SC

More Evidence For Privatizing Higher Ed

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA’S BUDGET SITUATION IS OUT OF CONTROL If you thought PC insanity was out of control on the campus of the University of South Carolina, you’d be correct.  It’s completely out of control … to the point students are seeing their First Amendment freedoms suppressed. But apparently the $1.4…

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA’S BUDGET SITUATION IS OUT OF CONTROL

If you thought PC insanity was out of control on the campus of the University of South Carolina, you’d be correct.  It’s completely out of control … to the point students are seeing their First Amendment freedoms suppressed.

But apparently the $1.4 billion annual budget at the Palmetto State’s flagship university is also out of control … and we’re not just talking about the massive amounts of taxpayer money that get blown on non-academic nonsense.

According to The Nerve – a Columbia, S.C. based website run by the libertarian-leaning S.C. Policy Council – the school has been grappling for months with a systemwide accounting debacle.  Specifically, it spent $34.8 million on a new computing system that has totally imploded – preventing employees from “seeing accurate budgets or paying mounting invoices since July 1.”

Wait … what? 

“Eight months later the situation is so dire, one employee with financial responsibilities who spoke only on condition of anonymity said that he and many others have yet to see an accurate budget under the new system and have had to hand-track expenditures and receipts,” reporter Ron Aiken of The Nerve noted.

“People are crying at their desks,” one administrator told Aiken. “I’m not kidding. People are crying, people are leaving, people are retiring early.”

Oh, the humanity …

Obviously the real problem here isn’t whiny bureaucrats, it’s the potential for (more) corruption.  The University of South Carolina has already drawn criticism for doling out contracts to politically-connected firms (including firms owned by sitting state lawmakers) … so the fact its accounting system is operating in the dark is exceedingly dangerous.

Frankly, the whole episode reinforces our long-held belief in the efficacy of privatizing all institutions of higher learning.  Higher education is simply not a core function of government … especially not the way it’s done in the Palmetto State.

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42 comments

Only in SC March 11, 2016 at 6:12 pm

Sure. Private Universities like Trump’s?
Piss off with that non-sense.

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Squishy123 March 11, 2016 at 10:32 pm

Or just in this state you could consider talking about Furman, Wofford, Columbia College… you know schools that actually turn students away that aren’t qualified to attend that school.

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Flip March 12, 2016 at 12:27 am

Columbia College? I know first hand that a good number of those students aren’t “qualified” for much.

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Squishy123 March 12, 2016 at 9:13 am

So you disagree with one of three… okay, then let’s substitute in Charleston Southern.

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Flip March 12, 2016 at 9:59 am

CSU is good.

Flip March 12, 2016 at 12:26 am

Phoenix University, Devry, ITT Tech, Virginia College, and all the other scum sucking for profit diploma mills…

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Squishy123 March 12, 2016 at 9:21 am

Harvard, Yale, Notre Dame, MIT, Stanford, Princeton, Vanderbilt…

Is Trump University a for profit university?

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Flip March 12, 2016 at 9:57 am

Profit is the only reason Trump is in any of his scams.

The colleges you listed are accredited and well known for quality education, a degree would get you a job. Try the same with a degree from Devry, I dare you.

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Squishy123 March 14, 2016 at 11:32 am

Would you go into business to lose money?

Flip March 14, 2016 at 11:44 am

I wouldn’t scam people out of their money to make a profit.

Lone Ranger March 11, 2016 at 7:10 pm

Next we’ll hear that “Pastides” translated from the ancient Greek means “Narcissus and his arrogant elves”

That like SC’s flag-ripping legislators they don’t give a damn about taxpayers and care only for themselves

That if public service were a quality to be elevated then they’d be the Marianna’s Trench of our corrupt state

But then we KNOW like our flag-ripping legislators they all deserve the Order of the Palmetto…NO…WAIT !!!

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DionneSLuke March 12, 2016 at 1:49 am

“my .friend’s mate Is getting 98$. HOURLY. on the internet.”….

two days ago new Mc.Laren. F1 bought after earning 18,512$,,,this was my previous month’s paycheck ,and-a little over, 17k$ Last month ..3-5 h/r of work a days ..with extra open doors & weekly. paychecks.. it’s realy the easiest work I have ever Do.. I Joined This 7 months ago and now making over 87$, p/h.Learn. More right Hereoi!103????? http://GlobalSuperEmploymentVacanciesReportsCity/GetPaid/98$hourly…. .?:?:?:?:?:?:?:?:?:?:?:?:?:?:?:?:?:?:?:?:?:?:?:?:?:?:?:?:?:?:?:?:?:?:?:?:?:?:?:?:::::oi!103…….

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CNSYD March 11, 2016 at 8:19 pm

Out of the $1.4B budget, what percentage is actually “taxpayer money”?

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Bible Thumper March 11, 2016 at 9:22 pm

If only Donald Trump could take USC private. He would hire the best people. Believe him. He would cut the waste, fraud and abuse, starting by maximizing value of undeveloped property in “the horseshoe”. It would be renamed Trump Square. He’ll take out a few buildings to make it square. There will be a store to sell Trump steaks, wines and bottled water. It’ll be great.

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Squishy123 March 11, 2016 at 10:29 pm

How do you feel knowing that your vote for Hitlery or the crazy old bastard who’s never held a job in his life is meaningless in this state?

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Bible Thumper March 11, 2016 at 10:42 pm

By your definition every vote other than the one 50% plus one vote is meaningless. People who think like you, don’t bother to vote. I won’t ever vote for Bernie.

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Squishy123 March 11, 2016 at 10:46 pm

So you’re the guy with the Hillary sign in his front yard. I wondered who lived in that house. People who think like you don’t vote unless the black guy is on the ballot.

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Bible Thumper March 11, 2016 at 10:48 pm

A brown girl will do in a pinch.

Bible Thumper March 11, 2016 at 10:56 pm

I know why you like Trump now. It’s his KKK heritage.

http://boingboing.net/2015/09/09/1927-news-report-donald-trump.html

Squishy123 March 11, 2016 at 11:31 pm

So what photos of your father in the male only bath houses did your family save? You just tell people the way you are is because of your heritage.

No life March 12, 2016 at 8:49 am

Squish likes to pretend he’s a parent online, so I’d take anything he says with a grain of shit.

Squishy123 March 11, 2016 at 11:33 pm

I know reading is hard for you but I cut and pasted one small part of the article:

“To be clear, this is not proof that Trump senior—who would later go on
to become a millionaire real estate developer—was a member of the Ku
Klux Klan or even in attendance at the event. Despite sharing lawyers
with the other men, it’s conceivable that he may have been an innocent
bystander, falsely named, or otherwise the victim of mistaken identity
during or following a chaotic event.”

Bible Thumper March 11, 2016 at 11:40 pm

Newspapers are real good at publishing retractions and corrections, especially the NY Times. Even if Trump waited 89 years for it, I’m sure the paper would publish it, if a mistake was made. Wonder why the long wait.

Squishy123 March 12, 2016 at 9:16 am

What would they retract, did his dad not get arrested? It’s a non-story blown up by your people.

Bible Thumper March 12, 2016 at 9:43 am

I’m not much for attacking family members, but did think it was interesting. Same goes for Cruz’s dad. I zoomed in to the June 1, 1927 article.

It is funny how Trump wants to make America great again. I wonder when was it he thought America was greatest. It ccouldn’t have been in 1927. Zoom in and read the entire article. The immigration problem was worse then. Irish Catholics controlled the police. Brown shirt Italian “Fascisti” and 1000 KKK member in klan regalia were trying to crash a soldier memorial parade. The KKK who didn’t like Catholics were clashing with both the Irish police and the Fascist Italians. Two Italian brownshirts were killed. And we think we have problems. Sheessh!

Squishy123 March 12, 2016 at 2:18 pm

At least back then the people you read about weren’t living off tax dollars. If they wanted something they had to go out and take it, not have the government hand it to them.

Bible Thumper March 12, 2016 at 2:49 pm

Not sure about the 1920’s but Tammany Hall had a lock on patronage jobs. They did what Tammany told them to do whether they were cops, DA’s, or Judges. Bootleggers paid for protection.

Bible Thumper March 12, 2016 at 3:03 pm

Yeah right, Government jobs have been cut 7,700, but from these charts (see link) employment looks pretty good. Enough to get reelected…
http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LASST200000000000006?data_tool=XGtable

Scooter March 11, 2016 at 9:27 pm

Pastides is as bad as Holderman

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Squishy123 March 11, 2016 at 10:27 pm

The only difference is Pastides doesn’t fuck the male interns… and that’s just because he doesn’t want anyone to know that he no longer has a set of balls on him.

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Squishy123 March 11, 2016 at 10:26 pm

Does this mean Pastides will still get to keep his $750,000 bonus if he stays the five years the Board of Trustees promised him? I have several friends in upper management positions around the campus and what they’re saying about the school is mindboggling. The only reason Pastides is still here is because he is too chickenshit to challenge anything the BOT does, he’s nothing more than a “yes boy” for them, which is why they like him. Administrators and Deans are leaving or stepping down at a pace never seen before.

The BOT is made up of real estate developers who love to see cranes on campus, which is why USCe has maxed out their construction credit limit on new construction and why current buildings are standing empty because they’re uninhabitable, take a look at the old business school building, or any of the surrounding houses owned and used by university departments. Walk across campus and view the historic building with their peeling paint on the doors and windows and not repaired because there’s no money for building maintenance. Find a classroom building on campus that is more than 3 years old, then count the water stained ceiling tiles from roof and sprinkler pipe leaks. The only projects going on are in dorms and that’s only because they have a source of income different than every other area except for athletics. They have the old Columbia bus system boss, Derrick Huggins, as head house negro managing the campus buildings and infrastructure and who doesn’t know his ass from a hole in the ground. He ran the Columbia bus system into the ground, and now doing the same with the buildings on the USCe campus.

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Soft Sigh from Hell March 12, 2016 at 4:10 pm

Why do some people mock him as “Pesticides?”

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. March 14, 2016 at 2:26 pm

Despite being in public health he was an expert witness for Dow Chemical

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Soft Sigh from Hell March 14, 2016 at 7:56 pm

Ahhhhhh……

Thanks

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ShoeFits March 12, 2016 at 4:11 pm

Sounds like the situation in the State Treasurer’s Office since they shifted to their new accounting system. No account balances exist. Nobody can tell what is invested where. Ultimate chaos while Treasurer Loftis (opines using pseudonyms on FitsNews) about everybody else’s sins.

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TankMcNamara March 13, 2016 at 11:29 am

if the University was forced by the legislature like the rest of the state agencies to implement and use the SCEIS HR and budget systems, i understand their pain and frustrations. it has been an absolute disaster.

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Brigid March 30, 2016 at 4:05 pm

That is NOT what happened. Did you read the Nerve article linked above?

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TankMcNamara March 13, 2016 at 11:35 am

anytime anyone advocates “privatization” of government services, i like to remind them of the State’s foray into privatized corrections a while back. it was a total failure. my experience and very informal research regarding privatization of government services usually resulted in higher costs and no better services. in my opinion, most private industries these days offer no better services that state entities and are just as screwed up as the state agencies are.

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LouieBuoy March 14, 2016 at 8:02 pm

Perhaps a lot of government services should not exist at all.

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TankMcNamara March 14, 2016 at 9:32 pm

possibly. which government services do you think shouldn’t exist nor be offered by the government? i guess my point is there are some services that are inherent to government and are best suited in the public sector, i.e. law enforcement, education, corrections, etc.

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SC Last in Education March 14, 2016 at 7:28 am

It’s a sad day when USC takes internal accounting lessons from SCState! Although, it works for State. They claim that accurate budgeting is the white man’s boot on their neck, and the General Assembly says sorry and rains new money on them…

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LouieBuoy March 14, 2016 at 8:56 am

Privatize what? It’s a disease with no cure of all education lower and higher. It was brought on by the greed for “free” government money. They’ve inflated the cost to pad their own pockets, while telling the parents you will get some of your money back through the FASFA scam. It all still costs an inflated way too much ka-ching$! Based on a comparative inflation calculation, a 1980 Clemson tuition cost of $1,000 per semester, would only cost $2,800 today for a full course load! Colleges are a giant scam!

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