Tobacco Money Going Where It Should Go?

The Virginia Tobacco Commission may well ship $12 million to Liberty University to help build a new osteopathic medical school to serve Southside in what would be a rare appropriate application of what was intended to be a fund to reverse tobacco's harm.


The school would actually duplicate one already closeby: the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine at Virginia Tech, but that college primarily serves Appalachia, so there would not be a lot of overlap and if you ask me, you can't have too many osteopatich medical people. I love 'em.


There are some technical steps that have to be taken before any matching grant money is handed over and there will likely be some raised eyebrows about Liberty getting the money because there are a lot of people who don't like the politics the school represents, Truth be told: Liberty has the capability to do this very well. The quality of the education it is giving out these days is much better than ever.

According to Liberty spokespeople, a new school would create 219 jobs and $1.2 million in state and local tax revenue as well as nearly $20 million in spending in the region. The school could be open as soon as 2012, according to Liberty officials.