New bet on scholarships

The lottery/racket that was supposed to make higher education more affordable is sinking like snake eyes.

It originally gave $5,000 each year to students who kept their grades up and remained eligible. This year that total is down to $2,000, and $1,000 per semester is chump change in the total cost of most affordable quality colleges or universities, as tuition keeps increasing.

It’s another roll of the dice what the scholarship will be worth in a year or two; the sure bet is that the cost of college will be higher still.

Officials blame the decrease on diminishing gaming receipts. That excuse is pretty eye-opening: the state of Arkansas has hitched its flagship higher-education scholarship to the rock-solid mood swings of lottery-ticket buyers.

Many who opposed the lottery scholarship worried that South Carolina’s history might repeat itself here in Arkansas, and that the very fund designed to reduce out-of-pocket expense for collegians would wind up widening it instead.

Those critics had no crystal ball.They just had eyes. It wasn’t hard to read up on South Carolina’s well-researched and reported lottery-scholarship debacle.

It’s true that Arkansas institutions of higher learning haven’t boosted tuition by the mammoth increases seen at some South Carolina schools. But regardless, the out-of-pocket gap has grown and likely isn’t finished growing.

The former me-who argued against a lottery in the first place-would have said it’s time to disconnect gambling and higher ed.

But that was before I spent a few days in Reno, Nev., for a trade show, and I was lodged at an upscale casino hotel.

It’s been a while since I have been to a place where there were as many one-armed bandits as two-fisted suckers.

I definitely saw some of the unglamorous underbelly beneath the neon and glitter. Walking through the casino lobby on the way to breakfast at 7:30 a.m., there were people drinking and betting.

I wondered if they had been there all night.

But I also saw the prosperity that house odds produce-in the well-appointed rooms, the well-prepared restaurant meals, the well-equipped fitness center and spa, and the imposing architecture and scale of the facility.

Suddenly it came to me: If we’re going to use lost wagers to fund scholarships, we need to expand the base.

I only see hopeful types buying lottery tickets in convenience stores every now and then, not even weekly.

But I saw hordes of people playing the slot machines, the poker tables and the sports spreads every day, and most hours of the day, at the hotel.

Those who cry foul over the fact that casinos and gambling exploit those least able to afford to lose are looking at the wrong thing.

Focus on the money-and this place was awash in it-and what more millions might do for our lagging higher education statistics.

Where I once saw graft and greed, I suddenly saw green for college scholarships. Computerized slot machines could fund computer tablets for students. Blackjack tables could be turned for new classroom desks and chairs.

Yep, strolling through the teeming rows of players, listening to the clicks and chimes marking their losses, I realized no mere lottery could ever generate that kind of earnest emptying of pockets.

To reach the tipping point of scholarship funding, we need full-blown casinos.

And not just for adults. Up on the second floor of the sprawling hotel complex I stayed in was the kiddie casino-a full-blown arcade styled like the gaming lobby downstairs, complete with lights and mirrors and soda-fountain bar and ice cream counter, plus fun foods like hot dogs and pizza.

Why shouldn’t we expose the benefits of “gaming for learning” to toddlers and primary-school children? Just imagine the overflowing scholarship coffers if the next generation is as comfortable playing quarter slots as it is playing video games.

That’s where the South Carolina lottery leaders went wrong. They folded on gambling when they should have called and raised it far beyond lottery tickets.

Nobody goes on late-night betting binges, dropping dollars and hoping for winning scratch-off numbers. What the lottery scholarship needs is some serious devotion by gaming patrons, and the only way to get that is to get them into casinos.

There are plenty of successful models to replicate. Modern casinos already cater to families; just watch a child’s eyes during the famous pirate scene at Treasure Island Casino in Las Vegas.

Anybody who’s seen the new Tunica school buildings can see that harnessing casino cash for education pays better than the crime that often pervades gambling environs.

Imagine the merchandising opportunities: The Funding Games could play off the motion-picture sensation; Double-or-Nothing Days could precede major consumer spending spree dates like Black Friday, to woo shoppers to bet before they buy.

Of course, there’s the small matter of casinos being illegal in Arkansas, but that’s easily remedied. As word spreads among the major gaming chains, they’ll happily help cover the lobbying and campaign costs to legalize casino-funded scholarships.

Casinos for college. It’s even got good alliteration.

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Dana Kelley is a freelance writer from Jonesboro.

Editorial, Pages 19 on 12/13/2013

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