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Why Is There So Much Saudi Money in American Universities?

nytimes.com

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Re: Why Is There So Much Saudi Money in American Universities?

#31

Post by reaperducer »

ed312 wrote: post #5

I don't understand the protests. I would expect educating Saudi youth in exceptionally liberal institutions like universities in the Northeast to have a net liberalizing effect on the Saudi government and culture long term. Is this not a better use of Saudi funds then e.g. buying more weapons?

I would expect educating Saudi youth in exceptionally liberal institutions like universities in the Northeast to have a net liberalizing effect on the Saudi government and culture long term.

The article points out that very few Saudi youth end up in America's best schools. The vast majority go to second-tier schools because their academic levels keep them from getting into the best schools.

The protests are about the elite institutions accepting funding from the Saudis, not students.

Re: Why Is There So Much Saudi Money in American Universities?

#32

Post by Ididntdothis »

BeetleB wrote: post #18
seieste wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Kim Jong Un was educated in Switzerland, which has a very strong democratic environment, yet it didn’t change about how he ran North Korea.

Would you argue that his education in Switzerland made North Korea any worse?

It certainly didn’t improve things either. He is a murderer like the rest of the family.

Re: Why Is There So Much Saudi Money in American Universities?

#33

Post by jccalhoun »

I did my phd at an R1 university with a large international student population mostly from China and South Korea. When I graduated I got a adjunct job at a nearby liberal arts college of about 1/3 the size and was surprised that most of their international students were Saudis.

Re: Why Is There So Much Saudi Money in American Universities?

#34

Post by jraines »

dogma1138 wrote: post #4

Because the Saudis have a ton of money to spend; more than they can spend locally.

“The Arabs have taken billions of dollars out of this country, and now they must put it back! It is ebb and flow, tidal gravity! It is ecological balance!”

Arthur Jensen, NETWORK (1976)

Re: Why Is There So Much Saudi Money in American Universities?

#35

Post by sametmax »

mattmanser wrote: post #12
ed312 wrote: post #5

I don't understand the protests. I would expect educating Saudi youth in exceptionally liberal institutions like universities in the Northeast to have a net liberalizing effect on the Saudi government and culture long term. Is this not a better use of Saudi funds then e.g. buying more weapons?

It's a double edged sword. For a few reasons. Firstly it maintains an elite who are much better educated, and skilled, than those at home. Secondly, when there's lots of foreign students from the same place, they just clique up. In my university there were a lot of Chinese students that hung around almost exclusively with other Chinese students. One year I represented the student common room, a sort of social club/su…

Short term yes, but long term, it's our best chance to share values, learn about each others, and grow out of the bubble of our society.

Short travel is a mind opener. But living abroad dye your soul forever.

Re: Why Is There So Much Saudi Money in American Universities?

#36

Post by lambdasquirrel »

mattmanser wrote: post #12
ed312 wrote: post #5

I don't understand the protests. I would expect educating Saudi youth in exceptionally liberal institutions like universities in the Northeast to have a net liberalizing effect on the Saudi government and culture long term. Is this not a better use of Saudi funds then e.g. buying more weapons?

It's a double edged sword. For a few reasons. Firstly it maintains an elite who are much better educated, and skilled, than those at home. Secondly, when there's lots of foreign students from the same place, they just clique up. In my university there were a lot of Chinese students that hung around almost exclusively with other Chinese students. One year I represented the student common room, a sort of social club/su…

As an Asian-American, I have to say that I envied the Chinese who could stay amongst themselves. Just saying.

Re: Why Is There So Much Saudi Money in American Universities?

#37

Post by AJ007 »

seieste wrote: post #8
ed312 wrote: post #5

I don't understand the protests. I would expect educating Saudi youth in exceptionally liberal institutions like universities in the Northeast to have a net liberalizing effect on the Saudi government and culture long term. Is this not a better use of Saudi funds then e.g. buying more weapons?

Kim Jong Un was educated in Switzerland, which has a very strong democratic environment, yet it didn’t change about how he ran North Korea.

He isn’t the only warlord/despot/war criminal receive at least some education in liberal Western schools. Perhaps either side to the argument presents a non falsifiable hypothesis given the sample sizes involved.

Re: Why Is There So Much Saudi Money in American Universities?

#38

Post by gok »

mattmanser wrote: post #12
ed312 wrote: post #5

I don't understand the protests. I would expect educating Saudi youth in exceptionally liberal institutions like universities in the Northeast to have a net liberalizing effect on the Saudi government and culture long term. Is this not a better use of Saudi funds then e.g. buying more weapons?

It's a double edged sword. For a few reasons. Firstly it maintains an elite who are much better educated, and skilled, than those at home. Secondly, when there's lots of foreign students from the same place, they just clique up. In my university there were a lot of Chinese students that hung around almost exclusively with other Chinese students. One year I represented the student common room, a sort of social club/su…

China is a bit of an exceptional case. Student exit visas require classes from the party strongly discouraging making too many local friends.

Re: Why Is There So Much Saudi Money in American Universities?

#39

Post by ourmandave »

seieste wrote: post #8
ed312 wrote: post #5

I don't understand the protests. I would expect educating Saudi youth in exceptionally liberal institutions like universities in the Northeast to have a net liberalizing effect on the Saudi government and culture long term. Is this not a better use of Saudi funds then e.g. buying more weapons?

Kim Jong Un was educated in Switzerland, which has a very strong democratic environment, yet it didn’t change about how he ran North Korea.

He's using his education to write beautiful letters to other world leaders.

Re: Why Is There So Much Saudi Money in American Universities?

#40

Post by Stratoscope »

mattmanser wrote: post #12
ed312 wrote: post #5

I don't understand the protests. I would expect educating Saudi youth in exceptionally liberal institutions like universities in the Northeast to have a net liberalizing effect on the Saudi government and culture long term. Is this not a better use of Saudi funds then e.g. buying more weapons?

It's a double edged sword. For a few reasons. Firstly it maintains an elite who are much better educated, and skilled, than those at home. Secondly, when there's lots of foreign students from the same place, they just clique up. In my university there were a lot of Chinese students that hung around almost exclusively with other Chinese students. One year I represented the student common room, a sort of social club/su…

> the 20 odd accommodation halls

> the other 200 odd people in the hall

For anyone unfamiliar with this somewhat uncommon usage, Matt is not saying that these are odd accommodation halls or odd people (strange or unusual).

The "odd" here means that the preceding number is approximate - there are about 200 people in this hall, and about 20 halls in total.

It's usually written with a hyphen to make this more clear:

"the 20-odd accommodation halls" or "the other 200-odd people in the hall."

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