Atlas City Project

Thank you very much for posting this Neytiri. I love it =)

This guy is wonderful about pointing at the problems with the system

Allowing children to find their path should be the most important goal of education. I have confidence that we will succeed in Atlas City in resolving this problem.

Great lessons there. Reminds me of Lewis Black on "Accepted"- "breeding buyers and sellers! Pimps and whores!"

If you haven't seen that movie excuse the language. It's a quote

Here is what is happening in the monetary system, here in Nevada:

UNLV and the Nevada System of Higher Education are in the midst of a crisis that has reached historic proportions. The Nevada Legislature is holding a Special Session on February 23rd to determine how to address a nearly $900 million current statewide budget shortfall.

Among the options being considered is a potential 12 to 22 percent reduction to UNLV's funding which could include mandatory salary reductions. This would be on top of a 24 percent budget reduction already taken over the past 2 ½ years. If cuts are implemented at this level the cumulative cut could be as high as 42.3 percent. UNLV will be forced to find the additional budget reductions by March 1 and these cuts will continue into the second year of the biennium. It is important to note that we cannot find any evidence that reductions of this magnitude over such a short period of time have ever occurred in the post World War II history of public higher education in the nation.

Reductions at these drastic levels will irreparably harm higher education in Nevada for decades. These cuts will result in the elimination of many more class sections, layoffs of faculty and staff, reduction or elimination of critical education research programs, increases in student fees, and denial of access to thousands of qualified students wanting to pursue their higher education dreams. Moreover, these cuts will severely and negatively impact the value of degrees already conferred on alumni like you.

Additionally, the promise and expectation that UNLV can help the state diversify its economic base for the future (something research shows us has been accomplished with similar institutions in urban areas around the country) will be lost for at least a generation.

We all must realize that there is no easy or immediate way to make cuts to this extent, nor is there any way to fully mitigate the impacts. Simply put, budget cuts of this magnitude are not something from which we will recover.

There have already been several walk-outs, conferences and debates within UNLV, NSC & CSN. The devistating effect this can have on this entire state is not even comprehended. With the numbers of students unable to attain degrees (though most may be a joke at this point in time anyway), it will lead to lower abilities to find higher occupations. Imagine thousands of college students no longer with a college. What does this leave? Well, at the very least, a skyrocket effect of alcohol in public related offenses. The downfall of our economy since hotel management is a huge program locally. It's not difficult to see the entire city turn into a degraded slum within a decade.

What a shame. Thats why politicians shouldnt be allowed to decide where money goes, it gets squandered every single time.

This just makes me think of the quote "I have not failed 700 times. I have not failed once. I have succeeded in proving that those 700 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work."
And our society doesn't believe in this thinking, its rather sad.