HIGHER EDUCATION
GGC has budget cuts, too
I was dismayed when I opened my copy of the AJC July 25 to see the headline “Costly investment today for ‘campus of tomorrow.’” I was livid to then read “Georgia Gwinnett College excluded from cuts through recession.” This could not be further from the truth.
Every college within the University System, including Georgia Gwinnett, has had to cut its budget by 7 percent to 13 percent since 2009. Yes, Georgia Gwinnett’s budget has grown since its doors opened in 2006, but that is because its student population has skyrocketed over the past five years. This fall, more than 8,000 students will take classes on its campus to pursue various degrees. In 2011, GGC took a $2.2 million hit on its budget — that’s not pocket change in anyone’s book. The two prior years, it was $3.3 million and $3.5 million, respectively. SEN. DON BALFOUR, R-SNELLVILLE
Alumnus salutes teens
An alumnus of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, N.Y., I read with interest “U.S. Merchant Marine Academy appoints 7” (Metro, July 27) 47 years to the day after my class’s graduation. I would like to congratulate these students, and add my best wishes for their maritime studies, training and careers. Mike Poynor, Atlanta
POLITICS
What Americans want
I am getting very tired of people in Washington who justify what they are not doing by saying, “The American people have spoken.” These bozos on both sides of the aisle do not know what we want. Many of them are millionaires, and their agenda is to protect their own. It is time for us to do what we did during the civil rights movement, and during the Vietnam war. We need to go to Washington and tell them what we want (peacefully, I might add).
Come on, America. Let’s march. William E. Lynch, Adairsville
Jimmy Carter’s legacy
The AJC recently contained a piece about Jimmy Carter and his successful fight to eradicate Guinea worm in Ghana (“Carter helps Ghana eradicate Guinea worm disease,” News, July 29).
I applaud you for running this article, and can only wonder why more is not made of his work and the impact it has had on millions of people worldwide. If all he had ever done was to lead this fight, it should have been enough to garner the respect of people of all races, religions, nationalities and political stripes — and ensure his place in history as a truly great American. John Ehlers, Marietta
Tea party a real force
Pundits far and wide are railing against the tea party and its insistence on forcing some measure of financial prudence in the federal government’s spending. These pundits are furious that anybody would have the temerity to want government spending to match revenues. Their most common rant is, “Now is not the time to start the process of spending constraint.”
Members of the tea party will suffer the slings and arrows thrown their way because they found in the debt ceiling a vehicle to enforce their fervent belief that the government spends too much — and politicians will never have the inclination or backbone to voluntarily do something about it. Eric Sandberg, Atlanta
