The times, they are a-changin'

Under the proposal approved by the Revenue Laws Study Committee, a group of House and Senate lawmakers, the maximum weekly benefit for someone out of work would drop from $535 to $350. Also, the state would replace its 26 weeks of benefits with a cap of 12 to 20 weeks, based on the health of North Carolina's economy. 
-- "Proposed cuts to jobless benefits heading to general assembly," Laura Leslie for WRAL.com 01/08/2013
 
Gov. Pat McCrory said Tuesday he's determined to get North Carolina's public university system to focus on teaching what's useful in terms of getting a job and criticized an "educational elite" for offering courses in subjects such as gender studies that don't lead students onto clear career paths.
"That's a subsidized course. And frankly if you want to take gender studies that's fine, go to a private school and take it," said McCrory, who graduated from private Catawba College. "But I don't want to subsidize that if that's not going to get someone a job. Right now, I'm looking for engineers. I'm looking for technicians. I'm looking for mechanics." 
-- "McCrory: NC colleges should focus on job skills," Emery P. Dalesio for The Associated Press 01/29/2013
 
Republicans in both the House and Senate filed identical bills to reject the Medicaid expansion and reject any participation in setting up an insurance exchange marketplace, two aspects of President Obama’s Affordable Care Act upheld by the Supreme Court in 2012.
-- "N.C. lawmakers file bills to reject two Obamacare provisions," Jason deBruyn for Triangle Business Journal 01/30/2013

I told myself that if Republicans took control of the governorship it couldn't be as bad as the OCDP newsletters warned. I consoled myself with promises of new public transportation systems and increased use of green energy.

But the discussions that have been going around since Pat McCrory stepped up continue to break my heart. I feel tired and powerless -- how can little me impact any change? North Carolina feels less and less friendly and less and less like home.

Comments

  1. MelanieFebruary 2, 2013 at 10:25 AM

    Ugh that second quotation bothers me. I've had a few discussions with friends about if some "in demand" majors should cost less than majors with less demands (Like, engineering would be much cheaper than studio art at the same college). But it scares me to think that price would encourage people to change majors for the wrong reason. Yes, it would be nice for science people. But it's punishing everyone else. So poo on McCrory.

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    Replies
    1. LindsayFebruary 4, 2013 at 4:33 PM

      McCrory received a lot of backlash for those comments, especially because he name-dropped UNC-CH as a black hole of "useless" liberal arts majors. And I have a lot of questions about how they measure post-college job placement. Do I not count because my job isn't directly related to my degrees? Another article pointed out that "lack of education" isn't cited as a problem by employers nearly as much as "lack of experience." And I like that you said it would encourage people to change majors for the wrong reason. High aptitude for science or writing or art or math is kind of luck-of-the-draw, at least to a certain extent. And I think as educators it's about helping students realize full potential instead of stuffing them into molds.

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