A Start of Another Semester…*SIGH*
Today was the start of my fourth semester at Arizona State University. Already, I have broken one of my New Years’ Resolutions: not to read the school newspaper. Usually, there is at least one article every other day that just sends me through the roof and I would usually respond by writing a letter to the editor. I realized that this was really a waste of my time since I think that despite the fact that ASU is now the largest school in the country, fewer people regularly read the State Press than TAH. So one of my resolutions was not to pick up the paper on my way to class or to read the website. I would just get worked up, write a letter that maybe a couple of hundred of people would read, and probably waste about a half hour doing it. However, just like with pretty much all my past resolutions I broke it today, not even three weeks into the New Year. So what did I find? Today’s State Press was pretty predictable. An unoriginal yet confusing opinion piece about rhetoric and the Tuscon shooting accompanied by a similar editorial. A story about how the Student Government is going to fight against tuition increases and in doing so will also advocate for a tax increase like they did last year.
I am sure the budget cuts and accompanying tuition hikes advocated by Arizona’s university presidents will dominate the State Press. I am positive there will be literally dozens of editorials and opinion pieces bashing Arizona and smearing us as a bunch of ignorant and uneducated rednecks. I am certain the anarchists will protest again this year just like last year. I expect my professors to use their position as teachers and instructors to lobby for a particular political party (guess which one?) and for ballot measures that will increase taxes yet protect their jobs and benefits.
What I hope for is a honest discussion about higher education in the state of Arizona and what it is actually contributing to the state. I am not going to get it. Greg Patterson, a former state legislature here in Arizona, has done a pretty good job documenting the arrogance and elitism of Arizona’s university presidents over at his blog. Basically, these guys think that Arizona’s three universities are the best thing the state has going for it right now. They think that they should have top priority when it comes to funding (and often times they mislead the public about how much they get) and if the state doesn’t “properly invest” in their schools, we will revert to cannibalism and Arizona will look like Somalia (okay a little hyperbole, but you get the point). Likewise, if we give more money, the state’s economic condition will improve and we will be “competitive” with other states and countries. The problem is there is little evidence to back this assertion up.
Look at where some of the top public and private and universities are located and locate at the economic conditions of those states. California has CalTech, Stanford, UC Davis, and many more top-ranked schools. The state is on the verge of bankruptcy and corporations are fleeing the state by the boatload. University of Michigan is considered one of the best public universities in the country, yet Michigan’s economy has been a disaster for years and the state actually had negative population growth. North Dakota’s economy has been humming along, thanks to oil discoveries in that state, not because of its university. You could go on…
However, this semester I am not going to waste my breath or my time. The beast can’t sustain itself for much longer and economic and political reality is going to catch up to it. Sooner or later….
Category: Politics
Dan, you know a guy there named Wayne K? He was my DH in the USN and he’s there now pursuing something or other….
For your amusement. Hope you’re going into the hard sciences cuz that looks to be about the only fields that are worth anything.
My kid is a ROTC Freshman at Michigan. The reason a school like that stays open is because many northerners pay that much for their own in-state rates so they go for the prestige!
Dan we’ve had this conversation before but after starting my first week at UNLV (where tuitition is pretty cheap even for out of state) I’m starting to ask myself what’s the point? You, myself, and many other readers of this blog have so much experience under our belts that we could very well excell in many companies but the way the game is played is that you have to get this stupid piece of paper that validates your existance. It’s frustrating. We go from being accountable for hundreds of thousands of the tax payer dollar,being in stressful situations, leading men in combat (all in our early 20s) etc. to being in an english 101 class with self entitled oxygen thieves. I feel as if college is a scam sometimes.