ISU and the taxpayers of Indiana and Vigo County are being led down a path of deception once again. The numbers and facts presented by ISU’s Provost Jack Maynard and aviation department chairman Harry Minniear — in order to create its own flight academy — are outright lies and will ultimately cost ISU aviation students and local taxpayers a considerable and unnecessary amount of money.
Brown Flying School currently rents its instructional aircraft to ISU students for $116 per hour. Rental costs resulting from the plan proposed by the board will result in fees upwards of $250 per hour. This $130 increase will either have to come from the student’s pockets — which will likely lead to a collapse of the aviation program due to affordability — or university subsidies.
Brown Flying School is currently able to maintain affordable prices because its aircraft are both paid off and self-insured. This savings is passed on to ISU and its students through the absence of a mark-up in fuel prices, hangar fees and maintenance costs. ISU and its students will lose all of these luxuries upon the creation of a flight academy at Hulman Airfield.
Maynard and Minniear claim that ISU aviation needs to be taken to the “next level” in order to “keep up with the competition.” They believe that this will only be achieved by offering the students new aircraft to fly. However, the differences between the pre-owned aircraft to be bought by the university and the aircraft already owned by Brown Flying School are negligible. Moreover, Brown Flying School offered to upgrade its fleet’s instrumentation with no additional costs to the students or the university in exchange for a two-year contract extension, which the university denied.
ISU’s plan proposes that the new flight academy will ultimately pay for itself through student fees. This is unrealistic. The purchase of 11 new aircraft will leave only $100,000 from the $2 million loan for the additional overhead costs of outsourcing aircraft maintenance, insurance, refueling, classroom space and hangar costs. While the university states that no significant cost increase to students is anticipated, the money must come from somewhere. If the $130 per hour increase in instructional cost isn’t passed on to the students, then it must be subsidized by the university.
The needs of ISU’s aviation school are already being met and surpassed by Brown Flying School. Maynard even points out that the organization has “served us well,” and “has done a marvelous job.” As a pilot familiar with both organizations and a father with two children attending ISU, I don’t feel it is necessary for student pilot fees, general tuition fees or taxpayer dollars to cover the costs of administrative incompetency.
— John Ross
West Terre Haute
Opinion
FLASHPOINT: ISU’s reasoning flawed in flight school planning
- Opinion
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READERS' FORUM: May 20, 2013
The dangers of a little knowledge
Students enjoyed Rose study trip
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Mark Bennett: High-profile mural connects historical dots from city to river
At 96 feet wide and 2 stories tall, the power, impact and value of the Wabash will be evident.
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EDITORIAL: Waging the ‘readiness’ campaign
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READERS' FORUM: May 19, 2013
• Flawed reasoning on gun checks
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• Fantasizing on the ‘Apocalypse’
• Another view of Hinduism
• Great experience for HCMS students
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FLASHPOINT: A legislative session of missed opportunities
Given the nature of politicians, grand claims of accomplishments and overblown rhetoric about “historic” efforts are to be expected at the close of any legislative session.
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RONN MOTT: Mushrooms = Hoosier happiness
Someone wrote or said a few years ago a statement that would define the word “Hoosier.” According to this urban legend, a Hoosier is somebody dribbling a basketball around the Indy 500 while eating a fried, morel mushroom. It did not define me, at the time.
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EDITORIAL: Insult to an independent press
Distrust of government secrecy has been elevated to an exceptional level with the disclosure the Justice Department covertly examined two months of Associated Press phone records to determine who leaked details to the AP about a foiled terrorist plot.
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READERS' FORUM: May 17, 2013
Hinduism doesn’t deserve ridicule — Shefali Purohit, Terre Haute
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RONN MOTT: Israel’s Air Force
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EDITORIAL: Noteworthy in the news: Dashing finish for the Sycamores
It’s always thrilling to see Indiana State University’s athletic teams do well in high-level competition, and two specific teams rose to impressive heights last weekend in the Missouri Valley Conference outdoor track and field championships.
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Readers' Forum: May 16, 2013
Moving Deming folks sounds ‘nuts’
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Readers' Forum: May 15, 2013
Participants rise to the challenge: I would like to write a letter congratulating all the Wabash Valley Roadrunners that competed in the One America Indianapolis Mini Marathon.
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RONN MOTT: Media merry-go-round
Round and round it goes, where it stops nobody knows. That isn’t a unique phrase to this writer or to this era in time. But, when it comes to the musical chairs of broadcasting, it certainly applies.
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LIZ CIANCONE: Courts see a different appearance than cops
Have you ever noticed the transformation between the arrest of an accused lawbreaker and the first appearance in court?
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READERS' FORUM: May 14, 2013
ISTEP failure exposes flaws
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READERS' FORUM: May 13, 2013
• Women’s group criticizes Bucshon
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MARK BENNETT: Life at face value: Mom’s simple advice still presents a valuable daily challenge
Most moms don’t base their advice on scientific research.
(Unless, of course, your mother is a scientific researcher. If so, carry a No. 2 pencil and take good notes.) -
EDITORIAL: Better monitoring needed to prevent local environmental messes
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GUEST COLUMN: Nursing more than medicine and bandages
Being a nurse … Like most nurses, I chose this profession because I had a strong desire to help others and no other career would allow me the opportunity to touch lives the way I have been able to through nursing.
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READERS' FORUM: May 12, 2013
Vigo Youth Football, entering 45th year, seeks new support
Media ignoring important case on abortions
Proud to be old-fashioned
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FLASHPOINT: Again in 2013 General Assembly, middle class generally ignored
Last year, the people of Indiana entrusted the Republican Party with some of their most precious possessions.
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RONN MOTT: ‘Raccoons II’
In the Algonquin Indian language, raccoon means “working with hands.” They are really cute little fellows until they injure a child, or a pet, or leave feces around where you certainly do not want it.
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Readers’ Forum: May 11, 2013
I just wanted to express my disappointment at the lack of response shown by President Obama after the Boston Marathon bombings.
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Readers' Forum: May 10, 2013
CANDLES event plants new seed: On April 26, CANDLES Holocaust Museum and Education Center hosted an event called “Sowing Seeds of Peace: A Celebration of Spring” at the Apple House. Our purpose was to introduce people to our concept of forgiveness as a seed for peace.
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RONN MOTT: ‘NRA Convention’
At the recent NRA Convention in Houston, Texas, where the right-wing political hot air almost lifted the convention's building off its foundation, the NRA trotted out the forever yours political dame of the right wing, Sarah Palin. Sarah did not disappoint.
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EDITORIAL: Memo to U.S.A.: You can ‘SPPRAK’ just as we do in Vigo County
Our kids, truly, are ‘Making a Difference’
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Some words in praise of boring government — Indiana’s
A conservative Republican governor has super majorities in both branches of the legislature. One might suspect such one-party government leads to major changes in public policy. This did not happen in 2013 in Indiana.
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EDITORIAL: Doc’s prescient prescription
Viewed through a 2013 prism, Doc Bowen’s response to the AIDS epidemic looks merely prudent, routine.
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RONN MOTT: ‘Heritage gone’
The last high school I attended was being torn down just a few days ago. I didn't learn about it until I saw classmate Dick Mills on television and a display he had put together about State football championships in the middle 1930's. I began elementary school with Dick Mills. That was Matthew South Elementary School on South Sixth Street in Clinton, Indiana. After seeing Dick on TV, it dawned on me that all schools I had attended in Clinton have been torn down.
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LIZ CIANCONE: We always want more than we need
Washington seems more preoccupied with the unemployment rate than they are about the constant stalemate. Still with thousands out of work and the unemployment rate hovering somewhere between 7 percent and 9 percent, it does deserve more than a passing nod.
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READERS' FORUM: May 20, 2013
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Today in History for May 20th
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AP CEO: Records Seizure 'Unconstitutional'
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Today in History for May 19th
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