Closing USC's Lancaster Campus

We as taxpayers demanded that our beloved South Carolina college institutions become self supporting, now are shocked to learn that over the years our pride and joy has become distasteful ruins of deferred maintenance.

But buried within our beloved establishments is a culture of public sector business management that is neither ethical nor efficient.

In a most dramatic fashion our government has "bailed out" the private sector banks, and auto industry after we the people made a frantic demand for a trillion dollar intervention while the stock market plummeted by record amounts. A bailout needed for no other reason than gross mismanagement.

Should MUSC, College of Charleston, USC system and the Citadel expect anything less? Do they deserve anything less? Should we demand anything less?

There are no stock markets to serve as barometers for the financial health of our colleges, only surveys, student reviews and an occasional newspaper story. Read Ken Burger's story in the Charleston Post and Courier; Is it time for colleges to secede?;

But from the looks of things they are in dire need of repair.

In Columbia the Univestity of South Carolina is trying to figure out how to pay for the new Beaufort - Bluffton (aka Hilton Head) Campus build on prime realestate at the peak of the resort property boom.

What they came up with is a shocker up in Lancaster, with plans are to close the USC Lancaster Campus as part of statewide budget cutting move. Lancaster lives in the shadow of Charlotte's wealth and towering infrastructure, and proponents of the closing suggest that Lancaster students could simply transfer to USC Columbia or one of the many colleges and universities in Charlotte.



A trully sad way of thinking, sending South Carolina's brightest children to North Carolina since we can't afford to provide a superb secondary education locally.