Colleges and universities are facing financial headwinds driven by a number of factors including falling enrollment. Declining birth rates combined with a changing attitude toward the value of a college education has driven enrollment rates down. Colleges and universities, including those in Ohio have had to make cuts to trim budgets.
Locally, over the last year, two colleges have closed as a result of financial challenges. Notre Dame College in South Euclid and Eastern Gateway Community College in Steubenville closed their doors permanently last year. But what happens when a college shutters and the students and faculty are no longer a part of the fabric of the community?
We will explore that question to being Tuesday’s “Sound of Ideas” with Education Reporter Conor Morris.
Later, Ohio is seeing increased West Nile Virus activity this year. According to the Ohio Department of Health, there has been at least seven human cases that have been verified, including one case each in Cuyahoga and Medina counties.
The wet spring weather and the hot and humid summer have made conditions right for mosquitoes to multiply. Public health officials say pools of mosquito larvae began testing positive early in the summer for West Nile Virus, which in previous years has indicated a bump in human cases as well.
There’s still several weeks of warm weather ahead as well as fall activities to bring people outdoors. That’s why we are turning to an infectious disease specialist to talk about how to be mosquito-smart if you’re spending time outside.
Finally, we will talk about a bill proposed in Ohio to make drive-through lanes safer. The bill would require drive-throughs to be reworked so that there is an escape path for those in line. The bill comes a year after the murder of a young woman killed in a fast food drive-though lane in Stow by a stranger.
Guests:
-Conor Morris, Education Reporter, Ideastream Public Media
-Michael Love, Planning and Development Director, South Euclid
-Amy Edwards, M.D., Infectious Disease Specialist, University Hospitals
-Nick and Kelly Keleman, Parents of Megan Keleman
