Earlier quoted context omitted.
I love my big TV. Playing games on it on a Saturday evening after my kids have gone to sleep puts an ear-to-ear grin on my face.
Then why not buy an even bigger TV to make you even more happy?
Diminishing returns.
Germany’s great tuition fees U-turn
411–420 of 536 posts
Re: Germany’s great tuition fees U-turn
#412Earlier quoted context omitted.
Maybe social mobility is low everywhere because smart parents breed smart kids. But considering genetics is deemed to be politically incorrect.
Because it's not the genes but the social environment which shapes the individual's progress in a society.
[Citation needed]
Re: Germany’s great tuition fees U-turn
#413Earlier quoted context omitted.
Don't even get me started on the sports, it's an outrage how US schools have become sports franchises. This pisses me off too. It's why I don't give money to my Sports Franchise undergrad.
+1 I remember my mother speaking to some college admissions person at a semi-prestigious school in Pennsylvania, many years back when I was in the throws of applying. When speaking to some admissions confusion with respect to my high school, the guy said, "Well frankly, it's not called the Ivy League because of its academics." That's always stuck with me. Athletic scholarships? You betcha. Academic scholarships? What…
Actually though, no schools in the Ivy League give athletic scholarships [1], and most college sports are revenue neutral.
Re: Germany’s great tuition fees U-turn
#414Earlier quoted context omitted.
Don't even get me started on the sports, it's an outrage how US schools have become sports franchises. This pisses me off too. It's why I don't give money to my Sports Franchise undergrad.
+1 I remember my mother speaking to some college admissions person at a semi-prestigious school in Pennsylvania, many years back when I was in the throws of applying. When speaking to some admissions confusion with respect to my high school, the guy said, "Well frankly, it's not called the Ivy League because of its academics." That's always stuck with me. Athletic scholarships? You betcha. Academic scholarships? What…
Pedantic, I know, but it should be "throes of."
Re: Germany’s great tuition fees U-turn
#415Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm no fan of how enormous college sports have become, but fwiw they are enormous sources of income and despite the extravagant stadiums and suchlike, they often pay for valuable research, courses, and amenities. What's troubling about them is the exploitation of the student athletes; the ones that make money give a lot back to the university as a whole.
Sources for any of that? While some sports (football, men's basketball) are profit centers that can offset the cost of non-revenue sports, that really only applies to the top-tier programs (NCAA Division 1). I've never heard of university sports programs being major sources of revenue for research or courses (outside of possibly sports-related studies).
I was talking about the top-tier Division 1 schools, mostly because I can't see anybody having a problem with intramural or Division 3 sports. Scholarships aren't awarded, they don't have huge budgets, their coaches generally aren't grossly overpaid, and they're a good way for students to get exercise, meet people, and relax.
Re: Germany’s great tuition fees U-turn
#416Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm no fan of how enormous college sports have become, but fwiw they are enormous sources of income and despite the extravagant stadiums and suchlike, they often pay for valuable research, courses, and amenities. What's troubling about them is the exploitation of the student athletes; the ones that make money give a lot back to the university as a whole.
Sources for any of that? While some sports (football, men's basketball) are profit centers that can offset the cost of non-revenue sports, that really only applies to the top-tier programs (NCAA Division 1). I've never heard of university sports programs being major sources of revenue for research or courses (outside of possibly sports-related studies).
I too, find it hard to believe.
If your sports team is making lots of money, you buy better athletes to keep or advance your moneymaking potential.
Capitalism.
Re: Germany’s great tuition fees U-turn
#417Earlier quoted context omitted.
To go into more detail, here's the typical lecture format at a German university (note that this is "typical", not universal, and professors have a lot of leeway in how they can structure their courses). There'll be a lecture twice a week (four "semester hours", 2 times 2 * 45 minutes) and a two semester hour exercise session. The lecture will be held by a professor [1]; the exercise session for undergraduate courses…
> There'll be a lecture twice a week (four "semester hours", 2 times 2 * 45 minutes) and a two semester hour exercise session. The lecture will be held by a professor [1]; the exercise session for undergraduate courses will generally be conducted by a TA in smaller groups. That sounds like an average course that I've taken at my university here in Norway.
Sounds like my experience in the United States as well.
Re: Germany’s great tuition fees U-turn
#418Earlier quoted context omitted.
It doesn't matter if restaurants, cafés, etc. generally make a profit; that's not what the university should be concerned with.
They don't run those, they generally contract them out to Sodexo or similar company. The only reason they are there is because students spend money on them. You should have more of a problem with student free spending ways than with the universities just providing for their habits.
Big problem with this. Particularly with dining plans, many of which don't refund at the end of the term/academic year and are required for the dorms. You want to be thrifty and only spend 600 or the 800 you had this spring? Too bad, you're going to have to splurge the last 200 somehow or you're not getting it back.
Re: Germany’s great tuition fees U-turn
#419Earlier quoted context omitted.
It doesn't matter if restaurants, cafés, etc. generally make a profit; that's not what the university should be concerned with.
Whether you believe they're what a university should be concerned with or not (and that's just, like, your opinion, man) the fact that they turn a profit means you can't point to them as wasteful spending or a culprit for high tuition.
They might be profitable, but they may not be the best use of that money - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opportunity_cost
Re: Germany’s great tuition fees U-turn
#420Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why do they deserve the broadly desired services of doctors, nurses, professors, etc for free while doing very little for those doctors, nurses, or professors in return?
I would say they deserve them because we want to live in a 'society'. If they are contributing to society - even just by serving lattes or creating poetry to someone like me who desires caffeine and art, and I in return contribute something that doctors, nurses and professors want, then I think they deserve it.
Then you should pay them enough to afford the things you want them to have. I don't want lattes nor poetry, so if they want money from me they should do something I want them to do, not get the government to confiscate it from me and redistribute to themselves.