View YSU tuition increase as part of bigger picture

View YSU tuition increase as part of bigger picture
EDITOR:
The opinion you printed Dec. 23 (How We See It: Tuition increase at YSU should be last resort) at least indicates that The Vindicator's misguided perception is consistent with the opinion of most Youngstown area residents.
It is unfortunate that both The Vindicator and thousands of its readers view YSU's tuition hike as if it were a tax levy or a turnpike toll increase. The dynamics of public higher education are easily misunderstood and demand more respect than to be treated as if YSU were an enemy controlled by money-hungry dictators.
Dr. David Sweet's agenda is clear. He wants to improve quality in all areas of YSU's operations. If successful, this will benefit the school, the community, and most importantly, the student.
This is a monumental task considering that the State of Ohio has steadily decreased its funding over the same five-year period you indicate tuition has risen about 40 percent.
Your observation that, & quot;Youngstown State's customer base is concentrated in a five-county region that has lagged behind the rest of the state in terms of economic growth and the availability of high-paying jobs & quot; speaks volumes of the prevailing pessimistic attitudes in the Youngstown area. Dr. Sweet is trying to enact positive, optimistic change in an area where the beneficiaries, including the local newspaper, see only the negative aspects of the change. To improve quality with diminishing state support, he must increase tuition. Any spending or salary cutbacks would compromise quality.
But it seems like The Vindicator and most of its readership would prefer such a compromise in lieu of a tuition increase. Let's just maintain the status quo. And like hundreds of local companies, doing so would have a familiar effect -- a dying organization staffed by uncaring administrators, with a substandard professorate, graduating students that are ill-prepared for graduate school or their first real job.
Rather than sounding the alarm of pessimism over a tuition increase, The Vindicator and its readers should rally around this leader who insists on the continuous improvement of such a visible public organization.
RICH HASSLER
Girard
X The writer is a doctoral student, Ed.D., at YSU.
Who is twisting truth? You can be the judge
EDITOR:
This letter is in response to the Dec. 26 letter to the editor titled, "Who are the racists? You be the judge." The letter states that if you support democratic programs such as abortion, affirmative action, public housing, and the likes of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, you are a racist. If you oppose school vouchers and welfare reform, you are also a racist. He finishes his letter by saying, if you are a Democrat, you are a racist.
Only a Republican, with a wealthy, greedy, conniving mind, could come up with a letter like this with such a twisted version of the truth. There are a growing number of us joining the ranks of the poor, uneducated and unemployed that knows no color boundaries. We are now becoming a nation of few choices and no recourses. This should no longer be America, divided by race, religion, or creed. This is supposed to be America, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all, not just the rich and Republican. The only difference between a Democrat and a Republican is the number of digits in their bank accounts.
The only thing worse than open prejudice is a hypocrite who says or does one thing and believes another, regardless of party affiliation. Actions, such as these, surely come back to haunt us all, as Americans.
DAVID P. GAIBIS Sr.
New Castle, Pa.