Previous Story
La Fiesta: A missed opportunity
|
Posted on Apr 29 2005
I am not trying to undermine NMC president Antonio DeLeon Guerrero’s accomplishments during his first year of tenure but I am deeply concerned about his priorities. He whined about not having a building that is comparable to those in the other American Pacific islands, yet he “returned” the La Fiesta to the Governor’s Office, stating that his college has no use for it. A building with 100,000 sq. ft. of space, state of the art construction with all amenities, I’m sure, can surpass all the schools in those American Pacific islands. That building is even in better condition, aesthetically and architecturally than the University of San Diego where I am studying right now.
I think NMC president Guerrero has let go of a very big opportunity when he returned the La Fiesta to the Governor. He could have transferred the whole college into the building, using a portion of it for his classrooms in similar manner as the University of San Diego is doing. He could have rented out the other stalls for restaurants, bookstores, Internet cafes and even converted portions of the building into dormitories. He could have earned money for the college out of this simple business transaction.
In his desire to gather credits for himself, he wanted to reinvent the wheel and waste his time asking for money that he knows the government cannot provide. First things first: What we need right now is a leader who is resourceful and knows how to make things happen by using the resources he has on hand, especially in times when money is tight. The La Fiesta could have been the building he has been wishing for.
Lyna Vizconde
San Diego, California
