BOOTHEEL CENTER MOVES TO THE HEAD OF ITS CLASS

These days, public attention seems focused on the problems facing higher education. In sharp contrast to that, the success of the Bootheel Education Center at Malden is a shining example of what's right with higher education.

The center, housed in a former Pepsi-Cola bottling plant, is operated by a consortium consisting of Southeast Missouri State University, Three Rivers Community College at Poplar Bluff and the University of Missouri Extension division.

Harry L. Crisp, a Southern Illinois soft-drink executive, donated the 100,000-square-foot structure and the surrounding 23 acres to Southeast Missouri State in 1987.

Southeast officials have been at the forefront of efforts to develop the center. That was certainly evident last week when the university's Board of Regents voted to move ahead with expansion of the Bootheel Education Center.

Plans call for construction of a physics-chemistry laboratory and three classrooms. The project is expected to cost about $160,000, which includes the cost of equipment.

The facility currently has eight classrooms, but no science lab.

To its credit, the Malden community has embraced the educational center. The city has contributed $50,000 to the project and donations are expected to pay for most of the remaining costs.

While colleges and universities in many parts of the country have been faced with stagnant enrollments, the Bootheel Center has seen enrollment climb from 150 when it opened in the spring of 1988 to over 800 students each semester now.

Today, the center attracts students from throughout the Bootheel and down into Arkansas.

The center provides an opportunity for Bootheel residents to improve their education. That's particularly important in this rural region where poverty and illiteracy are serious problems.

The Bootheel Education Consortium, of which Southeast is a member, was organized in 1981. In 1984, the consortium was honored as one of the nation's exemplary programs of post-secondary education in rural America.

Expansion of the Bootheel Education Center is welcome news for the entire region. The center's success is a lesson that we should all learn from. When it comes to education, the Bootheel Center is at the head of its class.