The Skyland post. [volume] (West Jefferson, N.C.) 193?-1988, 1939-01-19
KILLING THE GOOSE

The recommendation OF the State Budget
Commission to the General Assembly to
make drastic cut in the appropriation to
state institutions of higher learning and to
make it up by taxing the students through
a tremendous increase in tuition charges,
reminds us of the fairy story of killing
the goose that laid the golden egg.
The proposal to tap students as a source
of state revenue is just as foolish, in our
and thereby get all of the golden eggs at
one time.
After the goose was killed, there were
no more golden eggs. And when high costs
make it impossible for many boys and girls
in North Carolina to attend our UNIVERSE
ties and colleges the state will certainly
lose one of its largest golden eggs.
From the standpoint Of mere dollars and
cents college education pays dividends.
National statistics show that those with
such training earn nearly twice as much
during lifetime as do those who only fin
ish high school. That increased income
alone, from it's taxing potentialities, is
worth a great deal to any state.
From the standpoint of service, college
education enables individuals, and the very
nature of this training also encourages
them to be of greater service to the educa-
tional, economic, social, religious and po-
litical life of their community and state.
Of course we realize that the ever-in-
creasing and ever-broadening fields of So
cial service to the needy and dependent
must be carried forward, but that large
group of people, in the main, represent
what might be appropriately called the
weak" and why penalize the 'strong'' and
sacrifice their ultimate future value and
possibilities for the sake of the weak, or
even for the sake of better highways or
whatnot and thereby retard real progress?
When system of government becomes
so socialized that it is more concerned with
those that might be termed as liabilities"
rather than with those that represent it's
greatest future asset and does not strike
a proper balance between the two, then
that system is doomed to retrogression in
stead of to Progress. To support the
weak, there must be strong" and on
ly through an expanding public education
al program can there be promoted that vi
tally important element of strength.
Why have statewide system of higher
learning if it's portals are going to be closed
because of high cost to the average boy
and girl in the state? Why not just "go out
of the business" and leave it to the endow-
ed Institutions?
Over half of our population is composed
of farmers and another third of it is indus
trial workers. the majority of whom are
textile employees. The income of these
average families does not permit them to
give their children college training if the
cost is too high and certainly the increase
in tuition cost on an average of $4,000 per
year per student is quite boost to the
present cost. Before arriving at any in
crease in tuition, the income of the aver
age family in the state should be studied
carefully.
AS for out-of-state students, we are not
in favor of soaking" them simply because
they wish to compliment us by attending
our university and colleges. This would
be like taxing industry out of the state".
1t would be killing another goose that lays
golden egg in the form of broadened con-
facts for our own students. A cosmopoli-
tan student body tends to destroy provin-
cialism and narrow-mindednes and acts as
tonic to our own state Students
We sympathize with the General Assem-
bly, in its task of raising around $14,000,0OO
in additional revenue, but we beg of them
to use wisdom in their action, to cut other
corners, if need be and not to "kill the
goose that lays our golden eggs of tomor-
row."