Comments on: If they “go John Galt” how will we know?

By: salvadordalai

salvadordalai — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 05:43:06 +0000

Now, now. Speaking as one of the Ole Perfesser’s colleagues–call me the Ole Lecturer–we really need to have sympathy for him. After all, he didn’t get a raise at all this year, courtesy of the state of TN. Nor will any of us get raises next year. And the state not only cut our budget this year by $21 million (freezing all hiring in the College of Arts and Sciences, and resulting in the cutting of the program in dance, the industrial and organizational psych grad program, and the department of speech and audiology (lately saved by moving its funding to another school in the UT system)), but they also just impounded $17 million more. All the while denying the university the ability to raise tuition. The faculty here are all but weeping, begging for state approval of a tuition hike.

So let’s just put into perspective the Ole Perfesser’s brave stand against student loans. It takes a brave, brave man to argue in the face of all this evidence of waning funding *to his own university* that the real culprit is those nasty, ~~federally-subsidized~~ socialist student loans. Of course, he is, by training, a lawyer, so he’s quite skilled in his ability to argue something that flies in the face of the facts, so long as it supports his own side.

By: AnneLaurie

AnneLaurie — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 08:44:59 +0000

All the best libertarians are unfireable employees of the state.

Oh, now you’ve hurt Megan McArdle’s feelings! You redistributanist, you!

To be fair, quite a few of the libertarians-after-graduation I’ve known live off their spouses, or their trustfunds. Apparently it’s easier to believe that everyone rises to the level of their own merit if you’ve never had to support yourself at a modern American workplace, for some reason.

By: XeckyGilchrist

XeckyGilchrist — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 03:27:04 +0000

If they “go John Galt” how will we know?

Sadly, No! will be all about football, Balloon Juice will be all about Tunch the cat and football, and TBogg will be all about music and basset hounds.

A somewhat poorer world, but not too awful.

By: DrDick

DrDick — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 19:30:46 +0000

Different institutions have responded differently to declining state support. At my university they have largely raised tuition, while yours has gone the fee route. Likewise legislatures and universities differ in how they handle major capital improvements. Here at the University of Montana we get what we can from the legislature (which is a bit more forthcoming than yours) and rely heavily on private donations for the remainder. New buildings contribute less to increases in fees or tuition here than steadily declining (in real dollars) state support.

By: BillCinSD

BillCinSD — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 17:55:27 +0000

At my school, the cost rise is mostly due to an increase in fees (tuition isn’t that much higher than when I was in school after you include inflation) which go to computing infrastructure and building infrastructure since the state won’t pay completely for new buildings or at all for new non-teaching buildings. Research equipment is funded by research grants

By: DrDick

DrDick — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 17:36:27 +0000

It is worth noting that academic salaries do not notably contribute to rising costs as these have been, along with everyone else’s, basically flat since the 1980s. In my experience, most of the student loans go not for tuition, but for books given that textbook publishers really are rapacious. Textbooks for my intro class run about $100-120 and students routinely pay $1,000 or more semester for books (a constant complaint on student evaluations).

By: captphealy

captphealy — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 17:09:32 +0000

In addition , universities have huge costs for infrastructure and utilities. Someone should tell the Perfesser that all that time he spends sitting in his office blogging, surfing, and using CAD to design his future robot body* (and his robot bride) is part of the rising costs of education. Not that it would ever sink in.

*and not that any self-respecting robot would want a brain that puny.

By: DrDick

DrDick — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 16:46:26 +0000

Right. Student loans and rapacious college presidents have fueled rising tuition. Has nothing at all to do with dramatic declines (a more than 50% decline in the percentage of costs covered by the state on average) in state funding of public colleges and universities (where most of the increase has occurred), in part as a result of libertarian leaning legislators. Nor do increasing costs for computer and information technology systems directly tied to teaching and academic job performance, expensive and sophisticate technical equipment in the biological and physical sciences necessary for research and advanced teaching play any role. What a fucking idiot. This guy actually gets paid by a university? He has the analytical abilities of a retarded stoner freshman.

By: Argonaut

Argonaut — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 16:08:16 +0000

Forbidden Planet. Walter Pigeon and Robbie (on the right). A fine movie about what happens when your Rethuglican brain takes over while you sleep.

True story: I used to live in a little town in Canada where Walter Pigeon’s brother also lived. His favorite deed of the day was to drive around in his Corvette with the top down in February. I believe both his conscious and subconscious brains had been removed.

By: Mauimom

Mauimom — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 15:56:54 +0000

Okay, which 1950’s B movie or series is the photo accompanying this article from?

[I love it!]