And if the MOHELA deal goes through there will be fewer students able to afford a college education resulting in a less prepared work force for the future.

It’s a matter of both cause and effect that Missouri is hardly a leader in universities that are both large and prominent in technology. About the only university in Missouri that stands out is Washington U. in biological sciences.

Its should hardly be surprising that when the state’s major technological university is located in a backwater Ozark town (Rolla) that it is in no position to attract the best and brightest faculty and students. As a civil engineer, I have had a lot of professional contact with graduates of the civil engineering program there, and in comparison to graduates of other universities, they know a lot more about schmoozing over pitchers of beer than they do about engineering.

Of course, it’s heresy to point out such a thing in a community where most engineers graduated from Rolla, and other “leaders of the community” (either country club oligarchs, political hacks, or left-leaning journalists) have about as much understanding of the importance of technological excellence as they do of economics, which is to say, damn little.

So, Missouri’s relative technological backwardness will continue, while its Republicans blame Democrats and its Democrats blame Republicans, without either faction having a clue as to the multiple causes of the situation — only one of which is the structure of Missouri’s university system.

P.S. In my previous post, I did not intend to imply that Mr. Nicklaus is a “left leaning journalist.” It is commendable that the ownership/senior management of the Post-Dispatch, who generally ARE left-leaning, permit him to have his say.

I’m “left-leaning” myself (or more accurately, Libertarian-leaning) on issues involving personal lifestyle choices by adults, but I’m not a journalist with the professional obligation to balance and objectivity that the management of the Post-Dispatch all too frequently violates.

The “New Economy” = The “Big N’ McTasty Economy” = you get your colleage degree and then stack boxes at the taxpayer subsidized Ballpark Village and work your way up to “Head Box Stacker” while the developer from Ladue drinks Latte’s

“The once former middle class was the only barrier that prevented the poor in America from killing the wealthy elitist class”