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A few weeks ago Nevada Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki addressed the North Lake Tahoe Chamber of Commerce about education.
He touted the Millennium Scholarship fund, which provides Nevada high school seniors who qualify with $10,000 toward further education. It's a great plan, a way to keep the best and brightest Silver State graduates in the area.
What Nevada now needs to address is finding viable university majors and careers for all these co-ed's. As a liberal arts major, I can say easily half of those I graduated with will never find a job relevant to their education. While we shouldn't discourage kids who want to get into art, psychology or the social sciences, we need to provide a strong emphasis in math and science. The world will always have enough journalists, historians and English majors; engineers, doctors and technology inventors spawn major industry.
Funding needs to reach the University of Nevada, Reno and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas for majors in fields like medicine, energy and high-tech. These are areas that will probably see the most growth, provide job security and are well-compensated.
It breaks down simply into an equation.
Major employers in these fields could view Nevada as an attractive place to headquarter a company in an area with such a high standard of education. More employers equals a greater tax base, which equals an increase in spending within the state. It could also mean a wealthier tax base - Microsoft and Haliburton employ a lot more millionaires than the Mirage and Harrah's.
That's not to say the resort industry should be forgotten. Casinos and hotels will be vital to the state, they've been the backbone for a hundred years and probably will be in the future. But, as casinos pop up across the country and internationally, Nevada needs to diversify.
It needs to offer its students options. Help them study energy, which Nevada has more than enough of because of its sunny disposition (it sees the most sunlight of any state) and windy demeanor (harvest-ready wind wracks the most mountainous of the 48 contiguous states). Krolicki said Nevada is sitting on a "mother-lode" of energy possibilities, comparing it to the silver first found in the Comstock Lode in 1859. The state needs to educate the people who will harvest this energy and use it to Nevada's benefit. Home-grown energy tycoons may be more inclined to improve their own state than a Texan would.
Medicine is another sorely needed field. The state requires doctors and nurses to care for a booming population. To combat shortages in these fields, the state should make it a priority to fund an expansion of its medical programs, including offering monetary incentives to students in those majors. If medical school is more affordable, the state can supply more doctors and nurses. A comprehensive plan, involving tuition cuts for medical majors coupled with an increased investment in the program will do nothing but help Nevada.
So encourage Nevada to invest in these fields. Position major computer, medical supply and energy companies next to its casinos and resort-towns. Render Nevada indispensable to the nation as an economic center as well as a tourism mecca.
Kyle Magin is a reporter at the Bonanza.
He touted the Millennium Scholarship fund, which provides Nevada high school seniors who qualify with $10,000 toward further education. It's a great plan, a way to keep the best and brightest Silver State graduates in the area.
What Nevada now needs to address is finding viable university majors and careers for all these co-ed's. As a liberal arts major, I can say easily half of those I graduated with will never find a job relevant to their education. While we shouldn't discourage kids who want to get into art, psychology or the social sciences, we need to provide a strong emphasis in math and science. The world will always have enough journalists, historians and English majors; engineers, doctors and technology inventors spawn major industry.
Funding needs to reach the University of Nevada, Reno and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas for majors in fields like medicine, energy and high-tech. These are areas that will probably see the most growth, provide job security and are well-compensated.
It breaks down simply into an equation.
Major employers in these fields could view Nevada as an attractive place to headquarter a company in an area with such a high standard of education. More employers equals a greater tax base, which equals an increase in spending within the state. It could also mean a wealthier tax base - Microsoft and Haliburton employ a lot more millionaires than the Mirage and Harrah's.
That's not to say the resort industry should be forgotten. Casinos and hotels will be vital to the state, they've been the backbone for a hundred years and probably will be in the future. But, as casinos pop up across the country and internationally, Nevada needs to diversify.
It needs to offer its students options. Help them study energy, which Nevada has more than enough of because of its sunny disposition (it sees the most sunlight of any state) and windy demeanor (harvest-ready wind wracks the most mountainous of the 48 contiguous states). Krolicki said Nevada is sitting on a "mother-lode" of energy possibilities, comparing it to the silver first found in the Comstock Lode in 1859. The state needs to educate the people who will harvest this energy and use it to Nevada's benefit. Home-grown energy tycoons may be more inclined to improve their own state than a Texan would.
Medicine is another sorely needed field. The state requires doctors and nurses to care for a booming population. To combat shortages in these fields, the state should make it a priority to fund an expansion of its medical programs, including offering monetary incentives to students in those majors. If medical school is more affordable, the state can supply more doctors and nurses. A comprehensive plan, involving tuition cuts for medical majors coupled with an increased investment in the program will do nothing but help Nevada.
So encourage Nevada to invest in these fields. Position major computer, medical supply and energy companies next to its casinos and resort-towns. Render Nevada indispensable to the nation as an economic center as well as a tourism mecca.
Kyle Magin is a reporter at the Bonanza.
