By ALFRED P. DOBLIN, RECORD EDITORIAL COLUMNIST
IT’S WAR. South Jersey politicians led by Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, have fired upon Democratic U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, with a March 28 email that began: “LAUTENBERG’S BIZARRE & UNINFORMED COMMENTS.”
Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, left, and Democratic U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg.
Sweeney and crew wrote that “Lautenberg’s uninformed and vengeful remarks concerning the proposed Rutgers-Rowan merger have done a serious disservice to students and parents across South Jersey.” As far as I can surmise, the remarks refer to a March 26 letter Lautenberg sent to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. Lautenberg questioned the wisdom of eliminating Rutgers-Camden and moving its schools into Rowan University.
Lautenberg wrote: “Suspicions have been raised that this decision has been crafted to benefit powerful political interests without regard for the impact on students, the academic institutions themselves and the community.” In short: It benefits George Norcross.
The South Jersey political powerbroker would see his beloved Cooper University Hospital benefit from an alliance with an expanded Rowan University. Even more significant in this war is that Rowan would grow like a house on fire. And feeding the bonfire as fuel would be former Rutgers-Camden students. If you were Sweeney, you would be sitting on the sidelines yelling, “Burn, baby, burn.” A bigger Rowan is good news for the Gloucester County senator.
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