called into a room in the ER, where we waited some more. She was seen by every person in the ER except a doctor. Four different people took blood from her or tried, even though there were no veins left. I finally had to tell them that this was enough. About six hours in, someone had the bright idea that maybe she should have a urine test. They found that she had a urinary tract infection and treated her accordingly.
There were many nice people there, and the nicest was a woman who was the discharge person. We finally left the hospital at 7 p.m.
Needless to say, I was upset by the ER advertising campaign for 30-minute fast treatment. It would have been better if I went there knowing that Piedmont is its "old self." Then, I would have expected this treatment.
James P. Villano
Fort Mill
This story was originally published January 27, 2009 at 12:48 AM with the headline "Voice of the People - January 27, 2009."