Since Lorna Read gave me a particular mention (Border Mail letters, January 17) I thought I might reply. She refers to claims that MAMA is “an unmitigated success” and “going from strength to strength” as laughable and this sentiment was also mentioned recently by Mr Scott-Young in a letter to the editor.
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Lorna Read “doesn’t call losing a million dollars every year any sort of success”.
So let’s have a look at a few other things in Albury and then I’d like to pose a question or two.
Our parks and gardens cost/lose about $700,000, the LibraryMuseum and Lavington Library cost/lose about $2 million, our sports fields cost/lose about $1.4 million, our pools cost/lose about $500,000 and the Entertainment Centre costs/loses about $600,000 each year.
So my question to Lorna Read and Mr Scott Young is, “which of these should we get rid of?” Just the ones you don’t like or the whole lot of them?
These are all things that make Albury such a liveable city and attract visitors who spend money here in hotels, restaurants etc. Without them we would not attract major conferences and the dollars they bring. And MAMA is a big part of this attraction despite Mr Scott-Young’s assertion in his earlier letter that only school kids go there and that’s because they are forced to.
I do not blindly defend council and Councillors. Yes, we make mistakes and generally we are big enough to own up to them and try to do better.
Perhaps I could invite you meet over a cup of coffee and discuss your concerns in greater detail. All of my contact details are readily available on Council’s website.
David Thurley, Lavington
More than a name
I read with amusement about the suggested name change for CSU.
Three years ago the University of Western Sydney (UWS) undertook a similar and pointless step and changed its name to Western Sydney University (WSU). The logic for this ridiculous name change can be found on the web.
It takes more than a name to make a university great.
Great universities are great because of their academic standard, the quality of their academic staff, and the cutting-edge research output. Great universities are well managed and well-funded.
By no standard can CSU be considered anything other than a bottom-level university. In the ranking of Australian Universities, CSU is ranked equal number 33, that is, at the bottom of all Australian Universities. On the world stage, CSU is ranked lower than 800 (people who do these rankings give up at 1000).
The issue with CSU is not the name, but the academic standard, which flows from poor funding and poor management.
CSU would do well to consider raising its academic standard and research output rather than consuming its limited resources with agenda issues.
Dr Graeme White, Wagga
Letters to the editor
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