If my grandfather George Lingo had not been cremated, he would be spinning in his grave. He graduated from the college in Fairbanks in 1927, and was the first graduate from the new Alaska college to be elected to public office. He was elected to the Territorial House of Representatives in 1932 as a Republican from Fairbanks. He introduced and helped pass the bill that renamed and established the University of Alaska. He then served for many years on the Board of Regents. Even though he was a lifelong Republican, he knew that post-secondary education was not a luxury, but an investment in Alaska’s future. Even in the depths of the Great Depression, our elected leaders knew that this was an investment worth making.
Now we have a governor and many legislators — mostly Republicans — who seem to believe that the largest cut to our shrinking budget should be to our only public university. Imagine what would happen if our nation was in a recession and the Federal Reserve Bank decided to tighten monetary policy by raising interest rates. That move would only make things worse the same way that cutting education funding now will forever damage Alaska’s future. Perhaps our Republican elected leaders don’t care about Alaska’s future because they don’t plan on being part of said future.
Due to cuts already made, university enrollment is plummeting, nearly 10% this year alone. And 80% of Alaska kids who go to college Outside never return. I know this is true because it happened with three of my kids — fifth-generation Alaskans — who now live, own businesses and employ people outside of Alaska. I now have three grandkids — two of whom I have yet to meet — who are not sixth-generation Alaskans. This is not the future that I wanted for my family, five kids in four states and three time zones.
The University of Alaska Anchorage should create both a medical and dental school pronto. If we don’t have enough revenue to improve Alaska’s future instead of decimating it, then we must replace our elected leaders with ones who will raise oil taxes to a fair and reasonable level and pass a moderate income tax. Do you think Alaska’s future is worth fighting for? Six generations of my family say yes!
— John Farleigh
Anchorage
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