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I speak at Harvard as it faces its biggest crisis since 1636

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Re: I speak at Harvard as it faces its biggest crisis since 1636

#21

Post by JumpCrisscross »

amazingamazing wrote: post #6

Private colleges shouldn't be taking public money to begin with. Hopefully this ends with colleges having their (private college) tax exempt status revoked. Anyone who's been to Massachusetts knows how much real estate Harvard (and MIT, and BU, and Boston College, etc, etc.) owns. Why should they be tax exempt? End it now. Also, Trump's demands are silly and not even internally consistent.

> Hopefully this ends with colleges having their tax exempt status revoked

Harvard was founded to educate America's clergy. If there is a category of non-profits that could hop, skip and jump to religious exemption, it's the Ivy League.

Re: I speak at Harvard as it faces its biggest crisis since 1636

#22

Post by mcculley »

amazingamazing wrote: post #6

Private colleges shouldn't be taking public money to begin with. Hopefully this ends with colleges having their (private college) tax exempt status revoked. Anyone who's been to Massachusetts knows how much real estate Harvard (and MIT, and BU, and Boston College, etc, etc.) owns. Why should they be tax exempt? End it now. Also, Trump's demands are silly and not even internally consistent.

Please elaborate. The Federal government funds various research programs. Are you saying that the Federal government should not pay any universities for research? Or that universities that have an endowment should not be paid for research? Or something else?

Re: I speak at Harvard as it faces its biggest crisis since 1636

#23

Post by rofo1 »

nkassis wrote: post #8
kleton wrote: post #3

I don't think the institution will run out of money any time soon. It's a $50bn prop trading firm with a university attached.

This is why they needed to be the one to fight, if they folded no one else had a chance to stop this government overreach.

I am not up to date on all details, but how exactly is it overreach? It's a good question whether government should give money (9bn but I could be wrong) for research, but lets put that aside for now. (who determines what "research" is this? it could be quantum mechanics, or it could be "gender studies")

Curious as to why do you think this is an overreach.

Re: I speak at Harvard as it faces its biggest crisis since 1636

#24

Post by mgkimsal »

sorcerer-mar wrote: post #5
kleton wrote: post #3

I don't think the institution will run out of money any time soon. It's a $50bn prop trading firm with a university attached.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidrosowsky/2020/06/01/why-no...

"In fact, it is neither strategic for the university, nor respectful of the donors’ intent. It is neither financially responsible/prudent, nor is it permissible."

Did the donors intend to have the entire university system ground down to the point where the ability to fund the donors' plans is completely gone? Donors funding programs to encourage research in to areas of science the Trump administration wants to outlaw... they should just ... sit on the money? Return the money to donors and say "sorry, 49% of voters decided that your family's wishes are illegal"? You want to fund weather research in to climate change, and set up a legacy endowment with your university. Research in to that is outlawed in 2027. What should the university do now, knowing this sort of thing is coming?

The article was about covid. This is about an actual attack on the essence of what makes the universities attractive to donations in the first place.

Re: I speak at Harvard as it faces its biggest crisis since 1636

#25

Post by xnx »

amazingamazing wrote: post #6

Private colleges shouldn't be taking public money to begin with. Hopefully this ends with colleges having their (private college) tax exempt status revoked. Anyone who's been to Massachusetts knows how much real estate Harvard (and MIT, and BU, and Boston College, etc, etc.) owns. Why should they be tax exempt? End it now. Also, Trump's demands are silly and not even internally consistent.

> Hopefully this ends with colleges having their tax exempt status revoked.

Only if we do churches at the same time.

Re: I speak at Harvard as it faces its biggest crisis since 1636

#26

Post by thro3838484848 »

Just a few decades ago US had quotas, how many Jews could study on university. Isaac Asimov could not be medical doctor, and become writer for this reason! Even today Harward is doing everything it can, to have a less Jews, they are not preferred minority!

Please spare me of this selective "antisemitism"!

Re: I speak at Harvard as it faces its biggest crisis since 1636

#27

Post by trulyamazing »

amazingamazing wrote: post #6

Private colleges shouldn't be taking public money to begin with. Hopefully this ends with colleges having their (private college) tax exempt status revoked. Anyone who's been to Massachusetts knows how much real estate Harvard (and MIT, and BU, and Boston College, etc, etc.) owns. Why should they be tax exempt? End it now. Also, Trump's demands are silly and not even internally consistent.

[dead]

Re: I speak at Harvard as it faces its biggest crisis since 1636

#28

Post by kombine »

crop_rotation wrote: post #19
kombine wrote: post #7

[flagged]

You are acting as if the world is binary and either the previous status quo was justified or Trump's actions are justified, neither of which have to be the case.

Previous status quo was absolutely unjustified, therefore brave students protested it, at a great personal risk while being slandered as "antisemites" by individuals like Scott Aaronson.

Re: I speak at Harvard as it faces its biggest crisis since 1636

#30

Post by JumpCrisscross »

kombine wrote: post #7

[flagged]

> He and people like him propped up the political weaponisation of "antisemitism" in order to attack legitimate protest

Attacking legitimate protest is fine? Like, the KKK are allowed to legitimately demonstrate. And I'm allowed to say they're terrible. That's speech. That's debate.

> They enabled Trump to do this and now they are trying really hard to differentiate themselves from the fascists

Clubs and departments calling for the eradication of a nation-state is nothing new, we've been drawing lines on maps thousands of miles away since Sykes and Picot and before. People opposing those clubs is nothing new. What is novel is the state getting so involved in suppressing it, at least in post-WWII America.

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