Scott approves bill creating Florida Polytechnic University

[DonCoquixote]

http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/article1226125.ece

As the article outlines, this university is a political gift to JD Alexander, who has been the godfather iof the GOP led Florida Legislature. In the same budget where Rick Scott cut and diced education (especially University level) he hands this gift to JD, who oddly enough, has land that will be developed around this University. Did I tell you he also has a highway planned that will lead right to this university, land that will be developed at taxpayer expense?

If Debbie Wasserman-Schulz cannot find a way to make this hurt the GOP in November, she should turn in her stripes. This is the perfect example of how the GOP LOVES PORK when it is one of their cronies, and how they will glady slit out throats to feed the pigs.

BTW, not that Florida cannot use a greater commitment to science, but we have UCF, the largest enrollment IN THE USA, near NASA, Of course, good luck trying to get enginnering students to come to a place where their degress are worth jack, especially since India and China take the tech jobs. At the risk of being politcally incorrect, I bet JD raids India and China to stuff his college with students.

OH, last and far from least: here is the "plan"

Jetson style architecture done by an overpriced architect that I am sure will run over budget, and be subject to derison by Polk County, the reddest of Florida counties, you know, the ones that have Klan Rallies in nearby Auburndale. It's funny how these people that claim to hate how we Yankees ruined Florida keep electing the people who do their best to make Florida unlivable. I wonder what they will say when the development Alexander plans to spur brings more newcomers.

OK PPS:
If you are an engineering student in India, China, or anywhere, and this place offers you scholarships to fill it's enrollment, do NOT take it. In addition to getting hosed, you will have to deal with the sort of people that whose only problem with George Zimmerman is that he did not kill enough black people, people ready to "stand their ground" if you look like yo do not belong there? Did I mention that the county seat is in a town called Mulberry, named after a legendary tree the Klan used for some of the largest lynching ceremonies in the South?

[eppur_se_muova]

1. The Word For The Day is : Boondoggle. nt

[HooptieWagon]

2. Boondoggle is right

And the school is going to struggle for enrollment for quite a while... supposedly it will be years before the school achieves accreditation.

Edit for more comment. This school is absolutely ridiculous. Polk County is the least populated county on the I-4 corridor. USF Tampa is less than an hour west. UCF is an hour east. FIT is an hour and a half east. UF is 3 hours north. There is a plethora of universities in the central Florida region, and most offer great engineering colleges. There is no need for Florida Poly., its just JD inflating his already huge ego.

[jmowreader]

3. Unfortunately, you can't recall the governor of Florida

Wasn't this the guy who says Florida has no money for anything but paying his wife to piss test welfare recipients? Where is he getting all this money now?

[DonCoquixote]

4. answer

The guy thsat controls all the pursestrings because his family has had a chokehold for a century, aka JD, funnt how that same family fired him for the family biz, but they will still like the land sales...

[HopeHoops]

5. He probably read it as "pyrotechnical" institute.

[FarCenter]

6. Wonder how those wing-like roof will perform in hurricane winds?

You'd think that far more functional buildings could be designed. For STEM, you need labs, classrooms and offices -- not inspirational architecture.

[HooptieWagon]

7. Actually, the main thing a university needs is students.

It will be several years before Polytech gets accreditation. Independant studies concluded the student body by 2026 will be only 5700. Polk County is home to several cow towns, most of the county is large phosphate strip mines. Most youngsters cant wait to turn 18 and move away. There is nothing there to attract students. There is already several universities in central Florida with excellent science and engineering colleges. Construction costs are a couple hundred million, I would be surprised if it doesnt run a hundred million over budget.

[FarCenter]

8. USF Polytechnic already has accreditation

http://www.poly.usf.edu/AboutUs/Accreditation.html

Why would they lose accreditation for moving to a new campus on the other side of Lakeland?

New I-4 Campus
http://www.poly.usf.edu/x4085.xml

Map of USF Poly Locations
http://www.poly.usf.edu/AboutUs/Location/Locations-Detailed.html

[HooptieWagon]

10. Polytech loses accreditation when USF pulls out.

Poly is currently a USF branch campus, operating under USFs accreditation. JD Alexander hates USF, and part of the deal seperates USF from Poly, forces USF to absorb the costs of seperation. Current Poly teachers are transfered, current students will receive USF diplomas. After that, Poly is completely independant, with no accreditation for several years (until they obtain it on their own), and dim.prospects for attracting students. Poly students dont want this, Poly faculty doesnt want this, and Polk business and political leaders dont want this. Everyone is afraid of JD Alexander. He is ram rodding this through because he has extensive land holdings surrounding the site and wants to create a legacy monument to his ego.

[FarCenter]

18. Florida seems to have trouble focusing a school on science and engineering

University of Central Florida in Orlando started out as Florida Technological University, but branched out into other subjects and became a university with a very large student body.

Even Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, despite its name, has over half its student body enrolled in the College of Business, with another 14% in the College of Psychology and Liberal Arts.

The top engineering schools appear to be University of Florida, Florida State and Univeristy of Central Florida in that order, per USNews ranking of graduate engineering schools.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Central_Florida

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Institute_of_Technology

http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-engineering-schools/eng-rankings

[HooptieWagon]

19. USF has a good college of engineering.

I just dont see the need to create another university on the I-4 corridor, especially in the least populous county, when overall higher education is being slashed. The push for Polytech is not being driven by need or popular support, its being driven by JDs ego and greed.

[FarCenter]

20. Wouldn't the USF engineering school become part of the Polytechnic University?

Indeed, it looks like this is at least partly a battle for control between Goodman and Genshaft.

[HooptieWagon]

21. No. USF engineering college has been around for 40 plus years.

USF Poly has been a brranch campus of USF for only a short while. Now Polytech is created they are separate from USF, no longer operating under USFs accreditation. Accreditation is estimated to take several years.

Now, the big question is why another engineering college? There is already USF Tampa, UCFin Otown, FIT in Melborne, and Embry Riddle in Daytona. Is it really necessary for a fifth engineering school, especially in the least populous I-4 county?

[FarCenter]

24. No, they don't need 5 engineering schools on the I-4 corridor

Which is why moving the USF engineering school to the new polytechnic university would make a lot of sense.

The faculty of engineering at USF seem pretty small for a university with that large a student body. Computer Science and Engineering has only 20 professors. Electrical Engineering has 22. The other 4 departments average smaller.

[HooptieWagon]

25. How would moving USF engineering college

to an unaccredited university of under 5000 students improve a currently successful program? It would be like transfering Blake Highs music program to a brand new unaccredited charter school, or turning Social Security over to a Wall Street startup.

[DonCoquixote]

12. I agree

I actually live on the border with Polk, so I see literal mountains of waste called "beins." Some parts of the county look like a desert. To be fair, Lakeland is no cowtown, it is no metropolis, but it has some things. Still, this was done by Alexander, so he could develop his area of Polk, with our taxes.

And, yes, the rule about fancy archtiecture, especially the "modern" sort, is that it always runs way over budget. Just ask the residents of Sydney, who have this "iconic" opera house that all the tourists take photos of, but, as any musician will tell you, is possibly the WORST Opera house in the whole world, an acoustic TOILET with too few seats. Of course, that building is technically still being worked on, after going millions over budget. Considering that most Polk residents would rather loose a front tooth than pay ANY taxes, JD will find himself getting catcalled; and it sure does not help that the architect is a European. Of course, let us not even factor in that Florida construction is so corrupt that the New York Mafia takes notes. By the time that place opens it's doors, this mess will be double the budget, and Rick Scott will have long retired to his pile of kickbacks.

Of course, who gets screwed the most, the students. If you are a Florida engineering student, you have already had to deal with awful schools, people that think you are a nerd, fundies that think you are a threat (because you are into science), and a state that where pay is poor and job security is a joke. You know that people graduating from MIT or even Georgia Tech are losing jobs to the folks from India, you know, the places that actually pay to educate students. Why the Hell would you risk student loan debt to get a worthless degree? Like I said, I bet JD has to send people to India and China to pump the numbers up, in which case, said folks will find that Polk County has a "warm" welcome for them, around the old Mulberry tree that the county is still proud of.

[HooptieWagon]

15. Youre right about Lakeland

Its a nice enough town. But what attractions does it have for college students? Tampa, Orlando, Gville, even the east coast universities, are going to be more attractive to potential students. Youre right, JD is going to have to find some Indian and Korean students and pay them to go to his shit school.

[FarCenter]

9. Only one FL Democrat Senator voted against it?

But only one Democratic senator voted against the final version of the proposal — Sen. Arthenia Joyner of Tampa, who had supported the first draft of the measure. In the House, 27 Democrats voted against the final bill.

http://saintpetersblog.com/2012/04/jd-alexander-gets-his-way-bill-creating-florida-polytechnic-university-signed-into-law/

[HooptieWagon]

11. JD Alexander is a politically powerful bully.

Everyone holding political office is afraid of him. At the State Board of Regents meeting last year to discuss the split, the only person to voice opposition was the student representative, a New College student. Alexander publically threatened to ruin the students life, and privately threatened bodily harm.

Oh, and Alexander is a relative (cousin?) of Katherine Harris, of 2000 election theft infamy. Both are descendants of the legendary cattle and citrus baron Ben Hill Griffin.

[DonCoquixote]

13. Yes and

It helps that his replacement in the Senate, Dan Gaetz, is a hand puppet and clone that will do everything JD wants. You see, in Florida, the real decisions are made in smoke filled rooms and church picnics long before anyone goes to the government buildings.

[Initech]

14. It must be nice to have money to be able to buy politicians.

And get what you want in return. It's a good idea to have more schools but man Rick Scott is one corrupt jackass.

[HooptieWagon]

16. JD IS a politician.He chairs the budget committee.

If you cross him your career in Fl politics is over.

[DonCoquixote]

17. Yeah

Nice to know Rick Scott bows to him.
Again, if Debbie Wassrerman-Schulz is not foguring out how to make the most out of this windfall, she needs to be FIRED asap.

[HooptieWagon]

22. DWS wont be fired.

Shes a DLC bootlicker, and the DLC isnt about to throw their corporate overlords under the bus to actually represent constituents.

[DonCoquixote]

23. Check this out

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002597779#post4

Did JD just get uf to kill it's own Comp sci program to feed to Florida Poly?