NBC: "Morgantown an economic oasis" (Charleston, Huntington: low income, loan)

[GottaHerdOn]

Originally Posted by CTMountaineer

From my perspective, aside from the mess Kopp is creating in Huntington (he's such a good flim flam man they actually just gave him a huge pay raise), the problems in higher education in the state can all be connected in one way or another to Photo Op Manchin. Take his interference out of the equation, and how has the administration been bad at WVU? Our athletic facilities are among the best in the Nation, our program highly respected and NCAA compliant. And, in my view our football coaching situation is actually a positive one. We have a head coach who is well liked and respected by his assistants and players, and who is not likely to have problems opening his mouth at the wrong time and in the wrong way. His assistants who are among the best in the business and for the most part have built in loyalty. Recruiting is on the upswing and looks to be even better next year.

Kopp is not creating a mess in Huntington! Kopp has been probably the best president Marshall has had in 50-60 years. His achievments are outstanding. I don't agree with a $70,000 thousand a year raise, but other than that he has done an amazing job. This is in my own personal experience at Marshall as a student for the past 3 years. So trust me, any disaster in higher education isn't coming from Marshall ahem. I'm also happy about our sports teams, but I've been fighting this argument since high school. Why is so much empahsis put on sports? Why isn't more emphasis put on mathematics, sciences, hell even geography ( kids today can't even find New York state on a map.) I think sports are fun to play, fun to watch, and overall enjoying. But why is so much emphasis put on them over academics?

When I'm parent and my kids are starting to look at colleges, I'm not going to be concerned with how many football games they've won, or where they rank in the Big East, or if they have a hockey team. I'm going to grill them on their academics, their departments reputation, and I guess now in WVU's case, their academic integrity.

[tallydude02]

Originally Posted by CTMountaineer

That is great news about the Mon/Fayette Expressway. I agree that it will be a huge boon for the region. Another good thing about it is it is a significantly more direct route to Pittsburgh, and it gets you to the east end of the city without having to go through the tunnels and their congestion. A trip to Pittsburgh will be an easy hour.

Truthfully, they should combine Clarksburg, Fairmont, Morgantown, Uniontown, and Waynesburg into the same MSA. They really are one economic unit, and will be even more so when the expressway is completed.

An ex of mine attended Waynesburg College (now University) and I think Waynesburg is more aligned with Washington, PA. It seems Waynesburg residents do most of their shopping and working points north.

Now the Greene County areas of Mt. Morris, Bobtown, Spraggs, Dunkard...I can see those areas tied with NCWVA. In Fayette County, Pt. Marion and Smithfield are tied to the area. Once the Mon/Fayette is completed, I can see Uniontown being more intregrated with the area.

[CTMountaineer]

Originally Posted by tallydude02

An ex of mine attended Waynesburg College (now University) and I think Waynesburg is more aligned with Washington, PA. It seems Waynesburg residents do most of their shopping and working points north.

Now the Greene County areas of Mt. Morris, Bobtown, Spraggs, Dunkard...I can see those areas tied with NCWVA. In Fayette County, Pt. Marion and Smithfield are tied to the area. Once the Mon/Fayette is completed, I can see Uniontown being more intregrated with the area.

How long ago was your ex at Waynesburg? Things have changed a whole lot in the past few years... lots more shopping areas in Morgantown than in the past and lots more jobs. Plus, it's closer than Washington. Just a thought.

[tbailey1138]

Good assessment of Marshall and the education breakdown in the state Kennedy. Many of the schools in Southern WV actually used to be branches of Marshall from what I've read. Then the state did something similar to what they did with the community colleges and made them all separate entities. Going back to this system would allow them to offer satellite courses and further educational opportunity. The state also needs to look at funding schools on a per student formula. This would reward growth and minimize how much politicos could hold a school ransom using funding as leverage, i.e. the Bresch incident.

Originally Posted by CTMountaineer

Being a Marshall alumnus, I wish I could agree with you.

It cracks me up how you continue to throw this around like it gives you more credibility in the issue. You've adimted before that you got your main degree from WVU and then supplemented that degree with classes from MANY other institutions depending on where you lived at the time. Marshall just happened to be one of them. Your loyalty lies with WVU and that's quite obvious, even at the expense of the state. Sad you can't see this. This state needs MORE educational opportunities but you want them to close them all except WVU or at least give WVU control over all of them. Sounds like a GREAT way to provide more educational opportunity for the state. Especially considering what they've done with Tech. I'm a WVU grad for those wondering. Never took a class at MU.

Originally Posted by CTMountaineer

Just in the last week a controversy broils about the newly severed community college. Kopp had, of course, counted on $300 per year from each community college student to pay the huge rental fee for the new recreation center he commited to leasing long term in Huntington.

So coming to an agreement between the 2 entities is "controversy broiling over". Never ceases to amaze me how you spin stuff. That and the fee was only to be $150 per student or the same rate as Marshall students. That rec center has been nothing but successful so far and is likely part of why MU's applications are up 11% and admissions are up over 5%.

MCTC, Marshall go separate ways - The Herald Dispatch
Freshman applications up at MU - The Herald Dispatch

If you are so concerned about the things you listed at Marshall, why aren't you raising a stink about WVU's applications being down 7% even though they are up at most other WV schools? Also, why aren't you complaining about the fact that they are paying the new president there $450,000 per year? That's $195,000 more than the previous president. Yet you complain about Kopp's pay raise of $70,000 and the new guy up there hasn't even done anything yet. What's fair for the goose is fair for the gander. And you may blame Manchin for "Degree Gate" but it was ultimately WVU that awarded the degree. You don't seem to complain about that much either except, of course, to place all the blame on Manchin.

WVU blames application shortfall on economy - The Herald Dispatch
WVU, Clements have yet to ink deal on presidency - The Herald Dispatch
Charleston Daily Mail - West Virginia News and Sports - News - Schools wary of economy fallout as semester begins*

[CTMountaineer]

Originally Posted by GottaHerdOn

Kopp is not creating a mess in Huntington! Kopp has been probably the best president Marshall has had in 50-60 years. His achievments are outstanding. I don't agree with a $70,000 thousand a year raise, but other than that he has done an amazing job. This is in my own personal experience at Marshall as a student for the past 3 years. So trust me, any disaster in higher education isn't coming from Marshall ahem. I'm also happy about our sports teams, but I've been fighting this argument since high school. Why is so much empahsis put on sports? Why isn't more emphasis put on mathematics, sciences, hell even geography ( kids today can't even find New York state on a map.) I think sports are fun to play, fun to watch, and overall enjoying. But why is so much emphasis put on them over academics?

When I'm parent and my kids are starting to look at colleges, I'm not going to be concerned with how many football games they've won, or where they rank in the Big East, or if they have a hockey team. I'm going to grill them on their academics, their departments reputation, and I guess now in WVU's case, their academic integrity.

I'm a Marshall alum, and follow their situation carefully. In spite of the fact that I don't support the sports teams, I do support the school. That said, Steven Kopp blows a lot of smoke, and he has a lot of ideas. The problem is his ideas invariably result in less money coming in and more money going out. Our alumni base is desperate for good news (we seemingly suffer from the gotta keep up with the Joneses mentality) about growth of the school. Anything that points in that direction is perceived as good news. But, people are not looking at the foundations concerning that growth. Kopp is using discounted tuition to bring in students. Most students from a five state area essentially qualify for close to in-state tuition. But, the school receives no state subsidy for out-of-state students... how could they? Thus, programs are drastically underfunded. In recent years, student head count has fallen in spite of his cheap tuition.

Our instructors and staff are among the Nation's worst paid, and Kopp is quick to jump on the bandwagon of saying it is the State's fault... but it isn't.

That sounds good to a Marshall alum because they need to believe it is an external issue. The truth is they need look no further than the school treasurer. There is not enough money coming in to adequate fund the programs because tuition received is far too low. In spite of that, Kopp in continually starting new programs using the same scarce resources. It doesn't take a genius to realize that the money has to come from somewhere. It is coming from already underfunded existing programs.

As to your notion of grilling WVU folks about academic integrity, we don't have to go back too far to a time when some of our professors were caught giving final exam answers to athletes in order to keep them eligible to play athletics. An isolated instance at WVU where Gov. Photo Op used his political clout to interfere is not in any way an indication of the school's integrity. The people who were involved have been removed from their positions, and served as fallguys for the Manchin family. Do you honestly think it would have been any different if his daughter were involved with Marshall, or any other school where he essentially names a majority of the board members?

[tallydude02]

Originally Posted by CTMountaineer

How long ago was your ex at Waynesburg? Things have changed a whole lot in the past few years... lots more shopping areas in Morgantown than in the past and lots more jobs. Plus, it's closer than Washington. Just a thought.

This was back in 2005. Morgantown has changed alot since then so there are probably more Waynesburg people in Morgantown nowadays. But Washington has added more retail too. Alot of people I knew from there shopped in PA because of the tax-free clothing and groceries. I even do my heavy duty clothes shopping while I'm in PA.

Job wise, you are right on that part. Come to think of it, when I worked in Morgantown, a good portion of the people I worked with drove in from Waynesburg.

[CTMountaineer]

Originally Posted by tallydude02

This was back in 2005. Morgantown has changed alot since then so there are probably more Waynesburg people in Morgantown nowadays. But Washington has added more retail too. Alot of people I knew from there shopped in PA because of the tax-free clothing and groceries. I even do my heavy duty clothes shopping while I'm in PA.

Job wise, you are right on that part. Come to think of it, when I worked in Morgantown, a good portion of the people I worked with drove in from Waynesburg.

I know this, ... before I got my own place in Morgantown I used to stay in Waynesburg for football games. I sure saw a lot of WV flags displayed by Waynesburg locals when I was there. At 20 minutes it is a quick drive.

[snorpus]

The fact that PA taxes neither food nor clothing will play a big factor in where people shop.

[David Kennedy]

I see the Pennsi people being loyal to Pennsi.

My cousin could have gone to WVU for her Nursing Degree but opted for Waynesburg instead and she lives in Mt. Morris...WVU was certainly a closer commute.

A great percentage of the WVU student body is from Pennsi...stands to reason that the god father of the north would see the drain and establish twin campus's on the border town of Uniontown.

We are becoming the bottom rung of the Pittsburgh region and It will be GOOD for us...force us into a higher bracket of learning and culture...

[harborlady]

DK-- opportunity knocks if your company can diversify.
Business, states see green in Obama energy plan -- chicagotribune.com