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Whitman Will Ensure that California is the Global Hub for

Innovation by Investing in Higher Education

By Fred Ruiz (/user/18047) | 9/01/10 | 5:10 PM EDT | 8 Comments (/content/whitman-will-ensure-

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california-global-hub-innovation-investing-higher-education#comments)

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California's economy is struggling and the next governor must focus on creating more jobs and
restoring opportunity in our state. The next governor must also focus on investing in what I
consider the jewel of California: Its higher education system.

The future of our state is directly tied to the quality of our higher education system, which
(http://www.redcounty.com/ad/redirect/141392/n141392?url=node/141831)
remains world class.

Meg Whitman is the only candidate with a plan to preserve our public university and college
system that has given so many of us the opportunities to pursue our dreams here in California.

Since the beginning of her campaign, Meg has made fixing California's K-12 schools one of her
top priorities and now she is laying out her plans to invest in the University of California and
California State University systems.

I attended the College of the Sequoias, a community college located in Visalia, in California's
San Joaquin Valley. Its mission, when it was established in 1926, was to provide affordable
(http://redcounty.com/ad/redirect/141180/n141180?url=node/141831)
college education to local high school graduates and help them achieve their goals.

I joined with my father and turned a small family-owned business into the largest Hispanic
frozen food company in America. I am admittedly biased when it comes to our public universities
and colleges, and proudly so. I am a Regent of the University of California.

Innovation and a first-class education system go hand in hand. My wife and I have set up an
endowment at UC Merced to support entrepreneurship because we believe it is vitally important
to invest in our public education system. Families all over California have stories about how
(http://redcounty.com/ad/redirect/140663/n140663?url=node/141831)
affordable access to the UC and CSU system put them on the path to find good jobs, grow their
careers and companies here and build a quality of life second to none. Today, we are at risk of
losing all that.

Our state budget is under incredible pressure, but Meg has designed a plan to invest significant
new money into the system that will come from savings from her budget reforms.

She is proposing to invest $1 billion of the savings from her welfare and other budgetary reforms
into California's higher education system. And she has a plan to create academic enterprise
zones around our academic institutions to foster collaboration.
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That's exactly why I am supporting Meg. She is making fiscally sound proposals and is providing
aWhitman
specific way toWill
pay for them. She's
Ensure an astute
that manager who
California is has
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Hub for for
decades while leading one of the Fortune 500's most innovative companies. With the economy
Innovation by Investing in Higher Education
struggling, our next governor must focus on creating jobs and improving the conditions for new
businesses to start and grow here. Having a top-notch college and university system is
By Fred Ruiz (/user/18047) | 9/01/10 | 5:10 PM EDT | 8 Comments (/content/whitman-will-ensure-
essential to graduate California's future innovators, entrepreneurs and workforce talent. As
california-global-hub-innovation-investing-higher-education#comments)
former chair of the California Chamber of Commerce, I know well the challenges facing
businesses as they struggle to recover in our tough economic environment.
ShareThis (javascript:void(0))
Key to the recovery will be a talented workforce ready and able to compete in the global
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Meg's plan makes certain California has a solid foundation for decades of continued economic
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Tags is the only candidate with a plan to preserve our public university and college
: Meg Whitman (/related-content/Meg Whitman) , Higher Education (/related-content/Higher
system that has given so many of us the opportunities to pursue our dreams here in California.
Education) , California (/related-content/California)

Since the beginning of her campaign, Meg has made fixing California's K-12 schools one of her
Comments
top priorities and now she is laying out her plans to invest in the University of California and
California State University systems.
CA higher education (/content/whitman-will-ensure-california-global-hub-innovation-
I attended the College of the Sequoias, a community college located in Visalia, in California's
investing-higher-education#comment-53784)
San Joaquin Valley. Its mission, when it was established in 1926, was to provide affordable
http://www.redcounty.com/content/whitman-will-ensure-california-global-hub-innovation-investing-higher-education Page 1 of 3
college education to local high school graduates and help them achieve their goals.

I joined with my father and turned a small family-owned business into the largest Hispanic
frozen food company in America. I am admittedly biased when it comes to our public universities
and colleges, and proudly so. I am a Regent of the University of California.

Innovation and a first-class education system go hand in hand. My wife and I have set up an
endowment at UC Merced to support entrepreneurship because we believe it is vitally important
to invest in our public education system. Families all over California have stories about how
affordable access to the UC and CSU system put them on the path to find good jobs, grow their
careers and companies here and build a quality of life second to none. Today, we are at risk of
losing all that.

Our state budget is under incredible pressure, but Meg has designed a plan to invest significant
new money into the system that will come from savings from her budget reforms.

She is proposing to invest $1 billion of the savings from her welfare and other budgetary reforms
into California's higher education system. And she has a plan to create academic enterprise
zones around our academic institutions to foster collaboration.

That's exactly why I am supporting Meg. She is making fiscally sound proposals and is providing
a specific way to pay for them. She's an astute manager who has balanced budgets for
decades while leading one of the Fortune 500's most innovative companies. With the economy
struggling, our next governor must focus on creating jobs and improving the conditions for new
businesses to start and grow here. Having a top-notch college and university system is
essential to graduate California's future innovators, entrepreneurs and workforce talent. As
former chair of the California Chamber of Commerce, I know well the challenges facing
businesses as they struggle to recover in our tough economic environment.

Key to the recovery will be a talented workforce ready and able to compete in the global
economy. Meg's plan is designed to encourage higher education and business to come together
around campuses to foster innovation and build new companies that will change the world.

Meg's plan makes certain California has a solid foundation for decades of continued economic
strength. By investing in higher education, we will ensure California is the global hub for
innovation in the future.

Tags : Meg Whitman (/related-content/Meg Whitman) , Higher Education (/related-content/Higher

Education) , California (/related-content/California)

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