Neither do I. I think the real answer is most complicated that just amenities and sports programs. But articles like this say that public funding hasn’t decreased in real dollars. I have no reason to dispute this information, though I do know that GSU in particular lost some funding during the recession (if I recall correctly.) I mean, I know that our tax priorities are all fucked up, and I wouldn’t be surprised to find out this Op-Ed is wrong or misleading, but the simple fact is I don’t have a good baseline knowledge of how any of this works and I, like most people, rely on whatever pops up in the media. So, I’m easily misled.
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In Tuscaloosa, Alabama, the answer here is: Hell, yes, the football program it pays for itself and* a lot more but not nearly as much as it should contribute. But I realize this situation is unique.
ETA: *and a lot more
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Both my parents are alumni. I went there a few years back and I was surprised (not really) that every gas station we stopped at in the general area sold Bear Bryant houndstooth fedoras. It would not surprise me if they made a decent chunk of change from merchandising alone.
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Welcome to the modern condition. We are all relying on unreliable sources of information, I’m afraid…
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Indeed. I think I remember reading that very few programs do pay for themselves and then some, but UGA and Tuscaloosa are two examples of that being true, I think.
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I read the article and it’s somewhat true. Drowning in deans and assistant deans (all administration) is putting it lightly. What the article fails to take into context is the number of public institutions a state has to support. Reasons for this vary state by state, but for example, there are 3 public four-year universities in Arizona. There are 14 in Alabama. This exacerbates the “drowning in deans” problem as well as duplicates valuable resources, such as libraries.
One reason for so many in the South is, well, racism. Historically, the second Morrill Act in 1890 was aimed at the former Confederate states. This act required each state to show that race was not an admissions criterion, or else to designate a separate land-grant institution for persons of color. Additionally, of course, other public institutions were founded much later than the 2nd Morrill Act for the same reason: racism. I’m thinking here of Mississippi Valley State University (75% African-American), near Itta Bena, and Delta State University (26% African-American) in Cleveland. These two schools are less than 50 miles from one another in an area that is certainly not heavily populated. It would have logically made sense to combine them years ago, but that’s a huge kettle of fish for any two schools, much less two schools operating in the heart of the Mississippi Delta.
The South isn’t the only area of the country dealing with this issue. I recently attended a presentation by Wisconsin academic librarians and wow, they have a lot of public institutions as well and are dealing with cuts of gargantuan proportions (one library had its budget cut by 80%). I’m not an expert on Wisconsin politics, so I’ll stop there.
ETA: Not one, but two misspellings “drowning.” If it’s not evident, I really can’t spell.
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This is excellent! I can’t like it enough! Please accept a clapping Quark as a token of my esteem…
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I’ve adored reading the answers to the science questions because I generally know nothing, Jon Snow, about most of that stuff . But, I have a psychology question, and if I should submit to Questions thread, send me over.
Scenario: You are at a conference/in a meeting/in a class. It has gone long, as these things are apt to do. The moderator/chairperson/teacher, in his/her infinite incompetence, asks if there are any more questions when frankly, said moderator/chairperson/teacher should shut that crap down because time is up. The lifespan of this Q&A had ended. Inevitably, somebody raises his/her hand. Why??? Why would this person do this? If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you are likely this person. 
Why? Why? Why would someone extend the discussion when we’ve moved past its current lifespan? Your topic may very well need addressing, but now is simply not the time. Is someone choking in the back of the room? No? Then you can find the speaker/colleague/teacher’s email and ask them separately. The rest of us need to go. We have other things to do/coffee-snacks waiting for us.
When I was in graduate school, there was a classmate – she was my age (24 at the time) and female. I only mention her age/gender to explain how I now refer to her. It has nothing whatsoever to do with her gender; she just happened to be around when I named this phenomenon for myself. Whenever it looked like we might get out 5-10 minutes early, she would raise her hand and extend the class. Since then, I have reminded myself every time I’m tempted to raise my hand and extend a discussion that needs to end: “Don’t be that girl.”
ELI5, please. Or please give me perspective so I can stop internally screaming at these people.
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No that thread isn’t serious… which is why it is in games, but hey if you want silly answers go for it!
All i got is feels for you. Though if it is past the time allotted time you can always get up and go.
My only recent experiences like that are my ‘film class’ when we have a guest usually the same actor who lives in the area and he likes to tell stories about hollywood and is generally a great guy. It is his wife or the ‘professor’ who will tell him hey there is a ferry to catch if he keeps rambling.
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