Governor Edward “Fast Eddie” Rendell has followed in a long line of Governor’s who have aided Pennsylvania’s system of higher education. However, Rendell is now the only Governor in PA history who is willing to gamble (literally) on the educational future of the state. As a 22 year old college student, and lifelong Pennsylvania resident, I am not willing to take that gamble myself. This is not the first time Rendell has tried to expand his gambling “empire,” The last time Rendell tried to legalize video poker he tried selling it as a way to lower property taxes. The big questions are: Why go for higher education this time rather than property taxes? Why not see if the video poker will pass on its own? Rendell knows that legalizing video gambling machines will not pass by itself. Of course our Governor should invest in education and tuition relief, but not at the vice of gambling.
Now, many a student may not see this as a bad idea. I know for a fact my roommate and long time friend said she would be more than willing to take the money from video poker as a way to help finance her college education. However I am not convinced that dirty dollar bills being thrusted into shiny poker machines is the type of currency I want helping fund my education. I don’t deny that we are in a recession, but how low are we going to drop our standards as a way to fund necessities such as education?
Now, like most illegal activities, video poker is still available in some bars and taverns in Pennsylvania. Rendell hopes that legalizing video poker games will give police more time to focus on more serious crimes. As a former Mayor of Philadelphia Rendell should know that illegal video poker games are not in the top ten concerns of the state police.
As in the seven casinos currently operating in the Keystone state we are being assured that the standards given to those institutions will be put forth on to video poker playing.
Yet video poker games are surprisingly appealing like adolescent video games such as Grand Theft Auto and Guitar Hero, making them the most addictive forms of gambling. The environment these video poker games create is not healthy.
Therefore, I believe tuition assistance can be found in different revenue ventures.
Kendra Gruber is a fourth-year political science pre-law major with a minor in Latin American Studies. She can be reached at KG627637@wcupa.edu