Money is not the sole solution to FAMU’s financial problems.
Wednesday was FAMU Day at the Capitol and the University is asking the state for nearly $45 million for construction and campus operations.
President Castell V. Bryant has currently issued a freeze on university spending because of financial misuse and debt. Bryant said FAMU is in the process of improving its financial problems and therefore needs more money from the state.
The university’s financial problems have become infamous and have gained media attention locally and nationally.
State Sen. Stephen Wise, R-Jacksonville, said FAMU needs to “get its financial act together,” if lawmakers are to trust the institution.
Wise is correct because our major problem is not a lack of resources, but internal financial problems and the misuse of university funds that need to be addressed.
We should focus on improving areas of financial business and breakdown before asking the state for additional money.
Only when the University’s ability to properly handle funds improves, should the administration focus on requesting money from the state.
FAMU is in the process of various renovations and building constructions, which will require extra monies.
Of course, FAMU deserves to be funded just like all other public universities. But members of the state government are justified in questioning the allocation of extra funds to our institution. Especially in a time when the university is having problems controlling its finances.
Precautions are necessary for school safety
Schools should be safe facilities in the community. But tragic events such as the recent shooting at Red Lake High School in Minnesota, continue to make this common belief false.
A student on an Indian reservation in Minnesota killed his grandparents Monday morning, went to his high school afterward and killed seven people and injured over ten others.
The FBI has not yet found a motive for the student’s shooting but is investigating with tribal police, according to the Los Angeles Times.
This rampage is the deadliest school shooting since the Columbine High School shooting in Littleton, Colo. in 1999.
Tragic events like these always shock people because they think they can never happen in their school or in their community.
Some people blame rampages in schools on violence in the media and video games, but violence is commonplace in American society.
Guns are also easily accessible to the public. The student who committed the violent acts took his grandfather’s police duty belt to gain the weapons he used.
Efforts such as one-on-one counseling for students and programs to improve student relation should be made in schools to better prevent these violent rampages.
Although events like these are unpredictable and hard to prevent, it’s important for school officials and people in the community to evaluate factors of past school shootings to attempt to make schools safer.