I am extremely shocked and dissapointed on the position that The Messenger has taken on proration. The following is a quote from the editoral which was published on Friday, March 9th: "We think higher education should bear more of the burden. It has additional funding sources and it has the ability to better absorb the cuts."

Does The Messenger staff realize that universities and colleges in Alabama are funded at a much lower rate than all other southeastern states? Even Mississippi provides $500 million more for higher education each year than does Alabama. In the early 1990’s, K-12 received 66 percent of the state education budget and Higher Education received 33 percent. Today, K-12 receives about 73 percent and Higher Education receives only 27 percent. Also, since Alabama ranks 44th in the country for faculty salaries numerous Professors at Troy State, as well as at other Alabama universities, are leaving for faculty positions in other states.

These examples are just a couple of the problems Troy State has to deal with because of decreased funding for higher education. How can The Messenger make a statement like "higher education should bear more of the burden"? I hope The Messenger will reconsider its stand on proration and support all education in Alabama. All higher education wants is equality!

Michael Woods, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Department of Biological and

Environmental Sciences

Troy State University

March 13, 2001 10 PM  

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