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A List of Colleges’ Plans for Reopening in the Fall

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Re: A List of Colleges’ Plans for Reopening in the Fall

#31

Post by ColanR »

klodolph wrote: post #17
baggy_trough wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Baffling comment. Providing rental property is a legitimate business.

Read more Adam Smith. In practice, PMCs in college towns are bad actors. At least, on average. They are basically sitting on an investment (land) and providing the minimum level of work necessary to keep money flowing. It’s a legitimate business in the sense that it is “legal”. However, the profits do not correspond to the value that they provide to the economy.

> providing the minimum level of work necessary

Is that how you measure the value of the business?

Re: A List of Colleges’ Plans for Reopening in the Fall

#32

Post by throwawayoverhe »

skwb wrote: post #26

I highly suspect that many large public universities will make large lectures online and cap in person enrollment for discussion/seminar/lab. You can probably easily ramp up hiring for these since they're mostly grad students, and frankly grad students are cheap (I say this as one).

STEM grad students are surprisingly expensive given how poorly they're paid and how valuable their work is (I say this as a former grad student, but also as someone who budgets for them).

Universities will now have to cull "overhead". Grad students and professors will have a golden opportunity about 1-2 years from now to capture a less tiny fraction of the wealth they create. Don't let it go to waste.

Re: A List of Colleges’ Plans for Reopening in the Fall

#33

Post by rjtobin »

HarryHirsch wrote: post #8
code4tee wrote: post #3

tl;dr: Basically everyone will decide this summer.

They'll decide again when they have an outbreak in a dorm or when a few faculty members die. It's hard to imagine that presence instruction will be back in the fall.

I’m a little surprised by this sentiment (maybe I’m naively optimistic). I’m curious, do you (and others) think elementary and high schools will be back next fall?

Re: A List of Colleges’ Plans for Reopening in the Fall

#34

Post by throwawayoverhe »

rjtobin wrote: post #33
HarryHirsch wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They'll decide again when they have an outbreak in a dorm or when a few faculty members die. It's hard to imagine that presence instruction will be back in the fall.

I’m a little surprised by this sentiment (maybe I’m naively optimistic). I’m curious, do you (and others) think elementary and high schools will be back next fall?

K12 is a lot easier because it's not residential.

Re: A List of Colleges’ Plans for Reopening in the Fall

#35

Post by HarryHirsch »

rjtobin wrote: post #33
HarryHirsch wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They'll decide again when they have an outbreak in a dorm or when a few faculty members die. It's hard to imagine that presence instruction will be back in the fall.

I’m a little surprised by this sentiment (maybe I’m naively optimistic). I’m curious, do you (and others) think elementary and high schools will be back next fall?

I doubt that school will be back in session. Coronavirus infection in children and adolescents is generally mild, but that does not mean that they are not infectious and can't pass the disease to their parents. That will have impact, 20 % of adults will become severely ill with fever for weeks. It will hit hospitals and workplaces.

Re: A List of Colleges’ Plans for Reopening in the Fall

#36

Post by HarryHirsch »

ColanR wrote: post #31
klodolph wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Read more Adam Smith. In practice, PMCs in college towns are bad actors. At least, on average. They are basically sitting on an investment (land) and providing the minimum level of work necessary to keep money flowing. It’s a legitimate business in the sense that it is “legal”. However, the profits do not correspond to the value that they provide to the economy.

> providing the minimum level of work necessary Is that how you measure the value of the business?

Yes, landowners and the maintenance they to or fail to do has massive impacts on the lives of their tenants. In an "as-is-where-is" state the only recourse when the roof leaks is to move out. That is expensive and disruptive, and you can't even recover the funds. This fantasy of shareholder value, where everyone takes care of himself, consequently everyone is taken care of is just that: fantasy.

Re: A List of Colleges’ Plans for Reopening in the Fall

#37

Post by prawn »

cassiet wrote: post #23
malandrew wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’d be happy if this was the beginning of the end for humanities departments that have become overtly political. More resources should be shifted to more utilitarian degrees like engineering and hard sciences.

What a useless world that would create.

There was a great tweet/meme about people savaging the idea of bailing out the arts industry during a pandemic, all while spending more and more time reading news sites, playing games and watching TV/movies online...

Re: A List of Colleges’ Plans for Reopening in the Fall

#38

Post by zomglings »

alec_kendall wrote: post #25

I moved back home after my university moved my classes to online (mid-march). I’m now paying rent on an apartment I don’t need and have a lease for next school year that I might not use. Even if in-person classes start again, I’ll have to worry about being screwed again next spring. The only other option I could think of was subleasing but unfortunately I signed my lease in January.

Can you break the lease? Better to lose a month or two of rent than >= 6 months of rent.

Re: A List of Colleges’ Plans for Reopening in the Fall

#39

Post by prawn »

downerending wrote: post #5

I feel bad for the colleges. But anyone in their right mind that's going to college to learn things will take a gap year. Those going to college just for the paper are well advised to keep going. The next couple of years will be easy mode, for sure. You get an A, and you get an A--everyone gets an A!

It's unlikely to be a classic gap year travelling the world!

Re: A List of Colleges’ Plans for Reopening in the Fall

#40

Post by alexbanks »

downerending wrote: post #5

I feel bad for the colleges. But anyone in their right mind that's going to college to learn things will take a gap year. Those going to college just for the paper are well advised to keep going. The next couple of years will be easy mode, for sure. You get an A, and you get an A--everyone gets an A!

Take a gap year and do what? Go nowhere, do nothing? Delay any hope of a reasonable income by another year?
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