Gazette-Mail, June 22, 2023.
Editorial: Mooney taking pot-shots at kettle in Justice
Rep. Alex Mooney, R-W.Va., has been taking plenty of shots at West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice lately. The two are set to face each other in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate next year.
Mooney’s campaign has made hay from news of federal investigators poking around how money was spent to provide prizes for Justice’s ill-conceived and poorly executed “Do It For Babydog” sweepstakes that sought to encourage an uptick in COVID-19 vaccinations.
Another release this week called Justice the “King of Scandals” and quoted a Gazette-Mail editorial noting how routinely another story pops up about Justice’s myriad business woes and the hundreds of millions of dollars the governor, his family and his businesses apparently owe in defaulted loans, unpaid court settlements, fines and fees, among others.
It’s all valid criticism. Of course, it ignores Mooney’s egregious failings along the same lines, which the Gazette-Mail Editorial Board has criticized nearly as frequently as Justice’s shortcomings.
Mooney is under two House Ethics investigations involving alleged improper personal use of campaign funds, using congressional staffers like personal butlers and taking lavish vacations paid for by campaign backers, along with some accusations of tampering with evidence and witnesses. Mooney denies all of this.
It’s more difficult to deny that he’s rarely seen in his district and pretty much rides whatever wave of populism is sweeping through the GOP at the moment. And he can’t deny that, shamefully and most importantly, he voted against certifying Electoral College votes on Jan. 6, 2021, after a mob set loose by then-President Donald Trump attacked the U.S. Capitol with the aim of disrupting the peaceful transition of power.
Mooney and his colleagues were sheltered away during the breach, because some members of the mob reportedly planned to kidnap or even kill members of Congress and then-Vice President Mike Pence. When the dust had settled on one of the darkest days in U.S. history, Mooney sided with Trump’s corrupt and dishonest bid to cling to power and the rioters who were trying to uproot American democracy. That seems important to note.
When Justice was considering entering the Senate race, we noted that a primary against Mooney would be a contest of the pot calling the kettle black. Mooney hasn’t disappointed on that front. This is likely just the beginning of a mud-slinging trench battle that will offer no quarter, let alone any hint of self-awareness.
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Herald-Dispatch. June 27, 2023.
Editorial: WVU cuts show higher ed’s challenges are growing
West Virginia University is downsizing. Where it goes, other state-supported universities are likely to follow.
Last week, the WVU Board of Governors voted to eliminate 12 graduate and doctorate programs and reduce employment by 132 positions, including 38 faculty members. The board also voted to increase tuition by about 3%. The staff cuts will save about $7 million in a $1.2 billion total budget.
The moves came as WVU faced a $45 million budget deficit.
The sources of WVU’s financial problems are many. Enrollment is down about 10% since 2015 and is not expected to get any better before the end of this decade. Financial support from the Legislature is less than what it once was.
“This process is obviously challenging and at times painful for the University community. It is, however, necessary that we reposition ourselves today to be a responsive, relevant university system of the future,” WVU President E. Gordon Gee said in a prepared statement.
Gee’s use of the word “relevant” in describing WVU’s challenges is appropriate. For too many of WVU’s prospective students, a four-year degree isn’t relevant any more. With attention toward the debt load carried by many college graduates and dropouts, universities struggle to prove they are worth the time and money those prospective students are asked to invest. Become a social worker or an electrician? More young people choose career paths outside the traditional university path. They might enroll in a four-year school or a two-year school later, but for now they are exploring alternatives.
Maryanne Reed, WVU’s provost and vice president for academic affairs, gave the board a hint of things to come.
“Our second review of all academic programs is well underway, with the added goal of creating a smaller and more focused program portfolio — aligned with student demand, career opportunities and market trends,” Reed said.
Translation: The downsizing at WVU is likely to continue.
If West Virginia’s flagship land grant public university is facing these problems, can other public universities in the state be far behind?
Private schools aren’t necessarily doing better. Last week, West Virginia MetroNews reported that the state Higher Education Policy Commission authorized every private college in the state to operate and award degrees in the coming year except for Alderson Broaddus University in Philippi. The HEPC is concerned about the school’s enrollment and its financial condition, MetroNews reported. It has asked the university for more information before it decides whether to allow the school to operate this fall.
West Virginia has lost two private universities in the past dozen years — Mountain State University in Beckley and Ohio Valley University near Parkersburg. It’s a sign that smaller private schools must do more to survive.
Colleges and universities are important in training the next generation of knowledge workers and leaders to take the place of those who are about to retire. These schools are also important to the economies of their communities. They don’t exist in vacuums. Their health is important to communities and to the state as a whole.
Many people are counting on the leaders and governing bodies of these schools to make wise decisions in the coming year in light of the challenges they face.
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The Intelligencer. June 27, 2023.
Editorial: Improve Economy In West Virginia
As we celebrate a number of economic wins here in West Virginia, it is a good reminder of just how far we have to climb that according to WalletHub’s “2023’s Best and Worst State Economies,” we are still a rock-bottom 51st in the nation. When it comes to “which states are pulling the most weight even during this time of economic difficulty caused by inflation,” we are among the states being pulled along.
West Virginia is 41st in change in GDP, 29th in exports per capita, 51st in startup activity, 50th in percentage of jobs in high-tech industries, 48th in change in nonfarm payrolls, 45th in government surplus/deficit per capita and 32nd for unemployment rate.
Among the problems is our continued inability to develop, attract and retain workers — not just those that are highly skilled, but anyone.
“Attracting and retaining quality talent goes hand in hand with attracting and retaining quality businesses. In today’s labor market, employees can live where they want and work virtually anywhere. So, people-friendly amenities should be an emphasis,” said Dennis L. Hoffman, a professor and director of the L. Wm. Seidman Research Institute and the Office of the University Economist at Arizona State University.
Granted, we may see some changes in these kinds of reports as some of the larger economic development projects we have attracted gain momentum. But the bottom line is lawmakers in Charleston have got to stop fighting so hard against the work being done by our community and state economic development officials.
It may feel as though we have accomplished a great deal in spite of them, but numbers don’t lie.
Recent ripples of success will need to become massive waves if we are to make it out of the hole we are in. Step one will be ensuring we are all — truly — working toward that goal.
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