Newspapers / Meredith College Student Newspaper / Sept. 21, 2011, edition 1 / Page 2
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Bev, Bills, and the Budget Governor Perdue’s Budget Plan and Vetoing of Bills Angers North Carolinians Julia Dent, Staff Writer Even though Beverly Perdue was mentioned as a possible candidate for vice president of the United States when elect ed as North Carolina’s gov ernor in 2009, she has since then lost some favor. Perdue has compiled an ex tensive resume in North Caro lina politics for the past two decades. From 1991 to 2001, she was one of our state’s two senators and served as lieu tenant governor from 2001 to 2009. She won the election for governor in 2008. Perdue has shown her girl- power in the state government by vetoing many bills this past term. A major bill she recently denied was the Voter ID Bill, which would require photo identification in order to vote to help prevent voter fraud. “North Carolinians who are eligible to vote have a consti- tutianally guaranteed right to cast their ballots, and no one should put up obstacles to citizens exercising that right,” Perdue stated in her defense. An example of an obstacle. Perdue said, would a recently expired license meaning pre venting someone from voting. Critics contend that there are seven other acceptable forms of identification, including a free voter card. Six months into her term. Perdue raised taxes, another factor in the decline in her popularity. A more recent fac tor is budget cuts affecting schools and thousands of jobs in a time of recession. She is also combining fourteen state agencies to create eight new ones. In the process. Perdue will be saving the state about $4.6 billion and creating 4,700 jobs but destroying 14,000 jobs at the same time. “This budget does none of the smoke and mirrors,” Perdue states. But the executive director of the State Employees Associa tion of North Carolina, Dana Cope, disagrees with these cuts. “The governor is advocat ing for more money from work ing people in the state of North Carolina, offering less services. STAFF h^rald@ cmail.meredith.edu Editors Rmily Giimiel .\shleigh Phillips Staff Writers Shanna Alley Molly .Ashline Samantha Biswas Re!)ccca Brociney Jillian Curtis Julia Dent Kristen Gallagher Sarah Potratz Christa Riley Ritika Seal Melissa Vink Lizzie Wood Layout Editor Emily Hawkins . Literature Advisor nne Britt Tlie Meri’ditb Herald is [Kiblislieil by the Colk-Rc throughout the aca demic year. The paper is funded by the Oillege and through independent adtertising. •Ml advertisements should l)e sent to heraldarhertising.'i' email.niercdith. ctln. The opinions expressed in the edito-. rial rolumas do not neeessririly reflect those of the College administration, faculty, or student brxiy. The j)olky of thi.s papi-r requires that submissions be made by 5 p.m. the Thursday before publication and that rxjntributors sign all submissions and pror ide necessary crintaet informa tion. The (xlitors and staff welcome submissions meeting the above guideline's. Mission Statement: The staff of The Meredith Herald is com mitted to representing our diverse community by publicizing local events, by addressing contro versy, by cultivating ci\ic engagement and by \ empowering women. Publication Schedule:. September 7 : September 21 J October 5 L October 19 November 2 y Published by Hinton Press SO she can give it to wealthy corporations. That is a mixture for disaster,” Cope argues. “I think the governor’s proposal puts North Carolina in a race for the bottom.” Many people agree with Cope, reflected in Perdue’s drop in favor beneath McCrory. In the school system, drastic cuts have been made. “We’ve understood for nearly 100 years in North Carolina that education is fundamental to the future welfare of this state,” Perdue said about her decision of budget cutting in education. But the impact of her budget has led critics to question her commitment to education. Perdue has settled to drop Science Olympiad, Teacher Cadets, 4,000 non teacher jobs in the school systems, and numerous other school programs. She also ap proved cutting the funding for textbooks by a third and cut ting funding for NCCAT, a pro gram which has helped teach ers improve student test scores significantly over the past 25 years, by one half. Yet Perdue stands by her ac tions. “North Carolina is going backwards on education. We have just been told that North Carolina has moved to 49th in the nation in how we fund pub lic schools,” said Perdue. “I believe that Governor Perdue image via stimulatingbroadband.com made a huge mistake cutting the Teacher Cadet Program,” said Becca Hansen, a former Teacher Cadet at Lumberton High School. “This program is so important in training fu ture teachers, and the state of North Carolina is always in need of teachers. I was a fellow Teacher Cadet my senior year of high school, and this pro gram helped me to come out of my shell. This program helps to build confidence, and helps build lasting relationships with other Teacher Cadets and the students that you teach. It is truly a shame that this pro gram is no longer going to exist in North Carolina schools.” While observers on both sides agree that these budget cuts will save the state money, they are divided on the long-term effects on the school system and job market. Critics contend that the resulting impact may even be worse than increased government debt. We’re online! Fan us on Facebook: facebook.com/ meredithherald Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ meredithherald
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Sept. 21, 2011, edition 1
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