Government Waste: NWSCC

Some waste is a given. A woman purchases too much food for a party. A man purchases items on sale, not considering the expiration date. The list goes on.

We're not talking about that kind of accidental waste; we're speaking of your elected and appointed officials spending your/our money without regard to any value received. Unfortunately, this is true in more government entities than not.

We've received some very interesting information about a prime example of this kind of waste at Northwest-Shoals Community College. Let's look at it:

NWSCC is not only a basic two year college preparing students to finish a four year degree elsewhere, it offers two year degrees and one year certificates in various trades. In other words, one can learn welding, mechanics, etc., at the school and be job ready and proficient at the end of the program. 

The college offers many such technical courses and a few years ago decided to offer a program in "Plastic Extrusion." This process produces many items including pipe, tubing, etc. In other words, such a program should be extremely desirable. After investing between 250K and 300K in equipment for the course, the college was ready to roll.

How many have graduated from this program? We're told just one. The machines used in the course have now been mothballed. What happened? 

Was the course not advertised? Was it not explained property to prospective students? Was it something else entirely? Perhaps most importantly, is this a one-off or have there been other such failures at the college costing the taxpayers funding the Shoals can ill afford to lose?

At a higher educational level, remember UNA's "College of Medical Quackery" in conjunction with Chinese communists? That worked out so well, didn't it? It had no graduates and an enrollment of one!

Do we need increased taxation on gasoline, or do we simply need more common sense in spending existing funds?

We're Here to Lighten Your Burden...and Your Wallet