After warning that he planned to closely scrutinize earmarks in the 2010-2011 budget, Gov. Charlie Crist vetoed $371 million in projects that in his view “did not receive adequate open and transparent review and others that did not follow established processes or benefited only select groups.”However, the governor gave a thumbs-up to all of FAMU’s construction appropriations.
FAMU received the remaining $8.5M required to launch its Crestview Educational Center, $23M toward the estimated $30.9M price tag of Phase II of the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences building, and $4.199M for Phase III of the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering. Electrical upgrades, capital renewal and other infrastructure projects received $7M.
Crist vetoed $46M designated for a new University of South Florida Polytechnic campus in Lakeland, including money for a pharmacy building. He left the $6M in operational dollars for the Polytechnic pharmacy school intact.
According to the Tampa Tribune, USF’s administration will use the operational dollars to run the pharmacy program at its main campus in Tampa “until facilities at Polytechnic are ready.”
USF initially asked for the pharmacy school to be placed on its Tampa campus, but Florida Senate budget chief J.D. Alexander arranged for the program's authorization to be limited to USF-Lakeland.
There’s little secret about Lakeland’s long-term ambition to have its own state university. The buzz is that the city’s legislative delegation will eventually introduce a bill to turn USF Polytechnic into a free-standing university named “Florida Polytechnic.”
Florida Polytech’s pharmacy school would have been a flagship program that would help the new university recruit top performing high school seniors and pump millions of research dollars into its budget.
Crist’s veto of the Lakeland construction money has given USF an excuse to get the pharmacy program started on its main campus, as originally planned. That could make it harder for Polytech to take the school away in future years.
Thanks Governor!
ReplyDeleteIn a word, thanks. In a few, get rid of the BOG or make it fair to all schools.
ReplyDeleteYes! Thanks Christ! Looks like the email campaign worked!
ReplyDeleteNow BIGRATTLER we need you to write a Rattler Nation article about this: http://www.championshipsubdivisionnews.com/log/index.php/2010/05/29/sources-meac-swac-champion-to-meet-in-le-2011?blog=2
We need another email campaign to Dr. Ammons informing him that RATTLERS want to play for a football National Championship trophy. Not some chitlin bowl certificate!
11:30 PM. speak for yourself. Until we know all of the facts, we need to keep our mouths shut. Dr. Ammons will do what he thinks is best for the university. That's why he's the president and that's why his leadership has been a very good thing for FAMU.
ReplyDeleteThat NCAA playoff deck is stacked against FAMU & the other black colleges even before we play our FIRST regular season game. That "rat" selection committee does not want us in the playoffs. So the Legacy Bowl may be a good thing. Hell, I don't even remember who won the NCAA DIV 1AA Championship this past season. The 1AA either. I don't keep up with that phony trash.
There's also the chance that Dr. Ammons doesnt have all the facts to make such a MAJOR decision regarding athletics. Because if all the facts were put out there, then he would know that it's possible to have both the Legacy Bowl and keep the MEAC's automatic bid to the FCS playoffs.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, there's nothing positive that can out of segregating ourselves athletically from the rest of the nation's best programs in our division. $3 million split between 24 teams aint exactly something to be celebrating about. Especially after both conference offices take their cut. FAMU takes home more than that hosting Savannah State at a regular home game with a less than half filled Bragg.
If we are planning to segregate ourselves, then what's the point of remaining Division 1? We may as well pack up, and move down to Division 2 to save even more money since we arent competing for anything more than a mythical award that's not even recognized. Heck we may as well depart the NCAA altogether to ultimately form our own Negro league (again). If we're going to digress, then we may as well go all the way!
What's wrong with a "Negro League"? The last I checked, most of the college teams on every level were mostly Negro players. To hell with what the "white trash" colleges are doing. We don't have to fart when they fart.
ReplyDelete^^^Thank goodness Dr. Humphries and Dr. Ammons didnt think like you! If they would've thought that competing only with the Mississippi Valleys and Savannah States of academia would've placed FAMU as a premiere institution of higher learning and research, then we would've never been College of the Year, or enrolled more National Achievement Scholars than any other university in the world.
ReplyDeleteWhen we boast that FAMU has the BEST pharmacy school, and the BEST school of business, we arent limiting our exclamation of facts to just HBCUs. We're talking about the BEST of the BEST across the NATION! So why wouldnt we do the same for FAMU athletics?
I don't feel like telling people off today so I'm just going to contribute my Thank You Gov. Crist and keep it moving !!!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't do it.
ReplyDelete@10:39a Who the hell are you to tell someone what to say? You just keep your gotdayum mouth shut because that's all you have control over...
@10:27p You're a damn idiot. I hope you aren't raising children.