State funded colleges?

[gam197]

Why should our tax dollars pay for state universities which include classes on sex and also have family planning centers in them?

Here is an article about a course that is given for credit. "“Sex and Sexuality, Middle Ages through Reformation.” It is one of a dozen courses.

desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080225/NEWS02/802250343/-1//politics

There is no disputing the popularity of the courses. Students sat in the aisles of an Iowa State University lecture hall last month in hopes of being added to the 370-student roster of “Human Development and Family Studies 276: Human Sexuality.”

Another article states they don’t need Planned Parenthood in Pennsylvania college. They have their own family planning program as do most colleges.

Director of student health services Susan Kitei said the health center provides services in routine gynecologic care, exams, pap smears, pregnancy tests, contraception, emergency contraception and sexually transmitted infection screening for both women and men.

media.www.thebrownandwhite.com/media/storage/paper1233/news/2008/02/26/News/Planned.Parenthood.Leaves.Health.Center-3232310.shtml

 

[steveandersen]

The same reason a pacifist’s taxes can go to fund an army.

There is one political process for allocating funds.
We can’t pick and choose outside of that.

nothing wrong* per se* with the study of sex and sexuality
it is a big element in human life

 

[gam197]

originally posted by steveanderson
The same reason a pacifist’s taxes can go to fund an army.

This is not a federal pool of money.

I know I have asked this question before but state colleges are basically funded by the citizens of each state at a great cost to those citizens especially in small states so why don’t they have more say on how they want their money spent at their local colleges.

I wonder if they every have an open forum for tax payers.

 

[steveandersen]

This is not a federal pool of money.

I didn’t say it was (although there is probably some federal education money in the pot too)

But what does it matter whether it is state or federal?
It is still the same general principle that a representative body appropriates and budgets money and the individual citizen may or may not like each and every choice.

I know I have asked this question before but state colleges are basically funded by the citizens of each state at a great cost to those citizens especially in small states so why don’t they have more say on how they want their money spent at their local colleges.

Generally there has been the idea of academic freedom to prevent micro management of course content by legislatures.
Many states appoint a board of regents or some similar authority in addition to oversight committees to retain some accountability for public funds while not snuffing out legitimate academic work that might not be popular.

I wonder if they every have an open forum for tax payers.

You are always free to write you legislator, Write to the local Op/Ed page, vote, contribute to candidates, and/or run yourself.

 

[Maxply]

I think, like most things for which we are taxed, there is the belief (perhaps quite justified) that the money goes toward something with substantial social benefits.

Difficult to argue against state funds for education. An education citizenry is better informed, better able to handle the responsibilities of self-government, better able to understand the value of freedom and liberty.

Material benefits accrue from state-sponsored education. The fight against polio, the ongoing efforts against cancer, diseases, etc. are largely launched through university-based research.

The computer technology you’re using right now was heavily “subsidized” by the government, its basic research in a host of ways coming from university labs.

More and better food, wiser conservation practices, and even clearer communications come from state-supported education. I am very much frightened at the current trend against the liberal arts in higher education: I think it’s a great loss of our cultural heritage and a great cultural amnesia when people do not know of past achievements in the arts and sciences.

 

[drafdog]

Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.

Matthew

 

[Swan]

I think, like most things for which we are taxed, there is the belief (perhaps quite justified) that the money goes toward something with substantial social benefits.

Difficult to argue against state funds for education. An education citizenry is better informed, better able to handle the responsibilities of self-government, better able to understand the value of freedom and liberty.

Material benefits accrue from state-sponsored education. The fight against polio, the ongoing efforts against cancer, diseases, etc. are largely launched through university-based research.

The computer technology you’re using right now was heavily “subsidized” by the government, its basic research in a host of ways coming from university labs.

More and better food, wiser conservation practices, and even clearer communications come from state-supported education. I am very much frightened at the current trend against the liberal arts in higher education: I think it’s a great loss of our cultural heritage and a great cultural amnesia when people do not know of past achievements in the arts and sciences.

I agree totally. One is always free to attend a private college, of course. Public universities are just that: public. There is nothing wrong with knowledge and one if free to decide for onself what to believe.

 

[hasikelee]

Don’t forget the little condom dispensers along the hallways.

 

[jc-servant]

Don’t forget the little condom dispensers along the hallways.

Way to generalize for effect.

I worked at a large state university for many years and never saw such a thing even in the men’s restrooms (which I had to occasionally enter as a police officer). The students still have to purchase such items at a regular store off-campus if they want them.

I went to law school at a major state university in another state and never saw them there either. Both schools had health clinics on campus that offered normal medical services which could include birth control prescriptions **if **students asked for them. Neither health facility was like Planned Parenthood nor did they provide condoms.

I regularly take classes now at a local public community college in yet a 3rd state and still no condom machines.

 

[Rolltide]

Why should our tax dollars pay for state universities which include classes on sex and also have family planning centers in them?

Here is an article about a course that is given for credit. "“Sex and Sexuality, Middle Ages through Reformation.” It is one of a dozen courses.

As a Catholic, a history professor at a small private college in the South, AND an Iowa State Alumnus, I feel I am fairly qualified to answer this question. First, the family planning center issue is totally separate from the issue of the class in question. Secondly, the class actually sounds like it would be extremely interesting, not just from a historical perspective, but from the point of view of the Catholic faith. I would imagine that a major issue dealt with in this class would be the various protections that the Catholic Church advanced during this era through the development of Canon Law, at a time when no other institution was protecting women. Inheritance rights, legitimacy of children, how sexual scandals influenced the politics of the time, and so on would likely all be dealt with. I can virtually guarantee that this class would focus on the differences in the treatment of families and women among different regions of the Western world, and would probably also contain a fascinating look at the differences between the treatment of women in Christian realms and the Ottoman Empire. Surely there would be some controversial topics as well, but overall, this is actually a very legitimate area of study.

 

[Seatuck]

I have been offered a job in the health office of a local community college. One of the aspects to the job was education for safe sex and providing condoms. I Can’t do that.