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Alaska’s Engineering Colleges Prepare to Slash Programs, Lay Off Faculty

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Re: Alaska’s Engineering Colleges Prepare to Slash Programs, Lay Off Faculty

#21

Post by Jtsummers »

hpoe wrote: post #17

On the flip side if they just continue to run at a deficit for extended periods then they have to cut even more as they will no longer be able to fund what they have. I get that this isn't an ideal situation but it seems like so often whenever anyone wants to cut anything its the end of the world. I mean what would you cut in order to reduce the deficit? Welfare services? Health services? Emergency services? It may n…

They need to raise taxes. Alaska has been riding the oil money for a long time, but that's being reduced every year. Since they didn't invest it wisely, they have nothing to fall back on. The only way to reduce the deficit is a combination of eliminating government services and raising taxes.

Re: Alaska’s Engineering Colleges Prepare to Slash Programs, Lay Off Faculty

#22

Post by iscrewyou »

hpoe wrote: post #17

On the flip side if they just continue to run at a deficit for extended periods then they have to cut even more as they will no longer be able to fund what they have. I get that this isn't an ideal situation but it seems like so often whenever anyone wants to cut anything its the end of the world. I mean what would you cut in order to reduce the deficit? Welfare services? Health services? Emergency services? It may n…

Nobody needs a “deeper and penetrating insight into the finances of state of Alaska” to see the problem here.

Cutting a stem program should not be on the top of any budget cut proposal. That’s the problem.

Re: Alaska’s Engineering Colleges Prepare to Slash Programs, Lay Off Faculty

#23

Post by shkkmo »

cavisne wrote: post #13

This is in some ways a preview of why the theory of basic income replacing other government spending (and therefore being fiscally conservative and libertarian) is false. Alaska is redirecting money from universities to basic income (the oil dividend) and it’s considered an outrage. The same thing would happen for any government program.

Not at all, the permanent fund dividend is immensely popular in Alaska. Additionally, it is actually money from the PFD that is used to fund the state government because the last democratic governor was unable to push through tax increases.

What Alaska needs is a balanced package of raised taxes and budget controls, what we have is political gridlock and dysfunction.

Re: Alaska’s Engineering Colleges Prepare to Slash Programs, Lay Off Faculty

#24

Post by wcchandler »

jdmichal wrote: post #16

From the discussion 10 days ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20384388 Didn't click summary: After the cut, Alaska will still spend 3x more than average per student. And tuition rates are comparatively low.

Can that 3x cost be attributed to just being in Alaska?

Re: Alaska’s Engineering Colleges Prepare to Slash Programs, Lay Off Faculty

#25

Post by brookhaven_dude »

tsunamifury wrote: post #12

I understand a well off nation ruled by democracy due to distributed table-stakes, and a poor nation ruled by a dictator due to centralized table-stakes, but I've never known a well off nation to intentionally sabotage its own table-stakes in order to surrender to dictatorship. Why is this happening? Who supports it? Why do they think it is necessary?

Because most of the benefits of the former are getting concentrated into the hands of educated and urban dwellers. So people want change, but end up stupidly sabotaging.

Disclaimer: I am not a Trump supporter.

Re: Alaska’s Engineering Colleges Prepare to Slash Programs, Lay Off Faculty

#26

Post by anticensor »

narrator wrote: post #14

So being the kind of person who has a lot of random trivia floating around in my brain, this is the first thing that came to mind when I thought of Alaska engineering colleges: Search DuckDuckGo for the following : "[Censored] Evaluation is a study at the University of Alaska Fairbanks using finite element modeling to evaluate the possible causes of [Censored]'s collapse."

Replace censored by WTC 7 and World Trade center respectively.

Re: Alaska’s Engineering Colleges Prepare to Slash Programs, Lay Off Faculty

#27

Post by tsunamifury »

brookhaven_dude wrote: post #25
tsunamifury wrote: post #12

I understand a well off nation ruled by democracy due to distributed table-stakes, and a poor nation ruled by a dictator due to centralized table-stakes, but I've never known a well off nation to intentionally sabotage its own table-stakes in order to surrender to dictatorship. Why is this happening? Who supports it? Why do they think it is necessary?

Because most of the benefits of the former are getting concentrated into the hands of educated and urban dwellers. So people want change, but end up stupidly sabotaging. Disclaimer: I am not a Trump supporter.

I don't think that holds water. In the article, these are the urban dwellers being sabotaged.

Re: Alaska’s Engineering Colleges Prepare to Slash Programs, Lay Off Faculty

#28

Post by seanmcdirmid »

Jtsummers wrote: post #21
hpoe wrote: post #17

On the flip side if they just continue to run at a deficit for extended periods then they have to cut even more as they will no longer be able to fund what they have. I get that this isn't an ideal situation but it seems like so often whenever anyone wants to cut anything its the end of the world. I mean what would you cut in order to reduce the deficit? Welfare services? Health services? Emergency services? It may n…

They need to raise taxes. Alaska has been riding the oil money for a long time, but that's being reduced every year. Since they didn't invest it wisely, they have nothing to fall back on. The only way to reduce the deficit is a combination of eliminating government services and raising taxes.

If/when oil is done, Alaska will probably depopulate rapidly; they will have much larger problems than needing to raise taxes.

The governor is doing this not to fill in gaps in the budget, but to increase the Alaskan dividend all residents get every year. Crazy stuff.

Re: Alaska’s Engineering Colleges Prepare to Slash Programs, Lay Off Faculty

#29

Post by seanmcdirmid »

wcchandler wrote: post #24
jdmichal wrote: post #16

From the discussion 10 days ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20384388 Didn't click summary: After the cut, Alaska will still spend 3x more than average per student. And tuition rates are comparatively low.

Can that 3x cost be attributed to just being in Alaska?

Also economy of scales sucks since they aren’t educating many students. Still, I think their costs are lower than Wyoming.

Re: Alaska’s Engineering Colleges Prepare to Slash Programs, Lay Off Faculty

#30

Post by mywittyname »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #28
Jtsummers wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They need to raise taxes. Alaska has been riding the oil money for a long time, but that's being reduced every year. Since they didn't invest it wisely, they have nothing to fall back on. The only way to reduce the deficit is a combination of eliminating government services and raising taxes.

If/when oil is done, Alaska will probably depopulate rapidly; they will have much larger problems than needing to raise taxes. The governor is doing this not to fill in gaps in the budget, but to increase the Alaskan dividend all residents get every year. Crazy stuff.

It's very possible that the majority of Alaskans support the governor's plan.
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