Thursday, March 13, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury

Up in smoke

By Larry Wills

Healthier Americans may be making Nevadans dumber, as more smokers go cold turkey.

When Gov. Kenny Guinn earmarked a chunk of $145 million in tobacco settlement money for college scholarships in 2000, it was hailed as a long-term investment in the state's future. All Nevada high school graduates with a B average could get subsidies for college.

"If you have people who are more educated with good jobs, communities will be strengthened," says state Treasurer Brian Krolicki, who administers the Millennium Scholarship program. "This is about Nevada's best and brightest young people. One of the impediments for companies moving to Nevada is there is not a trained work force."

The program is largely financed by the legal settlement between the states and tobacco companies over the health hazards of smoking. The settlement is based in part on the number of smokers. But now, fewer people are smoking. That's cutting down on the cash flow for the 12,000 students attending Nevada colleges under the program that's cost almost $32 million so far. About 10 percent of anticipated revenues disappeared over the last two years.

Healthier Americans may force tougher standards for Millennium recipients when they go to college, with legislation in sight to raise the minimum GPA from 2.0 to 2.6, and cut the time allowed to go to college from eight years to six. Higher standards also may be in store for younger college students--3.1 for sophomores and 3.25 for freshmen.

"The grade point is way too low," state Sen. Bob Coffin, D-Las Vegas, says of the college requirements.

That will be a hardship on Nevada high school grads, since two-thirds of those eligible are now receiving scholarships. Only 7,000 eligible students didn't go to college or attended an out-of-state institution. That's a major turnaround in a state known for high school students going immediately into casino jobs. It also speaks to a large number of young people who wanted to go to college, but, until the Millennium Scholarship program was created, couldn't afford it.

Krolicki wants to secure the next 25 years of tobacco settlement money and place it in a trust as a hedge against more people kicking the habit. "If we can get this money up front, we'll invest it over 25 years," he says.

The treasurer noted the irony of education and smoking as bedfellows. "Oh, the hypocrisy of it all. It's OK if people smoke a lot less. It should be a great thing, but Nevada has a problem. The Millennium Scholarship, when it was envisioned in 1999, was never understood to be something the tobacco money would pay more than a few years. We had a 10-year horizon."

At that time, critics complained that the money should have been used for health-care programs, particularly those that deal with smoking-related illnesses. That was not the case in many states, which used the funds for tobacco farm subsidies, sidewalk repairs and balancing budgets.

"Nevada has done better than most states," Krolicki says. About 60 percent of the settlement goes to health programs, while the scholarships entail 30 percent.

Coffin also believes that students seeking the scholarship may be getting unwarranted help from their teachers. "The teachers are under pressure for a C to be a B and a B to be an A."

He says the situation has forced UNLV to create a writing center to help students achieve literacy. About 30 percent of Millennium Scholarship students are in remedial programs.

Coffin says the original proposal was to raise the standards by 2004, but now the mood is to place it in effect for the coming school year. "I think they should start right now," he says.

Krolicki says a study is planned to examine the actual performance of the students in the program.