A Comment Elevated To A Post

Occasionally during my history of blogging that began in September, 2006, I have found comments that were so educational, informative, and powerful that I have chosen to not only publish the comment, but also provide it its own post.

Ms. Ann Copeland wrote a comment on a post that fits so well into the type of comments that deserve their own post, I feel.

I do not personally know Ms. Copeland but I believe her words are truthful and thoughtful.

Here are Ms. Copeland's comments:


Anne Copeland has left a new comment on your post "Preparing For The Next Five Thursdays And Other Da...":

You are doing an excellent job of writing about this issue. I am NOT a PV resident, but I AM a very good friend of some good folks who live in the area affected by this issue and so I am highly interested in what is happening. I CAN say this. I am a former employee at Marymount PV College, so I DO have some first-hand experience with said school, and also I was in the fundraising department, so got to see a lot of the behind-the-scenes things going on at the school. I also used to work for the Peninsula News many years ago in Golden Cove. So I do know a little about the area and have always been interested in what happens there.

The second thing is that I think any intelligent voter should get to know WHO and WHAT is behind any measure being voted on. It isn't as though in this day and age no one has any secret agendas.

Thinking of a hypothetical situation, someone with deep pockets could be taking advantage of this specific time in our economy to get something passed that would allow them to develop to their heart's content at a later time any sort of facility they were interested in developing. Marymount might relocate once again to another site, and the land where Marymount now sits or owns would then be open to develop in any way someone would see fit. Would you like to have a resort or some other similar facility in your area? Again, keep in mind the word I used to begin with - hypothetical. I am not saying this will happen, but it COULD happen with the organization being able to skirt the means for allowing people a choice in the matter.

Wouldn't it be a good way to obtain rights to develop in any way they saw fit without anyone being able to contest it? Are the people backing this Measure developers? Are they even from the United States? Exactly who are they and what IS their agenda? Why is it so important to them to get this issue passed now?

Marymount has always had a goodly population of students from other parts of the world. Marymount is basically a remedial college. Coming here to Marymount, students who might not be able to get into colleges in their own countries, are able to get degrees, return to their own countries, and to have professional jobs. And even for students here in the U.S., it gives students here who cannot get into other colleges because of their grades an opportunity to get a degree. It is better for many, I am sure, to say they have a degree than nothing. Now there is nothing wrong with this in a sense; certainly everyone has a right to an education, and Marymount does have a long-standing history in the community. What better way for students to get grades that will allow them to pursue a higher education and/or get more professional jobs.

Every measure, every proposition that is put out for the public is a public document, and as such, the public should be able to find out who the backers are. That could make a huge difference in how someone votes. I am a senior, and I have seen many of these Measures put out for the voters that have hidden agendas embedded in them. Just remember, when you vote, you need to know who, what, why, where and when at the very least. And you need to be able to think critically about what you are voting for. Yes, of course few people would have a problem with a private school getting a new library, a new parking lot, etc., but it is the idea that there is this aspect of wanting to be free from any constraints in the future for whatever is decided that is VERY questionable. This, to my way of thinking, is a very dangerous thing, no matter WHAT we are voting on.

Again, thank you for doing a really excellent job of covering this. I appreciate such thorough writing and attempts to cover the issue from all aspects.