I it is deplorable for politicians to engage in ideological battles, or even worse, petty vendettas, using as their pawn state universities (especially one with as good as this one). Putting all politics aside, though, does a poverty center attract enough students interested in studying that topic to justify the costs of running it? Considering the trends in student major choices today, it might make sense to review whether or not they should keep it open.
1
Just keep on believing that ISIS is the true threat to American democracy.
10
Universities, especially taxpayer funded ones, should be places for scholarship, not advocacy of "social justice" or other political ideas. It's pretty simple- study Marx? Of course? Set up a center to advocate a Marxist society? Nope.
4
Quite correct. Just look at the "social" departments on campus - those that can best be called "faux" education - gender studies, hispanic studies, black studies, gay and lesbian studies. Don't laugh at the "Marxism studies" - we have something like that alive and well in the political science dept at Berkelay. Have no fear - we will have Muslim studies and Fascist studies if the right people come to power. That goodness we have got rid of underwater basket weaving.
1
On the face of it the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at Chapel Hill and the North Carolina Central University’s Institute for Civic Engagement and Social Change were not of an academic nature at all and should have been closed. The East Carolina University’s Center for Biodiversity may have some academic merit, but OTOH it might be duplicative or have insufficient academic merit to warrant further funding.
2
I am wondering. Why do you need a separate center for Poverty, Work and opportunity, and this topic can't be part of the studies in History, Anthropology, and Economics departments? Is it really helpful to have unlimited number of new centers since there is unlimited number of topics of interest.
2
As a North Carolinian, a lifelong Republican, and an alumnus of UNC-Chapel Hill, I can assure you that you cannot believe a word the Republicans say on this issue. The UNC System, despite being the biggest economic generator in the state's history, has long been a target of conservative ideologues, dating back at least as far as the days when Jesse Helms, then a lowly TV editorialist, said that UNC-Chapel Hill should be fenced in.
This isn't about productivity, or conforming with state or federal regulations regarding political advocacy, or anything else but the exercise of political power for partisan purposes. Anyone who tells you otherwise is mistaken or lying.
This isn't about productivity, or conforming with state or federal regulations regarding political advocacy, or anything else but the exercise of political power for partisan purposes. Anyone who tells you otherwise is mistaken or lying.
20
This has been done before in other states. At the University of California there was a school of law enforcement theory. When people involves said that social problems were contributing to a culture which disrespected the law the school was shut down (during Reagan`s time as governor) . It didn't help, closing one's mind to conflicting points of view rarely does. If Chapel Hill becomes a second rate school, so be it. My cousin is a professor of economics there. If they work fast perhaps they can cheat her out of some proportion of her retirement and then raid the pension fund. The industries she worked so hard to keep going have all been exported to China. When the industries come back they will probably go to other parts of the country anyway.
7
I'm sure there will be debate over whether "conservatives in control of state government are targeting ideological opponents in academia." But if they are, it might just be karma.
3
Exactly what is happening in Wisconsin.
13
“A lot of these centers were started up with a specific advocacy role in mind, as opposed to an educational role.” - Francis X. De Luca, president of the Civitas Institute, a conservative think tank based in Raleigh
So you're closing these centers for their (presumed) political bias because of your stated political bias? Sounds about right...
So you're closing these centers for their (presumed) political bias because of your stated political bias? Sounds about right...
14
In addition to the elimination of the 3 centers, the Republican governor and legistators have attacked the UNC system in other ways.
The governor appointed people who have stated that they wanted to dismantle the UNC system to the UNC Board of Govenors. The president of the University has been forced out. He will be replaced this year.
The State House & Senate have enacted laws limiting financial aid to students. This is despite the "Carolina Promise" that helps lower income families send their kids to college.
The NC state constitution calls for university education to all at as close to free as possible. The GOP wants to destroy this principle. The govenor has stated that a liberal arts education is useless.
UNC was the first state university in the nation. The Republicans & Koch brother money will destroy a 220+ year tradition in less than 4 years.
Even if the Democrats reclaim the state I do not think they can undo all the damage that has been done.
The governor appointed people who have stated that they wanted to dismantle the UNC system to the UNC Board of Govenors. The president of the University has been forced out. He will be replaced this year.
The State House & Senate have enacted laws limiting financial aid to students. This is despite the "Carolina Promise" that helps lower income families send their kids to college.
The NC state constitution calls for university education to all at as close to free as possible. The GOP wants to destroy this principle. The govenor has stated that a liberal arts education is useless.
UNC was the first state university in the nation. The Republicans & Koch brother money will destroy a 220+ year tradition in less than 4 years.
Even if the Democrats reclaim the state I do not think they can undo all the damage that has been done.
23
"It’s clearly not about cost-saving; it’s about political philosophy and the right-wing takeover of North Carolina state government,”
I have to say that is pretty funny. The centers themselves were built for political advocacy and now they are complaining about politics? Wasn't there some old saying about dog, fleas, and lying down?
I guess the complaint must not be about politics, only about a certain kind of politics.
I have to say that is pretty funny. The centers themselves were built for political advocacy and now they are complaining about politics? Wasn't there some old saying about dog, fleas, and lying down?
I guess the complaint must not be about politics, only about a certain kind of politics.
8
I forgot. What was so great about the Dark Ages that we should now rush to relive it?
11
Well, so much for the free marketplace of ideas and discourse in North Carolina--who's next??
10
Since these programs were in NC, one can easily suspect racism behind their closing. The suspicion is likely correct.
Yet, these kinds of programs look like a bad fit for a university. How much was learned about poverty. Did the programs find that poverty is caused mainly or solely by:
1. low earning power (lack of training &/;or education)
2. culture.
3. personal attitude of one's role models, or
4. what?
Such programs tend to be black holes for dollars, but ones from which nothing, that demonstrates provable progress, ever leaves.
So it may be that suspected crypto-segregationists are behind these moves.
The real Q is: Does UNC gain more not spending on these programs?
Yet, these kinds of programs look like a bad fit for a university. How much was learned about poverty. Did the programs find that poverty is caused mainly or solely by:
1. low earning power (lack of training &/;or education)
2. culture.
3. personal attitude of one's role models, or
4. what?
Such programs tend to be black holes for dollars, but ones from which nothing, that demonstrates provable progress, ever leaves.
So it may be that suspected crypto-segregationists are behind these moves.
The real Q is: Does UNC gain more not spending on these programs?
2
There is a part of me that thinks maybe all dems and liberals should move out of the state if economically feasible and let the state become a rightwing religious dictatorship. Let the rest of the country see what happens when conservatives lose their minds in their insane quest to destroy America in order to turn it into a religious fascist dictatorship.
The ultrarightwing christian right cannot see the damage this will do to America. They believe that the US should become a dominionist controlled country with the populace under the yoke of the extremist in charge.
This is not fantasy; one has only to research dominionism to see they have a long term agenda. They work tirelessly to put into government radical religious extremist posing as moderates.
Their hatred for a democratic America is visceral and without par anywhere in the world except the Mid East. The attempts to turn military academies into pulpits for the religious right is a non stop battle with the usual cry of "religious freedom" to push making America's military one under command of religious extremists.
Our laziness in going to the polls is going to bite us badly unless we wake up.
The ultrarightwing christian right cannot see the damage this will do to America. They believe that the US should become a dominionist controlled country with the populace under the yoke of the extremist in charge.
This is not fantasy; one has only to research dominionism to see they have a long term agenda. They work tirelessly to put into government radical religious extremist posing as moderates.
Their hatred for a democratic America is visceral and without par anywhere in the world except the Mid East. The attempts to turn military academies into pulpits for the religious right is a non stop battle with the usual cry of "religious freedom" to push making America's military one under command of religious extremists.
Our laziness in going to the polls is going to bite us badly unless we wake up.
10
I thought that was what we were already doing with Kansas, and it wasn't working so hot.
3
The only real loss here, imho, is the Center for Biodiversity.
But then I got my Masters from UC:CH in a STEM field, not a soft science or humanities field, so I'm biased in where my priorities lie.
But then I got my Masters from UC:CH in a STEM field, not a soft science or humanities field, so I'm biased in where my priorities lie.
3
NC is cutting off its nose to spite its face. There are a lot of uneducated rednecks here who feel threatened by the liberal education system...they may infact still be the majority. Every time I see a quote from Governor McRory touting his contribution to job growth in NC, I wonder if he knows that those jobs are going to educated people who are moving to NC from other states, and they will eventually outnumber the conservatives who voted him in to office. I've been here since the 70's, and I do see things changing. From that perspective, all the fear-motivated nonsense from the conservatives (like shutting down a poverty research center) is maybe a good sign....they're fighting tooth and nail because they see progress and they don't like it.
10
North Carolina's high-tech industries and jobs can now be targeted by other states. What moved into the state can move out again, and North Carolina can rejoin the Southern tradition of attracting low-skill industries like textiles that other parts of the country did not want any more. Of course this tradition must now compete with China, Bangladesh, and Vietnam, and with automation.
7
Elections do have dire consequences. We should all keep these events at the front burners of our minds when we all return to the polls again in 2016.
12
Note also that NCCU, now North Carolina Central University, was originally North Carolina Colored University, for an additional bit of understanding of what the legislature is doing.
12
This move will help North Carolina's challenge Mississippi for the most backward state in the county.
16
…with Oklahoma, Nevada, Arizona and Kansas right on their heels...
2
The Republicans want us to fight terrorism and they do dumb things like this which only creates more divide between the rich and the poor. I have never met a rich terrorist or a rich US Marine.
7
Then you missed Bin Laden who was an engineer and from one of the wealthiest and most powerful families in Saudi Arabia.
Nothing new here. When I was a grad student in Chapel Hill in the '60's, Jesse Helms did everything he could to silence the pinkos on the faculty and their students. The University was run by the faculty, and so was able to turn its back on such interference. Today not as much.
14
Education is about opening up, not shutting down. It is about opening eyes to the past and present, so the tools for building the future can be applied fairly and intelligently.
The bigger the picture, the broader the horizons for all of us. Education is not about getting a job. It's about getting prepared to do a job. Our current batch of legislators so obviously are in need of a good education.
The bigger the picture, the broader the horizons for all of us. Education is not about getting a job. It's about getting prepared to do a job. Our current batch of legislators so obviously are in need of a good education.
35
Republicans sowing the seeds of disgust everywhere their polluted politics allows them a toehold. They are slowly destroying this country. All American greatness - our educational system, our health system, our American dream of equality and justice, our scientific endeavors, our regard for the environment, and so on and so forth, are all being torn to shreds by these narrow-minded, short-sighted ignoramuses whose main concern is their own well-being and dispelling the onus of their all too evident impotence.
16
You guys just don't get it. Look to FL for answers. Soon, only so-called "magnet" schools will exist in NC, and they will be "FOR PROFIT" and "christian" as they are here in FL. Then, billions in tax dollars can be funneled to these "schools," which fail about a month after they are begun, leaving the poor owners with only a few billion in cash to sooth their souls. Thus, they can keep those "blacks and Latinos" down and raise up the ignorant and poor so that votes can be purchased as they were in the Jesse Helms days. Jesse took a big bus out to the hinterlands and loaded up the poor, gave them $2.00 cash, and took them to vote and helped them pull the levers since they didn't read. These days, a trip to a fast-food place will also be necessary, but not to worry--they are all owned by party regulars who understand that this is their "contribution" to making sure that our “core values" of ignorance, bigotry and fat are maintained.
My solution: get out of the way. Every candidate should drop out of every race EXCEPT the most radical right-wing ones; that will make NC the envy of every other state in the Union. Imagine how backward things will be in 4 years, but the cash will flow to the few and all will be right with the world. NC used to be the leading education state in the USA. We certainly can't let THAT continue. Duke will be the only bad place, but we can use it as a whipping boy, right? Who needs all that medical research? When you get cancer, just slap on a poultice!
My solution: get out of the way. Every candidate should drop out of every race EXCEPT the most radical right-wing ones; that will make NC the envy of every other state in the Union. Imagine how backward things will be in 4 years, but the cash will flow to the few and all will be right with the world. NC used to be the leading education state in the USA. We certainly can't let THAT continue. Duke will be the only bad place, but we can use it as a whipping boy, right? Who needs all that medical research? When you get cancer, just slap on a poultice!
9
Most of the complaints from the Left are all about money. Too many organizations were receiving funds from the taxpayers and just paying salaries to their administrators. An accurate picture can only be divined with a list of the organizations and their costs. One group was getting $2MM and the lead person was getting over $300K in salary with little to show for the money left. Liberal complaints are falling on deaf ears just as Conservative complaints fell on theirs for 144 years of continuous Democrat rule, rule that was achieved with the same gerrymandering they now complain about.
4
Oh, I get it, the wrongs of the past were not done by the Republicans, so now the Republicans get their turn -- fair is fair, eh? What a marvelously stupid way to justify wrongness.
9
The 144 years of conservative rule combined with the current conservative rule. It's not our fault the conservatives switched parties. As the rest of the Democratic party went liberal the conservatives decamped to the Republican party.
2
I thought the article said that most (all?) of the programs to be cut were funded by private donations and grants.
1
We're watching the gradual dismantling and destruction of higher education in this country, both north and south. First it was (and is) Wisconsin, and now North Carolina, as these vicious, anti-intellectual reactionaries set about systematically destroying any institutions they see as bastion of liberal ideas.
It won't stop with these two states. Stay tuned for further similar news as these jubilant ignoramuses take their campaign to every state where the GOP is in charge.
It won't stop with these two states. Stay tuned for further similar news as these jubilant ignoramuses take their campaign to every state where the GOP is in charge.
12
Optimist, Gov. Walker has not cut any programs in the UW System yet. He's proposed a historic $300M cut in state support to the system-- which may well lead to program cuts as campuses attempt to cope with loss of so much state support. What's even more alarming, however, is that he wants to eliminate UW System's historic stature as an official part of state government, with shared governance mandated by state statute among administrators, staff, faculty and students. He's proposed that UW System instead become a "public authority," with repeal of state statutes governing us. We would then be run by the Board of Regents-- political appointees. Governance authority now vested in staff, faculty and students by law would be erased and we would have top down management from the Board of Regents. Administrators, who now have to work in good faith with the other three governance groups, would become servants of the Board. Justification for this is a promise of increased flexibility in fiscal management, which would no longer have to conform to state regulations. At first we were told that the current freeze on tuition (2013-2017) would be lifted as of 2017 but now, because of justified fear of steep increases in tuition, the Walker administration is being coy about this: well, maybe not. I am appalled by the $300M cut but the "public authority" proposal truly frightens me. I've been on the faculty here for 30+ years. This is a naked power play to politicize UW System.
30
Are all the facts in place here? The claim seems to be that the poverty center gets no direct money from the state and that private donations pay for its $120,000 budget.
This figure would cover the salaries of perhaps two maintenance workers and maybe two secretaries. An animal shelter running on volunteer labor might easily have a bigger budget.
This poverty center must be a miracle of fiscal efficiency.
This figure would cover the salaries of perhaps two maintenance workers and maybe two secretaries. An animal shelter running on volunteer labor might easily have a bigger budget.
This poverty center must be a miracle of fiscal efficiency.
1
I don't know how it works there, but at public universities here in California, the Centers are operated by university employees who are already being funded, and will continue to be funded, by the University. For example, the Center for Environmental and Policy Behavior is overseen by a professor in addition to all of his other responsibilities; it's not his primary job or source of funding. The $120K is probably just operating costs for an additional office, printer, etc, used to fund a website designer, and maybe the occasional pamphlet or public forum.
2
My father and I are both graduates of the UNC system, he attended (with ROTC support) and graduated from Chapel Hill, I attended both UNC Chapel Hill and NC State from which I graduated (Forest Science, magna cum laude). We both appreciate the North Carolina tradition of investment higher education, a tradition that the new era of Republicans is destroying in North Carolina and elsewhere. As two generations of UNC alumni, we protest and abhor what these myopic Republicans are doing, and we are sad for the loss and tragic destruction of higher education which will be paid by current and future young people.
10
One more state I'll avoid visiting.
9
Far more of these "departments, centers, institutes, etc." that exist to promote social change, study "injustice, religion", etc. should be closed down. Not only do the universities loose focus on their main role which should be to educate the students, but all these additional departments, etc. raise the cost of tuition.
They all need department heads, deans, other administrators, and buildings.....
The University of Minnesota, of which I am a graduate, is a good example of how these departments have proliferated over the last 40 years....
They all need department heads, deans, other administrators, and buildings.....
The University of Minnesota, of which I am a graduate, is a good example of how these departments have proliferated over the last 40 years....
2
Even more blatantly partisan than Walker's budgetary war against the UW system.
6
This is the reason all people need to vote and their right to vote is not impeded. This is the reason the extreme conservative right are in power. Their agenda is clear and its occurrence should not be a surprise. It is a clear indication of their ideology. They use the excuse of money, but how many years have those colleges been in existence. It was never a case of money until the republicans took charge.
The middle and left have not communicated a clear sense of their values. Here is a start.
We need efficiency in government not extremist approach to reducing it to an oligarchy of central domination.
Broad prosperity not a limited bank roll for those who possess more in a unfettered, unrestricted "free market."
A better future with responsible leaders, who understand they are there to preserve it for the people. Part of our infrastructure is our schools.
Mutual responsibility with family values that don't impose punishment on anyone who stands and questions authority.
change...
The middle and left have not communicated a clear sense of their values. Here is a start.
We need efficiency in government not extremist approach to reducing it to an oligarchy of central domination.
Broad prosperity not a limited bank roll for those who possess more in a unfettered, unrestricted "free market."
A better future with responsible leaders, who understand they are there to preserve it for the people. Part of our infrastructure is our schools.
Mutual responsibility with family values that don't impose punishment on anyone who stands and questions authority.
change...
6
“This is not a political issue or a political report”
The man is either incredibly cynical or entirely clueless. Both the report and the closings could never have been anything other than political
The man is either incredibly cynical or entirely clueless. Both the report and the closings could never have been anything other than political
6
Excellent move and all public universities should follow suit. When states reduced funding to their public universities, instead of trimming their cost by cutting frivolous spending, which includes wasteful construction projects such as fancy student center, dorms, jacuzzis, swimming pools, climbing walls, etc. or shutting down most of these centers that do nothing but Advocating more social engineering causes by the liberals dominating academia, many colleges instead raise in-state tuition, and accepted ever more foreign students who pay higher tuition to finance their continued wasteful mismanagement of finances.
Meanwhile, many state universities have limited seats in STEM programs which are increasingly given to higher priority higher fee paying foreign students. Then we have employers who claim that we are not producing enough STEM majors, and lobby for more H1B visas for foreign graduates, while 55% of our college grads are unemployed or underemployed. This is yet another example of liberals and their impractical ideals killing the country.
Meanwhile, many state universities have limited seats in STEM programs which are increasingly given to higher priority higher fee paying foreign students. Then we have employers who claim that we are not producing enough STEM majors, and lobby for more H1B visas for foreign graduates, while 55% of our college grads are unemployed or underemployed. This is yet another example of liberals and their impractical ideals killing the country.
2
How, exactly, do you off load your interpretation that not enough STEM students being hired is a problem created by liberals? Just connect the dots for me, I'm not seeing it. I have read several articles, however, about US STEM graduates being passed over for hire or replaced by H1B visa holders because the foreign graduates will accept less money (cheaper labor). Could this be why the Republicans refuse to engage in immigration reform? Or is it just the mere fact that the Conservative venom for immigrants of any kind being publicly aired would result in the Reps/Cons losing a huge block of constituency?
2
Republicans are waging this war against education across the U.S. and it seems that they will be winning it.
The way I see it, and I am in higher education, destroying education is important to Republicans for a number of reasons. First, the educated are very unlikely to vote Republican. The exceptions are the rich and greedy who see that the party benefits them personally. Second, due to the shifts in our demographic makeup, the Republican party--the party of the white male--is losing ground. Rather than change, party leaders have discovered that it is fairly easy to scare the under-educated. You can fairly quickly and easily convince them that certain threats exist and then turn their fear into anger and hate against minorities of your choice. As history has shown, this is a very successful strategy, which has helped the extreme right across the planet to stay in power. Third, this will make sure that the U.S. will in effect be a low-cost wage country; a dream for the industrialists who have been lining the deep pockets of Republican politicians.
The way I see it, and I am in higher education, destroying education is important to Republicans for a number of reasons. First, the educated are very unlikely to vote Republican. The exceptions are the rich and greedy who see that the party benefits them personally. Second, due to the shifts in our demographic makeup, the Republican party--the party of the white male--is losing ground. Rather than change, party leaders have discovered that it is fairly easy to scare the under-educated. You can fairly quickly and easily convince them that certain threats exist and then turn their fear into anger and hate against minorities of your choice. As history has shown, this is a very successful strategy, which has helped the extreme right across the planet to stay in power. Third, this will make sure that the U.S. will in effect be a low-cost wage country; a dream for the industrialists who have been lining the deep pockets of Republican politicians.
39
You meant this as parody, right?
1
perhaps what the Republicans are doing is better viewed as tragic comedy
1
This action by a Board of Governor, all of whom are elected by members of the General Assembly, follows their decision last month to remove the University System President Tom Ross at the end of 2015. They gave no explanation other than wanting to go in another direction, but denied it had anything to do with his work or his age. President Ross is a well respected leader in our State, having been a judge, administrator, executive director of the Z Smith Reynolds Foundation and President of Davidson College. His failing most likely was having been associated with the moderate Democratic Establishment; or having resisted the slashing of the University System's budget by the Republican Legislature and Governor. Rumor has it that this is to make way to install Art Pope, a major contributor to and architect of the Republican takeover, as the next system President.
As a graduate of the UNC Chapel Hill Law School, I was proud to see the Dean deliver a defense of the University's advocacy past and present. I commend it to you. It can be found at this link:
http://www.law.unc.edu/news/2015/02/18/a-statement-from-dean-boger-unc-c...
What is happening to our University is yet another example of why off-year elections matter, especially in years when new districts are drawn. I fear it will take many years for our State to recover from the 2010 gerrymandered legislative districts.
As a graduate of the UNC Chapel Hill Law School, I was proud to see the Dean deliver a defense of the University's advocacy past and present. I commend it to you. It can be found at this link:
http://www.law.unc.edu/news/2015/02/18/a-statement-from-dean-boger-unc-c...
What is happening to our University is yet another example of why off-year elections matter, especially in years when new districts are drawn. I fear it will take many years for our State to recover from the 2010 gerrymandered legislative districts.
11
Do you oppose gerrymandering or just oppose it when it's done by Reps? NC has a history of gerrymandering by Dems. Maybe it's time we take politics out of education, but I don't know how as the Dept. of ED appears to run the show, and they are one of the more political agencies in the Fed today.
1
Poverty clinics like the one at UNC Law School are not embarking on an ideological agenda. Rather, they are representing people who otherwise could not afford representation and advocating for their rights as established under state and federal law. If the state lawmakers do not like this, then they are well within their rights to change the law, and it seems right now in NC they have the votes to do so. But threatening to cut funding is the most counter-productive way to institutionalize something because another legal clinic or non-profit will arise in its place.
And contrary to what Mr. DeLuca believes, there is an educational aspect to advocacy. The center's work is teaching its students how to be effective lawyers, how to write solid briefs, and how to make compelling arguments on behalf of their clients. Mr. Nichol nailed it when he said "they just don't like what we produce."
The ideology at work here is a dangerous and regressive one whose goal seems to be dissolving government-funded education at all levels regardless of the costs. The University of North Carolina system is one of the premiere systems in the country. One has to wonder why a reasonable legislator - or a thin-skinned governor - would want to dismantle it.
And contrary to what Mr. DeLuca believes, there is an educational aspect to advocacy. The center's work is teaching its students how to be effective lawyers, how to write solid briefs, and how to make compelling arguments on behalf of their clients. Mr. Nichol nailed it when he said "they just don't like what we produce."
The ideology at work here is a dangerous and regressive one whose goal seems to be dissolving government-funded education at all levels regardless of the costs. The University of North Carolina system is one of the premiere systems in the country. One has to wonder why a reasonable legislator - or a thin-skinned governor - would want to dismantle it.
37
Why is legal assistance for the poor tied to the university system? Perhaps I'm naive, but I know a number of lawyers personally that advocate and represent the poor pro bono; they are funded through grants and volunteer their time (no salaries), but those grants come from the government, not the university.
A few things to clear up. As noted in the article, these centers receive virtually no state funding. The Center for Poverty, Work and Opportunity hasn't received state funding for several years. This isn't about money -- it is about politics. The conservatives Republicans running the state don't like to be made uncomfortable by ideas coming out of the state universities. This kind of Republican anti-intellectualism has a long and sorry history. In earlier years, UNC leaders had to stand up to the likes of Sen. Jesse Helms and the "speaker ban" law that attempted to prevent the university from inviting people deemed by Helms to be communists and other outside agitators from speaking on campus. Second, for those who think its okay to prevent universities and their departments/schools/ centers from engaging in political advocacy -- the line between education and advocacy is not nearly so neat and clean. In the past, UNC research and outreach led to significant improvements in the state's public health efforts and to laws that improved the lives of agricultural workers, children, and African-Americans. You can't root out everything that might have political implications and still have a vibrant university system. One that has contributed enormously to the economic growth and development of this state. It is outrageous that some political leaders are so thin-skinned that they need to silence criticism.
52
Yet more fall-out of Democrats staying home instead of voting in the 2010 election, which elected so many Republicans who then used the 2010 Census results to gerrymander their minority into big majorities. Nice going, Dems. Next time show up and VOTE!
4
The Roberts Court has made politics a commodity that can be bought much like beets and corn. The GOP, led by a handful of outside billionaires including the Koch Brothers, are buyers and North Carolina's State Government is one of their purchases. And, the N.C. state officials are their agents.
Fortunately, those purchases are subject to cancellation during every election cycle. If the people of North Carolina want to take back the ownership of their state government, they need to vote. Nothing else will work.
Fortunately, those purchases are subject to cancellation during every election cycle. If the people of North Carolina want to take back the ownership of their state government, they need to vote. Nothing else will work.
34
As low as the turnout is for elections in general, the turnout when most of the action is local is far worse. State legislators are truly elected by a tiny group.
And yet they control much of what really happens in our lives.
Who does vote in these elections? Rightwing church members because their preachers tell them who to vote for--ie, NO to Democrats, yes to theocracy.
Meanwhile the local press cuts jobs and tries to be as inoffensive as possible, because they can't offend anybody and still sell ads. There really is very little coverage of those running for elected office, and they don't tell you what you need to know. (For example, whether the Koch brothers send them money.)
My state has a Republican supermajority too. The battles in the legislature are conservative Republicans vs anarchists and religious fanatics who call themselves "Tea Party" and want to destroy everything they can. If you are poor, they want you to die, and that's no joke.
For the Democrats, failure breeds failure. The state party cannot muster the funds to help anybody or do much. And sometimes local Dems are their own worst enemy, such as the multiple times that they failed to vet their own ballot and tea partiers ran as Democrats. (They want to take over both parties here.)
And yet they control much of what really happens in our lives.
Who does vote in these elections? Rightwing church members because their preachers tell them who to vote for--ie, NO to Democrats, yes to theocracy.
Meanwhile the local press cuts jobs and tries to be as inoffensive as possible, because they can't offend anybody and still sell ads. There really is very little coverage of those running for elected office, and they don't tell you what you need to know. (For example, whether the Koch brothers send them money.)
My state has a Republican supermajority too. The battles in the legislature are conservative Republicans vs anarchists and religious fanatics who call themselves "Tea Party" and want to destroy everything they can. If you are poor, they want you to die, and that's no joke.
For the Democrats, failure breeds failure. The state party cannot muster the funds to help anybody or do much. And sometimes local Dems are their own worst enemy, such as the multiple times that they failed to vet their own ballot and tea partiers ran as Democrats. (They want to take over both parties here.)
3
Not being from North Carolina I have no idea of the merits of these proposed closings, but it is interesting that with the majority of our colleges and universities having been on the leading edge of political correctness and liberal thought for many years, any proposal to scale back the resources that support their agenda is perceived as an attack. I would submit, that like businesses in a recession, it is good for an organization to periodically evaluate its various operations for effectiveness and relevance. It is good challenge the status quo from time to time.
3
Remember that every fascist regime in history attacked the educated, books, the intelligentsia and educational systems. In China, the educated and intelligentsia were sent to the fields to labor hard and to be "re-educated". In Hitler's Germany, books were burned and banned. You can't control people when they have the ability to be critical thinkers. You can't control people if they have their own ideology. Witness North Korea and the old Soviet Union.
Communist countries were not liberal bastions, but ultra-conservative, fascist systems. And, education was one of the first things to go.
There has been a steady drumbeat by conservatives against education. Taxpayer dollars have been funneled off to private schools and those charter schools to the detriment of public schools. In response to President Obama's idea of free education in community colleges, Ann Coulter said, "This is such a scam how middle-class Americans are being taxed to subsidize the most left-wing industry in America, that spends its days indoctrinating kids to hate Republicans.”
Conservatives very much want indoctrination...only their version. There are all sorts of conservative colleges and you can be indoctrinated there. Free thinking moves a country forward, not backward. Democracy itself is based on free thinking and indeed is a liberal idea.
But conservatives know that they cannot continue to be elected unless the populace is ignorant and ill-informed.
Communist countries were not liberal bastions, but ultra-conservative, fascist systems. And, education was one of the first things to go.
There has been a steady drumbeat by conservatives against education. Taxpayer dollars have been funneled off to private schools and those charter schools to the detriment of public schools. In response to President Obama's idea of free education in community colleges, Ann Coulter said, "This is such a scam how middle-class Americans are being taxed to subsidize the most left-wing industry in America, that spends its days indoctrinating kids to hate Republicans.”
Conservatives very much want indoctrination...only their version. There are all sorts of conservative colleges and you can be indoctrinated there. Free thinking moves a country forward, not backward. Democracy itself is based on free thinking and indeed is a liberal idea.
But conservatives know that they cannot continue to be elected unless the populace is ignorant and ill-informed.
64
I am a Chapel Hill alum, as are my 3 daughters, my father, and my great-uncle Charles Woollen, who was UNC Comptroller from whom Woollen Gymnasium takes its name, and with a PhD in humanities I have been a UNC system professor. The Republican-dominated legislature is determined to set North Carolina back at least two generations with its politically-motivated actions, and UNCCH shot itself in the foot with its athletics scandal. All we are lacking now is the infamous Jesse Helms railing against the teaching of the poem To His Coy Mistress in an English course, on the grounds that it encourages immorality. But enlightenment shall overcome and the Neanderthal legislators shall fade into oblivion.
5
The Poverty Center is not state funded. Politicians want to silence Nichols' criticisms and end all academic freedom.
The NC GOP disapproves of civil rights advocacy? These are "Alice in Wonderland" days in North Carolina--immoderate, selfish, and, yes, paranoid.
The NC GOP disapproves of civil rights advocacy? These are "Alice in Wonderland" days in North Carolina--immoderate, selfish, and, yes, paranoid.
9
Well, the NYT buried the lead here. By bringing in the relationship of Prof. Gene Nichols in at the very end they missed the entire story which was a personal vendetta from conservatives and Art Pope, the once state financial director to the new Gov. and the puppet master behind the money that changed the General Assembly from blue to red. Nichols has been writing scathing Op-Eds in the Raleigh News & Observer since the 2010 election and Pope and others have been seeking a way to silence him. First they threaten to shut down the center he leads if he didn't stop. He didn't and this is the result. But the real story is what happened to the Institute for Civic Engagement and Social Change at NC Central University, a historically black college. What were they involved in? Voter education and voter registration of African Americans. That's the story.
6
Wow, just... wow. Thanks for that enlightening information!
1
"Elections have consequences". "I won"
- Barack Obama
The precedent has been set. And in any case the role of a University is to educate, not to advocate. . .
- Barack Obama
The precedent has been set. And in any case the role of a University is to educate, not to advocate. . .
1
I hate to say this, but, for right now anyway, I think people need to take a hard look at where they're going and is that compatible with them. A friend of mine looked into a job in the Research Triangle. He already knew about the rapid downfall of a lot of things that NC used to be proud of. He still wanted to come and take a look. However, once he was here for a couple of weeks and saw how things were in our educational system, politics and the like, he said he had no interest anymore. He didn't want his children and family exposed to the insanity that seems to be springing up everyday. Some of my friends have said that they will be encouraging their children to look elsewhere for college when they graduate. And, if there are jobs opening up elsewhere they've expressed an interest in moving. They're worried about the long-term consequences if their kids have a limited education and exposure compared to the rest of the US. As things continue to sink lower, in my opinion anyway, the long-term affect on the state will be a negative. Yes, the tax breaks are great for big business and the wealthy, but can you really attract some of the best and brightest if you have such restrictive thinking? And, how many will want to stay long-term? Yes, there will certainly be some. But, will there be as many as in the past when NC was more moderate? I don't know. But, I think if all the stupidity continues, the state will feel it's effects in ways that they can't seem to grasp right now.
8
So many of these special studies entities claim to be engaging in education but produce no meaningful acedemic output...time to roll back so many of the "soft" degrees such as political science (what's that?), psyc majors, etc that produce graduates without skills that are in demand and cost money that could be allocated to studies that this country needs such as math, engineering, computer science, etc. Enough of the soft-headed specialties study groups.
1
John B: Since you don't know what political science is, and you think psychologists "have no skills", please tell us what YOUR college degree is.
6
So, no more MBA's or JD's. Do let your state and US representatives know that you think they're education is worthless and tell them to pass that on to the Titans of Wall Street. They need a good chuckle about now, I suppose.
1
This is insidious desperately bad news. The fundamentalist inhumanity of the current crop of Republicans brings me to my knees.
6
See what happens when we have complete Republican control of a state: the race to the bottom. Between the assaults on education at all levels; ALEC writing the bills to be voted by the controlled legislature; funding cuts for the environment so that businesses can pollute drinking waters; restrictions on voting eligibility, etc., we will return to the 1900s soon than we think. All played to the tune of saving state money. That goes for Wisconsin and Florida as well. Not surprising that they fear the rise of education--and with it questions, questions, question.
11
It sounds like a bunch of do nothing all day people, working for a do nothing all day agency, that does nothing all day except collect a paycheck. Doubtful they will be missed when they are gone except by the people collecting the paychecks.
2
Ecclesiastes 1:8-10, NC has suffered fear and paranoia of right wing ideologues for decades. In 1963 the General Assembly passed the 'Act to Regulate Visiting Speakers,' more commonly known as the Speaker Ban Law forbidding publicly funded colleges or universities hosting a speaker who was a known communist, exercised their Fifth Amendment rights, or advocated overthrow of the US. It was sweeping and vague threatening the rights of free speech, academic freedom, and university governance.
And there was NC nativist Jesse Helms who before becoming US senator was commentator and right wing provocateur on Raleigh radio and TV station WRAL exposing the "filth" taught at UNC. Helms called the 1964 Civil Rights bill “the single most dangerous piece of legislation ever introduced in the Congress” and suggested UNC be walled off behind a sign reading “University of Negroes and Communists.” Typical was this radio broadcast: "Viewpoint #1458, 13 October 1966"
And there was NC nativist Jesse Helms who before becoming US senator was commentator and right wing provocateur on Raleigh radio and TV station WRAL exposing the "filth" taught at UNC. Helms called the 1964 Civil Rights bill “the single most dangerous piece of legislation ever introduced in the Congress” and suggested UNC be walled off behind a sign reading “University of Negroes and Communists.” Typical was this radio broadcast: "Viewpoint #1458, 13 October 1966"
5
Apparently the Center is privately funded through donations. No public funds. So on what grounds is the legislature meddling? (UNC grad here). Oh, parenthetically, Scott Walker (mentioned here) has yet to complete a B.A.
12
Lot's of comments and suppositions from outsiders as to why these centers are being closed. The reason WHY these centers are being closed should be in the story, in particular, in the first paragraph.
5
UNC is one of best state systems in the country and certainly THE best in the South. The censoring, anti-critical thinking, anti-education-except-for-learning-a-trade crowd, masquerading as fiscal conservatives, cut UNC's budget by 5% as soon as they took power. My friends and clients there, all hard working and sensible folks in the private sector, are appalled.
Fifty years later, do we need a new round of free speech riots?
Fifty years later, do we need a new round of free speech riots?
12
Yes! What is it going to take before thinking people revolt against the right-wing push to return to the dark ages? Enough of the flat-earthers. Enough.
3
Why do people go to the extreme. Someone states that Republicans are "destroying everything", one states they "captured" the legislatures. Get real people. People discuss the unemployment rates and those college graduates that do not have jobs. Could it be that majors such as creative writing, philosophy, and the such have no market? When budgets need to be trimmed there are always tough decisions to be made. How many people are in the areas to be cut, what results have they produced, what is the savings? When these questions are answered, which the commenters on this article do not know, then a rational comment can be made. I personally do not have the facts and cannot judge yea or nay.
2
You cannot and should not apply ROI business models to higher education. By all means, encourage students to pursue studies that will enable them to be gainfully employed. But why is it that conservatives consistently denigrate subjects in the liberal arts that help students become well-rounded citizens? There are far too many people in business, science and technology who cannot write a complete sentence. They are ignorant about the history and workings of their own country, and they have no knowledge of other countries or cultures unless their work requires such information. Unfortunately, these are the kinds of students conservatives want universities to produce - heads down drones who don't question anything or encourage the masses to do or think anything that opens their minds. BTW, someone from a conservative "think tank" accusing another entity of activism would be funny if it wasn't so scary. Can you say Antonin Scalia, boys and girls?
3
Thin thinking steals possibility. Philosophers and creative writers create new thinking that adds direction and depth to current systems. In other words they create the markets. The tragedy of your thin thinking is that you accept what the current Party is saying. They are gaining short term power, but directed and funded by long term strategists to whom North Carolina is not a home, but a problem of shielded assets. When they take your philosophy and creativity N.C. will be broken. You in North Carolina are just slightly more vulnerable because you suffer from some serious prejudice so you are just a little easier to exploit. But they are coming for NY so don't worry. Look around the heap is getting smaller. And the power vacuum (created by thin thinking) will be filled with profit for Chinese pig production, European owned road toll takers, Canadian profiting pipeline workers, and British conglomerate coal miners - who all agree with you, that your having a fixed job working for a low wage forever without healthcare, or pensions, is the highest manifestation of your being. There is no budget, there is no republican, there is power and we are being crushed. Expanded thinking is required NC In other words. Is everyone blind?
3
So basically they not only want to bring us back... to colonialism again.. but corporate colonialism. Passage of the TPP will likely seal that deal and then it is just that pesky easily manipulated local state government electoral process to pervert to make it so.
When the republican state government closes the center that studies poverty, I can only conclude that the conservatives in N.C. are pro poverty. And, if the conservative state government close an academic center, because they teach that the republicans are promoting policies that are anti-liberal, doesn't it prove the liberals case?
13
If we as a nation adopt the philosophy that the value of a college education will be measured based on the earnings of graduates ten years later expect to see centers like those closing across the country. After all, those who work in anti-poverty programs, political outreach, and environmental protection organizations will not earn nearly as much as those who major in business, engineering, and science… We should avoid placing a higher value on earnings than we place on idealism.
10
Reminds me of a cartoon I saw forty plus years ago. It showed a mother and a father sending their son off to college. The caption read "Don't be coming home with any ideas".
13
Glad I don't live in the Middle East where the political agenda interferes with education and public welfare.
12
If the Democrats vote funds for left-wing groups when they are in power why shouldn't the Republicans do the same. As our President said, elections have consequences. The majority of North Carolina voters have moved to the right so shouldn't the government funded institutions follow. Isn't they why we have elections?
7
The problem here is that the center being closed by the GOP-run Board of Governors was privately, not publicly, funded. No public funds were "voted" in the creation of the poverty center.
3
No -- if the majority ruled there would be more Dems in office. It's the gerrymandering that gave the Republicans the numbers in office.
2
If all the money for the poverty center comes from private sources then it's clearly a political and ideaological move and not about budgets.
11
How is what happened at UNC any different from the anti-war political decisions in many liberal universities when they shut down their ROTC programs? Ideology drives much of academia which often produces expensive degree programs that are absolutely useless to graduates searching for employment. Voters should have some say about how their tax dollars are spent or wasted.
7
Rightly or wrongly (I thought the latter), the decisions to remove ROTC off campuses were a result of student activism demanding such moves. We have yet to see such student activism demanding that these proposed closings at UNC.
As for absolutely useless degree programs (or courses), is the idea of a college education nothing more than learning a trade? Or is it also to produced a reasonably and broadly educated and critically thinking young adult in preparation to entering the adult world? Apparently that 5% cut in UNC's overall budget and the (privately funded) closings in question chose the first question for its answer.
As for absolutely useless degree programs (or courses), is the idea of a college education nothing more than learning a trade? Or is it also to produced a reasonably and broadly educated and critically thinking young adult in preparation to entering the adult world? Apparently that 5% cut in UNC's overall budget and the (privately funded) closings in question chose the first question for its answer.
3
The Poverty Center operates on donations...very little government $.
2
People need to recognize, before it is too late, that the end game common to science denial, attacks on labor unions, cutting back on university resources, tinkering with local school curricula to promote a conservative This anti-intellectualism has the ultimate goals of assuring a docile population that may be easily dominated in the interests of a few wealthy individuals. The Koch brothers, John Arnold and other American oligarch puppet masters have presided over the misdirection of Americans and used their billions to make a mockery of the Constitution and the American system of government. To date, their track record has been enviable.
6
I'm not sure what the people of North Carolina or Wisconsin or Kansas want in regards to education, but they keep electing these republicans so I conclude that most people in these states are okay with it.
1
Mark, I was born and raised in Michigan, and your credibility is a bit compromised on education since you have misspelled where you supposedly live, Cheboygan. Look it up.
Our country was founded, and it's path directed by activism; first by our founding father's protesting English rule, later by University students protesting social injustice! (Remember Kent State?) Let's not forget our history and how important campus activism as been for us individually and as a nation. Go to UNC today and you'll see groups on both sides arguing their beliefs; that's the beauty of the first amendment and free speech. I am sure there are conservative centers on any campus receiving State funding; why haven't these come under the same scrutiny? What creates change is dissent and questioning the status quo; without activism there will be no change and we will fail to progress as a country, society and species!
34
how could there be a "conservative" center? how would they get tenure? good, progressive college professors know that "reality has a liberal bias", and they generally don't allow such people to get tenure.
We are already headed down that road to failure, thanks to Republican Taliban obstructionism.
State universities should not be in the business of advocacy, period. Our education system has moved far beyond its mission of creating an adequately prepared work force into philosophical explorations and politicing that taxpayers should not be subsidizing.
7
I don't think Jefferson saw the mission of public education as a trained work force - but as educating citizens and voters. More right-wing revisionist history.
1
QED's simplistic comment begs the question (assumes without basis that these centers were not engaged in productive research). Universities must research critical issues such as poverty and biodiversity. It is obviously a stunted definition of the university's purpose to say that its only mission should be preparation of individuals for the work force. Many conservatives want to "see no evil" but poverty and extinctions are problems that won't just go away on their own.
1
So you don't think that our universities should provide programs/courses; that would, give students an opportunity to expand their own minds. From what I read in this article, is that many of these departments are not funded by the taxpayers. How dare anyone censor academics; for their conservative "philosophical explorations" at the taxpayers expense. Shame on the state of North Carolina and it's republican closed minded political machine. Is this the same group that wants big government out of our life? Yet they want to tell us what we should and shouldn't teach. Interesting isn't it?
1
So, what's new? You are talking North Carolina and Republican elected politicians..............But I will give you credit for your headline. "Ideology" associated with college campuses is rare and refreshing.
2
Just part of the GOP's "return to the good old days" . . . the days when the South was an intellectual backwater. Let the briain drain begin.
15
I grew up in North Carolina during the 1950s-60s, including the period of Terry Sanford's tenure as governor. Determined to bring the state out of its long poverty, Sanford rightly saw that education would be the engine of growth and he put it at the center of his administration's efforts, almost doubling the state education budget. So much of the state's past and present economic success--the Research Triangle, the state's biomedical industry, for example--can be traced to the education initiatives of that time.
By contrast, the work of the present governor sows the seeds of ignorance and economic ruin. This shortsighted and mean-spirited era in North Carolina political history is ill conceived and will be heavily condemned by future generations.
By contrast, the work of the present governor sows the seeds of ignorance and economic ruin. This shortsighted and mean-spirited era in North Carolina political history is ill conceived and will be heavily condemned by future generations.
101
This is really a sad state of affairs. The great public universities of America are in crisis: exposed to the actions of politically motivated Boards of Regents, the quality of research and education at these institutions is gradually being eroded. We can only hope that the people of North Carolina see this move for what it is, and that it backfires on the BoR, the way that Scott Walker's great overreach in Wisconsin has backfired. We shouldn't have to sacrifice the education of our children for the personal ambitions of our politicians!
10
Colleges and Universities have become overpriced and bloated with useless programs that have little effect on the outcome of a 4 year degree. All the while they are subsidized by a government backed guaranteed prepayment for services rendered. The real tragedy is the pitiful graduation rate which continues to fall. But people will defend their kingdoms, in this case a liberal bastion of influence, unrelated to the educational product.
4
North Carolina has become a technical and research powerhouse at least partly because the people who drive such enterprises have felt it to be a progressive and welcoming state. what happens when these same people start to say: "I'm not moving my family there." These trends move almost imperceptibly, like the tide slowly going out. I have seen it happen elsewhere. Upper management wants better communities and schools. Talent at all levels becomes harder to attract. Give it 10-15 years and you've got Mississippi.
13
Most people in IT couldn't care less about liberals and their ideology. They follow the jobs and the money.
Ideologues of any stripe are by definition ignorant. Adherents to an ideology put boundaries around their minds and do not admit facts that conflict with their comfortably numb comfort zone.
http://napoleonlive.info/what-i-think/ideology-is-ignorance/
http://napoleonlive.info/what-i-think/ideology-is-ignorance/
5
Every day I brings another article the Republican war on higher education: Wisconsin, Kansas, Louisiana, now North Carolina. The US used to have great public universities, including all the land grant universities across the midwest. Now they are being dismantled so that the wealthy can have more tax cuts. Talk about foolish.
13
It seems to me that the Center for Poverty, Work and Opportunity not receiving any state funding should be at the core of this story. How can the advisory panel say cutting anything that is virtually free would save costs? If indeed the Center is privately funded, closing it would give up income. What do the other Centers cost? Is this not available from the panel's recommendation? If not, the entire report would hardly be credible. As an online piece, there is space for some commentary on the money in play here.
4
Well, the folks in North Carolina are finding out that when you put right-wing reactionaries in charge of your government, they always have as the first thing on their agenda to begin kneecapping the education system. They certainly go after the good ones, like Chapel Hill, because those are the most dangerous.
9
Someone please tell me what these "Centers' have to do with education? Anyone? Anyone? The one is "dedicated to social change." Really? Exactly what kind of "change" would that be? Leftist approved "change," that's what. Why should the taxpayers fund that? And why should university money go for that?
Hypocrites.
Hypocrites.
Social change would incorporate the decrease of the poverty rate, increase of educational degrees, voting rates, overall health of socially vulnerable populations that the current power structure is content with ignoring and condemning. It might also include hire and pay parity for women and minorities, increased worker protections, support for small businesses (actual local small business owners, not hedge funds), a path for the American dream for those not well connected or well paid. I don't know how that is a political threat to you.
I am a graduate of UNC Chapel Hill (1983). I was once proud of my school, but now I am embarrassed. Republicans are destroying everything that is good. Why the people of North Carolina want to destroy everything that is good in their state baffles me.
127
A you sure that it is the people of North Carolina who want to destroy "everything" in the state? The political right have become adept at selling destructive decisions to the masses. Regetably they are now in charge of the purse that supports the only thing that can threaten them - Knowledge.
8
Maybe you haven't been reading over the past few years of the fraud going on at Chapel Hill in the 'African-studies" dept. Was that fraud in any way related to Republicans? No.
2
Are you proud of the 20 year farce programs for athletes? Of the grades they received for not attending classes and not turning in papers with false grades that kept these athletes playing? Are you proud of the director who took a salary to run this program? How much longer would it have run without the oversight Conservatives are now applying to expenditures?
1
Sure ideology is a factor. It is always a factor. That is why we elect politicians to office, because of the bias they admit to. If you don't like conservatives deciding what comprises valid state funded educational activity then don't elect them.
42
Liberal, higher education has brought economic success and fame to the region. Let's see how they enjoy public scorn and loss of economic growth. These people must be damaged to do this. Stupidity wouldn't account for this level of willful destruction.
2
I agree, and perhaps my memory of how of how these sorts of decisions used to be reached has become clouded, but legislators made fiscal rather than philosophical decisions regarding education. There was a general agreement that those with specialized training and directly involved with applying it decided what was to be part of the University experience.
1
Your vote does not count for much with the gerrymandering system that currently exists. Conservatives will be decrying this system in 2021 after a presidential election in 2020 puts Democrats in the controlling seat of gerrymandering. This is why our young people do not vote, because they understand that their view will not be represented since the system has been rigged in their district by this corrupt, outdated system.
3
I know nothing about UNC so I can't comment on the particulars. As a student in the UC system several years ago I can attest that academics have taken a back seat to activism in many colleges. Many colleges have become a training ground in the religion of liberalism. And liberalism as it is currently practiced is the antithesis of liberal. Many gender/racial/cultural studies departments are an intellectually equivalent of scientology or astrology.
31
Oh, and many colleges support science and the arts, which many conservatives either deny (climate science) or don't value, since they don't meet "workforce needs" and foster critical thinking. "Scientology snd astrology"? Please support that assertion.
8
You confalte two separate issues. First, there are many conservative colleges, religious-affliated schools, and Bible colleges for those who wish to pursue higher education without the burden of learning about, say, evolution, the geological antiquity of the earth,or the history of women and minorities. Second, why do Republicans decry big government, the Nanny state and then turn around decide that they can dictate course content, or worse, punish academics for (quite literally) not following the party line? This is just the latest installemnt in a long history of right-wing attacks on academia.
4
Knowledge can and should lead to activism. What good is knowledge in a vacuum?
1
Wow, it looks like we may see books burned some day like what happened in Berlin. Scott Walker just cut programs at U of Wisconsin and now we see similar cuts at North Carolina. Do religion and knowledge hate each other this bad? Or we are in such a dysfunctional democracy that we have to be told what to learn and how to think.
116
Cutting off welfare for liberals is hardly the same as burning books.
4
"Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at Chapel Hill; North Carolina Central University’s Institute for Civic Engagement and Social Change; and East Carolina University’s Center for Biodiversity."
There is no reason for a university to be funding those groups. From their names, it is obvious that they are activist groups. Would you approve of tax-payer funding "Center on Get Yourself Out of Poverty, Institute for Get Back to Morality, and Center for Love and Protect Your Neighbor Because We Are All In This Neighbor"? A university is there to teach people and prepare them for jobs or just widen their horizons. It is not there to promote agenda. If students want to explore those topics, they should form their own non-university related groups. I would caution, though, usually those groups do little to promote harmony, but, rather, incite anger and, discord, and feelings of victimhood. While, in some cases, the intent might be good, nothing productive comes from these 'academic centers'.
There is no reason for a university to be funding those groups. From their names, it is obvious that they are activist groups. Would you approve of tax-payer funding "Center on Get Yourself Out of Poverty, Institute for Get Back to Morality, and Center for Love and Protect Your Neighbor Because We Are All In This Neighbor"? A university is there to teach people and prepare them for jobs or just widen their horizons. It is not there to promote agenda. If students want to explore those topics, they should form their own non-university related groups. I would caution, though, usually those groups do little to promote harmony, but, rather, incite anger and, discord, and feelings of victimhood. While, in some cases, the intent might be good, nothing productive comes from these 'academic centers'.
1
Religion is the cloak.... the monster under it is greed..as one commentator ..JIMB ...stated in this stream...
"That's the problem with education. When you let people learn to think for themselves, they get all 'uppity'. They forget their place, their roles in society, they lose respect for their betters. You can't have a bunch of people looking too closely at facts, because as is well-known, reality has a liberal bias."
"That's the problem with education. When you let people learn to think for themselves, they get all 'uppity'. They forget their place, their roles in society, they lose respect for their betters. You can't have a bunch of people looking too closely at facts, because as is well-known, reality has a liberal bias."
2
Oh this is SUCH a surprise. This battle and others like it coming up in the states, will decide whether marginally elected right wing elements in state assemblies will destroy what has been accomplished in the last 40 years. The liberal/reactionary battle is no longer a battle at the national level, where all can participate. It is being waged behind closed doors in state capitals, especially in the South, where no one has any idea of what is being "debated." If this isn't a right-wing conspiracy, I don't know what is.
114
"Marginally elected right wing elements...?" I think you mean "legislators."
Universities are full of these "centers" for special interests. Many of them are vanity entities established by legislators. Makes sense to take a close look at them when the tuition that supports them is coming out of the hides of the students.
13
"Out of the hides of students?" So are astronomical coaches' salaries, and no one's re-examining those.
8
I don't think any of these UNC centers receive state funding. (I know the Center for Poverty, Work and Opportunity at UNC-CH doesn't.) For the most part, the centers are supported by grants from nonprofits. The grants typically provide a small amount of funding for operating costs and provide part-time employment for grad or professional students who work on projects associated with the centers. This isn't about money; it is about ideology. The comments from Civitas Institute and some members of the Board of Governors make it clear that they don't like people at the universities advocating for policies that conservative legislators disagree with. Period.
59
I believe that the centers are grant supported . The $ do not come from tuition.
2
"Your organizations and your children can be funded... but only as long as they think like we do. Because we know they wouldn't think differently if they were ever allowed the freedom to develop on their own."
The ultimate "corporate" strategy of eliminating your developing competition before it gets too big to be competitor--transferred to our education systems. Shameful.
The ultimate "corporate" strategy of eliminating your developing competition before it gets too big to be competitor--transferred to our education systems. Shameful.
96
Because right now the kids aren't being force-fed any ideology at all right? Please my daughter had two communist teachers at UT. They actually taught that communism was a success. Please, save me your outrage.
Note my comment implies that strategic funding by ideology is shameful... doesn't matter what direction that ideology comes from. The point being that the crushing of freedom of thought and the fear of ideas is the crime. We had this argument in about 1780 the first time and look how far we have progressed. The term Enlightenment is a powerful one.
5
I suggest that Mr. Nichol use this well-deserved publicity to fund raise. He should easily be able to more than double his budget. And if the Legislature doesn't give him any money, its unclear how they will intercede in University governance to shut the center. I hope that this backfires and that the center becomes a much more major force on campus.
49
This action reeks of the same sort of 'see no evil...' fix to gun-related deaths by legislating no government funding of data collection and research into this severe public health near-catastrophe. If there's no research on poverty, gun deaths, marijuana, then people (generally of the conservative persuasion) can argue that there is no research to back up solutions.
70
No,it's correcting what has been going on at these centers-they are not supposed to be promoting liberal politics,politicians,or programs-there is supposed to be zero political advocacy taking place-yet the liberals in charge are doing just that.
Now that they're being called on it they're "outraged?".
What they should be is unemployed-colleges and universities are for education-NOT pushing political agendas.
Professors are not supposed to push political agendas-yet they do-time for all that to stop.
I didn't bust my butt working extra shifts,working overtime,not taking vacations,and working weekends to send my kids to college to be brainwashed by liberal professors-I busted my butt to send them to college so they could get an education-not attend a liberal indoctrination center.
Now that they're being called on it they're "outraged?".
What they should be is unemployed-colleges and universities are for education-NOT pushing political agendas.
Professors are not supposed to push political agendas-yet they do-time for all that to stop.
I didn't bust my butt working extra shifts,working overtime,not taking vacations,and working weekends to send my kids to college to be brainwashed by liberal professors-I busted my butt to send them to college so they could get an education-not attend a liberal indoctrination center.
1
The ultra right wing conservative Republican agenda is alive and well in NC. In fact, we are the performance lab for the national Republican agenda. First they captured both houses of the State Legislature along with the Governorship by outspending the Democrats by millions, and running non-stop tv ads for a full year, designed to scare the living daylights out of everyone.
Once everyone was in their places and sworn in the folks in our state government got their marching orders: "Implement the Republican Agenda, asap!". They did, and they are and they will.
Why you ask? Because of money from outside the state parties, continuing racist thinking, a well organized church led get out the base vote machine, and because the Democrats forgot about us after the last two Presidential campaigns. And absolutely because the Democrats within this state are either too apathetic, too discouraged, too tired, too ignorant, too damn absent to get out and vote and campaign and run for office if need be (and often on the ballots there is no democratic candidate), too MIA...
At this point in our state's political life cycle, I feel like giving up and just letting these idiots have it and to hell with it all. But then I remember the 'dangling chads' in FL, the ever present mega church folks with their Republican signs mere steps from my assigned polling station each and every election...and I think 'no, you will not silence me, even if I'm among the last 10,000 democrats left in NC'.
Once everyone was in their places and sworn in the folks in our state government got their marching orders: "Implement the Republican Agenda, asap!". They did, and they are and they will.
Why you ask? Because of money from outside the state parties, continuing racist thinking, a well organized church led get out the base vote machine, and because the Democrats forgot about us after the last two Presidential campaigns. And absolutely because the Democrats within this state are either too apathetic, too discouraged, too tired, too ignorant, too damn absent to get out and vote and campaign and run for office if need be (and often on the ballots there is no democratic candidate), too MIA...
At this point in our state's political life cycle, I feel like giving up and just letting these idiots have it and to hell with it all. But then I remember the 'dangling chads' in FL, the ever present mega church folks with their Republican signs mere steps from my assigned polling station each and every election...and I think 'no, you will not silence me, even if I'm among the last 10,000 democrats left in NC'.
259
Maggie,
Written like a true American patriot. Keep voting.
Written like a true American patriot. Keep voting.
3
I left the state of North Carolina, after calling it home for almost two decades. I had to keep silent about my politics, my ideology, my beliefs--it was not easy. The KKK was alive and well, there were small towns that didn't allow people of color to live there, it was shocking. Having grown up in the northeast and being transplanted to NC, I was grateful for my experiences with multi-culturalism. Had I not grown up with it, I would have been afraid of everything. Any changes are very frightening to the ignorant. We actually put together a couple of 'secret' groups that were able to meet and share their liberal thoughts, cheer on a democrat, crack republican jokes, without being shunned by the community. This took place just 8 years ago, by the way. So, I couldn't agree more with what Maggie just wrote. I am grateful to out of that state. I couldn't imagine being there at this point, it is shameful.
7
Maggie
you forget re-districting, we didn't have a chance after that.
you forget re-districting, we didn't have a chance after that.
2
Why is the GOP so fascinated with regression?
81
Because in the 1950's, no one questioned being dominated by white males who like to make all the decisions for everyone, so it must be those liberal colleges none of them attended, where the insurrection against ignorance is based. They appear to believe one book is plenty.
8
…due to their arrested development.
1
One reason: Control. Undereducated/uneducated people are much easier to control than their educated counterparts.
5
I'm so profoundly distressed about Republican shellacking of higher education that I don't know where to start. The only thing I can think to do is not vote for Walker and co.
33
When every action is politicized to this degree we have reached a new low in civilization. Conservatism has become little more than a bad attitude. If Right wingers feel so strongly about education, maybe more of them could go into teaching. The work force is overwhelmingly female and democratic. If more white guys who could make the big bucks went into teaching it would change the ideological bias of the teaching workforce. Who is lining up to make little money and be hated by society for every ill.
22
It is virtually impossible for a conservative to be appointed to a professorial position in most universities, regardless of qualifications.
3
This seems like a sensible idea. A university is about education and NOT about promoting specific political agenda.
17
but the fact that Republican lawmakers are underfunding and closing centers they don't like IS promoting specific political agendas.
2
Poverty and civil rights are specific political agendas? Tell that to the poor and the disenfranchised.
Do we want universities to develop society's leaders, or do we want to dumb them down, eschew science, fact, and truth, so that they will be more malleable for the oligarchs?
Do we want universities to develop society's leaders, or do we want to dumb them down, eschew science, fact, and truth, so that they will be more malleable for the oligarchs?
1
@Amy: "Mr. Nichol said the center’s only agenda was to raise the profile of poverty in the state through research, teaching and advocacy. He added that the center did not receive any money directly from the Legislature, relying solely on private donations for its $120,000 annual operating budget." This is EDUCATION.
4
Why, exactly, should North Carolina taxpayers be forced to fund an academic "center dedicated to social change" without being consulted on what form the "social change" should take? By all means academics should be free to teach "social change"; they should not expect to be able to force taxpayers to pay for their vision of "social change".
18
Have you ever taken the subway? They you are the recipient of the same communal system you criticize. The fare you pay only covers about 2/3 of the cost of the ride. The rest comes from taxpayers like me.
By all means commuters should be free to travel the way they wish but they should not expect taxpayers to pay for their train.
By all means commuters should be free to travel the way they wish but they should not expect taxpayers to pay for their train.
2
What would be your vision of social change, elimination of corporate taxes or privatization of Social Security?
Closing these Centers seems like a sensible idea. A university is about education and promoting a specific political agenda.
7
It is, or it is not. Which is it?
1
Oh yeah, that East Carolina Center for Biodiversity. That one's a hot bed of radical foment. Their computational lab is clearly a liberal ploy to pull down capitalism and what about their 2015 Earth Day Expo? I mean gimme a break - it's basically terrorism masked as "live animals and plants, lab activities, natural history story times, and more!" Thank goodness the NC legislature has their hand on the pulse of this dangerous movement.
94
Of course it wasn't actually DOING anything useful, but what the heck, so long as it's populated by liberals, the taxpayer should fund it forever.
2
The lab has the word "diversity" in its name, so it's obviously a hotbed of something evil. Also, remember that this is the state where the legislature outlawed looking at research on rising ocean levels when doing urban planning or setting homeowners' insurance rates for coastal areas. Honest. You can't make up stuff this stupid.
5
After reading today about the coordinated assaults on schools (those hotbeds of liberal elites) all across the nation, I'm beginning to wonder when they will be coming to burn our books.
If the radical right can assert it's dark agenda the way it desires, it will plunge, not just America, but the entire world into a scope of darkness never before dreamed of.
If the radical right can assert it's dark agenda the way it desires, it will plunge, not just America, but the entire world into a scope of darkness never before dreamed of.
56
The neo-Repubican Party is dedicated to the Dark Ages.
4
Once upon a time the United States led the developed world in social mobility, alas not only have we been dethroned but are regressing ever further. It is almost an exercise in contradiction to promulgate globalization to new heights with broad trade agreements while we insulate much of the country from the knowledge base required too compete - I suppose we have applied the "need to know" principle to socio-economic stratifications of our society.
For much of the country the Fox School of Public Thought must be deemed sufficient for an informed if uneducated constituency - the culture of illiberalism. The last thing conservative constituencies need are to become aware of just how poor much of America has become compared to other developed nations where collective goods and services ensure a base of fairness for all.
For much of the country the Fox School of Public Thought must be deemed sufficient for an informed if uneducated constituency - the culture of illiberalism. The last thing conservative constituencies need are to become aware of just how poor much of America has become compared to other developed nations where collective goods and services ensure a base of fairness for all.
50
As the wise Indian chief in Blazing Saddles said:
Lezem gain......let them go.
Let Wisconsin destroy it's university.
Let North Carolina destroy it's university.
Let Oklahoma extinguish Advanced Placement History (after all if students are made to memorized GeeDub's 9/11 speech, the program ain't worth spit.)
People get what they vote for.
If Americans and the citizens are satisfied with their choices,
lezem gain.....
Lezem gain......let them go.
Let Wisconsin destroy it's university.
Let North Carolina destroy it's university.
Let Oklahoma extinguish Advanced Placement History (after all if students are made to memorized GeeDub's 9/11 speech, the program ain't worth spit.)
People get what they vote for.
If Americans and the citizens are satisfied with their choices,
lezem gain.....
9
That's the problem with education. When you let people learn to think for themselves, they get all 'uppity'. They forget their place, their roles in society, they lose respect for their betters. You can't have a bunch of people looking too closely at facts, because as is well-known, reality has a liberal bias.
251
Well said....too the point.... thank you
1
If there's any place in the world where people are not allowed to "think for themselves", it's in universities. You can look it up. "Social change" is a euphemism for dictatorial control, and you can understand why some people -- not in universities or in New Your Times comment threads, but some people would be opposed to dictatorial thought control.
It would have helped your credibility if you explained what these centers did and whether or not they served their purpose. Such academic centers are often abused by powerful members of faculty to pad by their salaries who appoint themselves to the board where their duties are basically to consume coffee and scones every three months or so.
Even more helpful would be the financial statements that these centers must file as non-profit entities. I suspect that even the most ardent liberal would probably be a little shocked to find out how the money gets spent.
Even more helpful would be the financial statements that these centers must file as non-profit entities. I suspect that even the most ardent liberal would probably be a little shocked to find out how the money gets spent.
11
I've seen the financial statements of them and the many "help" programs started up by Liberals that paid most of the money to the program's founders and their buddies with little else to show, At last there is oversight and the checks don't go out automatically because the founder knows someone in the Legislature.
I've seen the financial statements of these and many other organizations the state was handing out grants to. Too many of them had highly paid founders and their hangers on and had little to show in results to the community they said they were serving. Their continuance was made possible by connections to state legislators and not actual results.
1
You can see their financials right here: http://www.law.unc.edu/centers/poverty/about/financial/. Nichols gets $7500 in addition to his professor's salary, and there are two other staff members who are each paid $12,000. Not exactly shocking levels of spending.
1
Burn them books ! They may take people down the Yellow Brick Road of knowledge and into the Emerald City where they discover that it is not the Wizard of Oz behind the screen , but the Brothers Koch. Thanks to a five man conservative goon squad masquerading as Supreme Court justices , the Kansas industrialists from Dorothy and Aunty Em's old stomping grounds . are on the verge of purchasing the U.S. of A. lock , stock , and barrel. Not a good thing for the peasants in the fiefdom to understand that their votes once counted before the sale of the First Amendment to the highest bidder. No one should understand the history of unions and understand that the demise of same means the death of collective bargaining , fair wages and reasonable benefits. Science is to be ignored , regulations ridiculed , and scorn heaped upon the halls of higher education. Fit them out with all the lethal toys they need in order to overcome the British and wipe out innocents and school children from time to time. Prevent the underclasses from voting , and God forbid anyone understand how this country is about to subsumed by two guys steeped in the John Birch Society and raised by a father who rooted for a Fascist takeover in WW II. Two guys worth $80 Billion and bidding for their own fiefdom of some 330 million serfs whom they could care less about and a government that they would love to demolish.
87
I'd rather see the "Brothers Koch" behind this than the the various Reynolds family trust funds starting Z Smith Reynolds.
Well said! Could not agree more. What did Scott Walker say, remove the U of W's motto's phrase about finding truth and replace it with creating a (Koch) workforce?What was that again?
3
It's only just begun, kids.
Last year, NC Governor Pat McCrory, along with then-state house speaker and now-freshman senator Thom Tillis, got rid of the state's K-12 teacher tenure system as of 2018, in what many see as a severe tilt toward school privatization. My own view is that compulsory education is next on the chopping block in order to weed out those who won't be able to afford a private school education or whose parents can't afford to home school.
Meanwhile, to make up for getting rid of K-12 teacher tenure, all current K-12 teachers within the state were given $500 bonuses, which were paid for by making drastic cuts to the state's system of higher education.
A friend of mine is a university librarian in western North Carolina, and recently mentioned that her university library had to cut many of its subscription databases, which students and faculty rely on for research and teaching.
This indefensible race to stupid absolutely boggles.
Last year, NC Governor Pat McCrory, along with then-state house speaker and now-freshman senator Thom Tillis, got rid of the state's K-12 teacher tenure system as of 2018, in what many see as a severe tilt toward school privatization. My own view is that compulsory education is next on the chopping block in order to weed out those who won't be able to afford a private school education or whose parents can't afford to home school.
Meanwhile, to make up for getting rid of K-12 teacher tenure, all current K-12 teachers within the state were given $500 bonuses, which were paid for by making drastic cuts to the state's system of higher education.
A friend of mine is a university librarian in western North Carolina, and recently mentioned that her university library had to cut many of its subscription databases, which students and faculty rely on for research and teaching.
This indefensible race to stupid absolutely boggles.
109
Same thing in Wisconsin under Scott Walker and the GOP-controlled legislature. Since 2011, their cuts to K-12, tech schools and the university system are nearing $2 billion. Along with the cuts, they have frozen tuition ("starving the beast") while increasing public money to vouchers for private schools (mostly religious). This has gone hand-in-hand with the destruction of public sector unions, especially teachers. They have done this aggressively, used effective divide and conquer tactics and had right wing radio cheering them all the way. It is their plan for the country and they will be ruthless.
11
Republican legislatures are invariably winning that race.
3
Here in Florida, we have proudly established this pattern of destruction. These other states are latecomers to the party (and we all know which party that is)
4
I'm confused. if the poverty center operates solely on private donations, why don't they continue to obtain those donations and continue their work?
7
Because they still need the University's permission to operate on University property.
22
Because it has nothing to do with funding and everything to do with Republithink. If you can't prove there is poverty, deny the study of it, then Pow! Governor McCrory has single handedly defeated poverty in North Carolina in one term. (Just like the SCOTUS defeated racism with one ruling, we don't have that in the South anymore) Can't you see that as a campaign ad for Governor McCrory in the next election? Disgusting!
3
Outrageous. Terrifying. A severe blow to freedom.
The basis of democracy is freedom of thought. This is worse than censorship, the control of speech. It is the control of ideas, of thought. That is one big step toward totalitarianism.
Since when in a free society does the government have the right to control what subjects a college student wishes to pursue? Since when are exercising Constitutionally guaranteed freedoms anti-government. The people are the government. Conservative libertarian ideology gets thrown under the bus when it makes trouble for conservative libertarians. It looks like North Carolina is no longer a free society.
The basis of democracy is freedom of thought. This is worse than censorship, the control of speech. It is the control of ideas, of thought. That is one big step toward totalitarianism.
Since when in a free society does the government have the right to control what subjects a college student wishes to pursue? Since when are exercising Constitutionally guaranteed freedoms anti-government. The people are the government. Conservative libertarian ideology gets thrown under the bus when it makes trouble for conservative libertarians. It looks like North Carolina is no longer a free society.
36
The university system is funded by the taxpayers of North Carolina. We have more to say than Liberals want us to have. The curriculum is what we say it is.
NYHuguenot,
So according to your statement, thought control is OK so long as its done by the state government and not the federal. You have just verified my last sentence:
"It looks like North Carolina is no longer a free society."
I suggest you study the bill of rights. It has something to do with individual liberty. Sometimes taxpayer funded activities include things that not everyone agrees with. That's the price you pay for liberty. You have to share the world to give everyone liberty.
So according to your statement, thought control is OK so long as its done by the state government and not the federal. You have just verified my last sentence:
"It looks like North Carolina is no longer a free society."
I suggest you study the bill of rights. It has something to do with individual liberty. Sometimes taxpayer funded activities include things that not everyone agrees with. That's the price you pay for liberty. You have to share the world to give everyone liberty.
4
Scott Walker is also attacking higher education in WI. We have a Republican lead effort to attack intellectualism across the country.
67
Check out what the boardwalk boss did in NJ as well, handing higher education to his political cronies.
2
We don't need no stinkin' knowledge.
4
Another day, another Republican attack on education. Cuts to UW, cuts to UNC, proposals to do away with AP courses . . .
The US has long been a global leader, economically and militarily, thanks to investments in science and technology and popular agreement in the importance of a well-educated society.
Now our status as a leading power is threatened by one party's ideological commitment to opposing or rejecting whatever facts are politically or ideologically inconvenient. From evolution and the age of the earth to vaccination and climate change, prominent conservatives and Republicans deny, deride, or distrust settled scientific findings.
Sadly, the American media enables this behavior by calling the two sides of every dispute equal, rather than presenting the facts.
The consequences of chosen ignorance can be nothing but unfortunate.
The US has long been a global leader, economically and militarily, thanks to investments in science and technology and popular agreement in the importance of a well-educated society.
Now our status as a leading power is threatened by one party's ideological commitment to opposing or rejecting whatever facts are politically or ideologically inconvenient. From evolution and the age of the earth to vaccination and climate change, prominent conservatives and Republicans deny, deride, or distrust settled scientific findings.
Sadly, the American media enables this behavior by calling the two sides of every dispute equal, rather than presenting the facts.
The consequences of chosen ignorance can be nothing but unfortunate.
77
Yes, the media has a tendency to say all actions are equal, but at least the New York Times continues to do stories on situations that need to be revealed, such as this one. They also covered Scott Walker's attempt to cut UW. Citizen's need to continue to fight back and vote, but it's been getting harder and harder as the Supreme Court has allowed money to buy out the political system. It looks like we may have another Bush for President because Jeb is getting all the money. Our nation will become nothing but what big business conservatives want us to be if this continues on the same path. And they certainly do not want anyone being a well educated, free thinker who will rabble rouse and make trouble for their agenda. It's not about being "liberal", its about considering both sides of issues and looking at for the best interest of everyone in a democracy, not just the privileged few.
3
Hmmm, I wonder how many "investments in science and technology" were made by the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at Chapel Hill and the North Carolina Central University’s Institute for Civic Engagement and Social Change? I suspect not much. I give a pass to the East Carolina University Center for Biodiversity since in theory, though probably not in actuality, it could conceivably do something useful.
And just for the record, free-thinkers who have advanced science and technology have never been followers of "settled scientific findings" -- rather they have challenged the smug and pompous verities of their times.
And just for the record, free-thinkers who have advanced science and technology have never been followers of "settled scientific findings" -- rather they have challenged the smug and pompous verities of their times.
3
Four years ago it was and is public schools and teachers. Republicans were/are motivated to remove unions from organizing any opposition. This time around, it is/will be public universities and professors. We have yet to see how Republicans plan to divide and conquer higher education, but they might just settle for painting all degree holders as elitists. That's the tune we hear as Scott Walker rides the Koch carousel, leaning in from his rising weasel to grab a gold ring.
42
Here is an example of Mr. Nichols "advocacy":
http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/12/28/3488213_from-silence-to-savagery-...
Excerpt: "And the sins don’t stop with silence. The governor and General Assembly, in 2013, launched a war against poor people unlike anything seen in our modern history. "
Something tells me he hasn't read "How to Win Friends and Influence People".
http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/12/28/3488213_from-silence-to-savagery-...
Excerpt: "And the sins don’t stop with silence. The governor and General Assembly, in 2013, launched a war against poor people unlike anything seen in our modern history. "
Something tells me he hasn't read "How to Win Friends and Influence People".
5
Nichols has written several articles on poverty in NC putting the spotlight on poor people and the problems they face daily. He has also focused on the actions of the State General Assembly which led to cuts in programs aimed at alleviating poverty. Of course those legislators don't like this and the call for eliminating the UNC Poverty Center are the result.
After watching this bunch of legislators for the last couple of years one comes to the conclusion that they simply do not care at all about the poor. They have the power to change things for the better and they choose not to. Time after time.
After watching this bunch of legislators for the last couple of years one comes to the conclusion that they simply do not care at all about the poor. They have the power to change things for the better and they choose not to. Time after time.
2
The Luddites are at work once again to diminish free speech, intelligent discourse and enlightened perspective....apparent anachronisms for this Board of Trustees panel. Once again the disenfranchised are victims of ignorance, prejudice and malfeasance by a governing board of white, male men. Let us hope that the full Board comes to its senses and that the Luddites do not prevail. N.B.: Check the First Amendment, Gentlemen.
12
The Research Triangle people are going to have to stand up loud and clear for what they believe in. If what they believe in is education, culture, civil rights, and the Enlightenment, they will be defeated, but at least they can go down fighting. If what they believe in also includes a critique of our current distribution of income and wealth, and they can sell these ideas as well as faux free enterprise has been sold by the other side, they can win.
Essentially they will have to reactivate the alliances of carpetbaggers, scalawags, and blacks that existed during Reconstruction. If they can find enough white tarheels ready to betray their race, they will win.
Essentially they will have to reactivate the alliances of carpetbaggers, scalawags, and blacks that existed during Reconstruction. If they can find enough white tarheels ready to betray their race, they will win.
24
Was with you until the "white tarheels ready to betray their race" bit.
Note: there have always been white liberals in NC, as in all Southern states; just not enough of them.
Note: there have always been white liberals in NC, as in all Southern states; just not enough of them.
1
Well, it wasn't enough that Big Business decided to take over the health care industry. Looks like academia is next. Check.
79
It was too much that academic marxists persisted in their "long march through the institutions". A corrective was necessary after 40+ years of capitulation to SJW nonsense.
6
Big business already took over education. Just look at how expensive textbooks are these days. That's what happened when everyone wants to run the country like a corporation.
16
If we're so smart, why can't we outwit these guys? Come on, let's get it together. Do we need a Revenge of the Nerds team or what?
60
North Carolina was a bastion of moderation, well regarded universities, and high tech industries. The moderation is being shut down, the universities are now targeted. Will tech industries in the state be less appealing to the best and the brightest if the conservative good old boys push the state back into the 1930s?
If liberals, progressive, Democrats don't bother to vote in state and mid term elections, a lot of states are going to follow North Carolina into a darker age. KA
If liberals, progressive, Democrats don't bother to vote in state and mid term elections, a lot of states are going to follow North Carolina into a darker age. KA
158
No, look at the facts --
-- UNC Law School-affiliated Center for Civil Rights, suing UNC and the state government. That's not academic, that's suicidal. Like a major newspaper, "replacing" its top editor who was talking to her lawyer about her salary .. a lot.
-- "Center on Poverty" -- a front for a former VP candidate. Deal in politics, expect politics.
N.C. is trying not to become the next Detroit. Just try to raise taxes higher -- expect a lot of cat-calls.
-- UNC Law School-affiliated Center for Civil Rights, suing UNC and the state government. That's not academic, that's suicidal. Like a major newspaper, "replacing" its top editor who was talking to her lawyer about her salary .. a lot.
-- "Center on Poverty" -- a front for a former VP candidate. Deal in politics, expect politics.
N.C. is trying not to become the next Detroit. Just try to raise taxes higher -- expect a lot of cat-calls.
2
That moderation was brought about by progressive leaders like Governor Terry Sanford (expanded Research Triangle Park, opened NC School of the Arts, consolidated and expanded the UNC system, created community college system, etc etc). The contrast was Jesse Helms, who at the time was spouting ultra conservative rhetoric on WRAL TV in his nightly editorials (called UNC the "University of Negroes and Communists" and suggested a wall be constructed around the school to prevent the rest of the state from being infected by liberalism). His National Congressional Club was a model of fund raising and ideology, and propaganda that became the playbook for the Koch Brothers and Art Pope. As "Senator No" he was the ultimate obstructionist in the US Senate, attacking any and every progressive idea - often invoking the bugaboo of Communism. The pendulum of moderation and progression that swung gently forward for 50 years has begun a rapid move backwards in this state. I fear it is only the beginning of a dark period in North Carolina. We desperately need a Terry Sanford again - not Kay Hagan or other ineffectual politicians.
4
Hopefully, these tech industries will bring more enlightened citizens to NC and thereby more votes to eliminate this ultra conservative anti-education government. I once asked a Southerner in NC how he felt about more Northerners coming to his state. His reply was that it brought more thoughtful action and improvement to his state. Keep coming Northerners. This is a beautiful place.
1
A number of high profile companies moved themselves and their employees to Charlotte over the last couple of decades. You'd think they, at least, would have had the clout to prevent this band of troglodytes from commandeering the legislature.
There really seems to be a nihilistic tendency among voters in North Carolina, Wisconsin Illinois, etc., etc., etc., to elect people so intent on burning down what it took years to build, just to watch a pretty little fire.
There really seems to be a nihilistic tendency among voters in North Carolina, Wisconsin Illinois, etc., etc., etc., to elect people so intent on burning down what it took years to build, just to watch a pretty little fire.
147
You are not giving enough credit to gerrymandering, new voting restrictions and other problems around the vote itself, including the massive amounts of money poured into the small rural conservative campaigns that have national implications when they are won.
26
Charlotte and Mecklenburg Co. are firmly in Democratic hands.
North Carolina is firmly in Republican hands.
The former has no clout with the latter. They barely speak. In fact, the Republican state has declared war on North Carolina's highly successful cities, stripping them of assets and self-governance.
The GOP base is in rural North Carolina, not urban North Carolina.
North Carolina is firmly in Republican hands.
The former has no clout with the latter. They barely speak. In fact, the Republican state has declared war on North Carolina's highly successful cities, stripping them of assets and self-governance.
The GOP base is in rural North Carolina, not urban North Carolina.
3
Sometimes the real world has to deal with budgets and tax-dollars being wasted. Liberal Democrats in Illinois have ruined the state's finances, in case you haven't noticed. Illinois is a wasteland of people trying to move out of tax-hell, but can't sell their houses.
1
Education is the last big enchilada for business. No doubt many of the legislators are also on advisory panels and have ties to other "educational foundations" that look to technology and business as the solution to high educational costs. If that is not ideological, then I don't know what is.
76
More likely an attempt by conservatives to stifle what they see as "liberal" influences.
26
that makes no sense. I think the republicans now on the Board simply think it's a waste and not a function of govt-spending, to pay subsidies to Left-wing educational classes. It's not complicated and it's certainly not mean-spirited. The "poverty-centers" and "African-American" study programs, are not a function of govt to subsidize. THEY were instituted as idealogical classrooms, NOT the getting rid of them.
Of course, focusing on jobs vs. attacking employers makes so much more sense. If you're living in Chicago, NYC, Detroit, etc.