UW should return to educational mission
As two physicians from Chicago, here in Laramie six years, with a Board of Trustee scholarship student and another honors student at University of Wyoming, and two more straight A honor students to POSSIBLY attend, we are amazed at the continual and expanding distortion of any free-market principles in Laramie, by the Board of Trustees and state legislators.
The Board of Trustees and state legislators should commence setting examples of fiscal responsibility for the student population.
Considering the economic cyclicality with respect to mineral revenues, you forget staff and employee layoffs necessitated only a few years ago, and the attendant declaration that “professor salaries are too low and impair recruiting well credentialed professors.” (University of Wyoming lost nearly $42,000,000 in state funding in the wake of the most recent energy bust).
As of May 2018, UW had $87 million in outstanding debt, which would have to be cancelled such that the dorms plan, per HB 293, wouldn’t exceed UW bonding capacity.
Initial funding per the legislature’s own reporting requires $88 million from the legislature’s “rainy day fund,” formerly the LSRA, legislative stabilization reserve account. This would require $8 million from Wyoming’s Federal Mineral Royalties every year for 30 years. Spending 30 years worth of FUTURE mineral royalties (which by the way were not returned to Wyoming for a few years under President Obama as part of the “Sequestration” plan) as excessive borrowing from the future, all of which would pollute and distort the existing private sector Laramie rental property market.
A recent 1995 court decision reiterated that an equal opportunity to a quality education is a constitutional right in Wyoming, with no mention of requiring freshmen or others to anti-competitively (for Laramie) reside in University of Wyoming dormitories. University of Wyoming brings students based on its return on investment rating for education, not extravagant dormitories. It is time to return to the constitutionally declared mission of education, not rental properties, not movie theater venues and not convention centers.
It is time to restrict funding and energies to education. Stop recycling Laramie residents’ taxes into projects that hurt those very Laramie taxpayers. Rehabilitate the existing dormitories with their advantageous location in close proximity to the library and union with (“307”) Wyoming general contractors.
Thank you very much for your time and consideration.
Sincerely, Dr. Mark
Carducci, DO and Dr. Marie Gempis, DO
Laramie residents & UW parents
Ed. note – This letter has been edited for length and clarity.
