Comments on: Job 1: Changing the Trajectory

By: Jon

Jon — Sat, 29 Sep 2012 18:40:28 +0000

Read the report cited in this piece a while ago, and I’m glad you’ve pulled it out and put this in the spotlight. As a teacher, I have a slightly different perspective: I think we need to focus not necessarily on making this a place where people come to college, but instead a place where we send people to college and they return to make the city a better place. To do this, we have to start with the public education system, which is why the school merger now takes on even more importance.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 23:04:05 +0000

I think if we look at the players who voted against the gay rights bill you have an idea of who is holding the city back. Small minded, intellectually stunted bubbas and holdovers from a by-gone generation. Please note His Honor AC showed zero leadership and as usual the press including the Flyer did not call him to task for it or really ask any hard questions. If you’re a modern teen and going to collage would you think about moving to a city that delights in glorifying stupid? And if you could – trust me – you leave.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 20:41:32 +0000

Not to be an Apathetic Andy, but I am finding it harder and harder to be both a realist and foresee any reasonable path by which this region’s trajectory can be altered to the degree necessary for it to prosper. Being a “comforting region” seems so engrained in the very culture that defines this place. Take for instance just one aspect of local heritage- the Blues. This music form is an integral part of this area’s culture and its words speak of entrenched social and/or economic hardship and the acceptance of those characteristics as just another aspect of life with which one must contend. This music form has been around from the turn of the 19th century. Thus it is reasonable to conclude that the very conditions that continue to hamper any real development here have been in place for over a century. That is 100 years in which the trjectory of this region has remained unchanged. There is no change because there is no will to change and in its stead there appears to be simple acceptance.