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Cédric Villani: mathematician challenging to be Paris mayor

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Re: Cédric Villani: mathematician challenging to be Paris mayor

#91

Post by LunaSea »

pascalmahe wrote: post #81
generationP wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious, what's been going on with Parcoursup? (I don't read enough French to understand the discussions.) Also, I'm not surprised that tuition for foreigners is a lever they are pulling. A government is responsible, first and foremost, to its own citizens. Racism? Really? What about "localism" or "separation of duties"?

For the racism part: France, as an ex-empire, is very attractive to its former colonies' students. And we have agreements to make it easier for them to come. So we get many students from Africa or the Middle East, often on merits and/or scholarships. In my engineering school, there were students from Turkey, Sudan (might be South Sudan now)... Raising the price of tuition will mostly impact people from these countrie…

So because France had colonies they now have an obligation to take in foreign students?

Re: Cédric Villani: mathematician challenging to be Paris mayor

#92

Post by Nimitz14 »

onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #41
syrusakbary wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> For example, I think free college for everyone is a terrible idea. Most people consider that heresy. A terrible idea from what perspective? I'd love to hear more! (I'm on the other side of the spectrum)

I'm not opposed to free college if 1) you're studying something with a proven ROI, and/or 2) you have a good academic history, and/or 3) you can't otherwise afford it. I think the idea that someone can get straight C's in highschool and get $50k a year to study art in college is not a good use of my tax dollars. I also don't think it's a good idea to give someone like me a free college education. I make $400k a year.…

I think you made a lot of good points. And am disappointed that so many people who replied to you ignored that you were in favour of supporting low income individuals.

Let me add another point: There is a class of people who will never go to university - the real underclass whom 99% of people here have never met - instead they quit school at 15/16 to start working. The fact that these people then pay for some middle class yuppie's B.Art degree is outrageous.

Re: Cédric Villani: mathematician challenging to be Paris mayor

#93

Post by yodsanklai »

p4bl0 wrote: post #21

He is already an elected representative in the French parliament, being part of the current government's majority. His political party and the government have already passed several laws that are very damaging to research and higher education (among other things, but these two topics Villani actually knows something about, and he should care a bit given his background). He has never said anything publicly about it, o…

I think it's unfair to blame him for everything his political party does. If you want to be in a place where you can make a difference, you need to go along with certain decisions you may disagree with.

Re: Cédric Villani: mathematician challenging to be Paris mayor

#94

Post by oefrha »

goerz wrote: post #87
oefrha wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Trust me, if they're focused on reducing costs, they won't cost 2.5k a month. They don't cost 2.5k a month, and they aren't swanky broom closets. The average is ~1k, cheaper if you live with more people; this is below Palo Alto rent, mind you. I believe the Stanford dorm experience is way better than that of most American institutions. For starters, every undergrad is basically guaranteed housing for the entirety o…

I’ve stayed in Stanford dorms, and they were pretty swanky (but then, so was pretty much every other dorm in the US I’ve seen)

The variance is huge among all the different dorms so there are relatively swanky ones and ones that are not so (most are in the latter category, depending what you perceive as swanky of course). But my rebuttal was more on the "broom closet" part.

Re: Cédric Villani: mathematician challenging to be Paris mayor

#95

Post by yodsanklai »

xwolfi wrote: post #45
p4bl0 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First we do not agree on free education. I believe that's a good thing. Now, what Macron's government did wrong with research and higher education is: literally everything they did about it. The switch to high tuition as you said (especially given that it was only for foreigners , which I consider racist, and anyway the Conseil Constitutionnel recently found this measure unconstitutional). Parcoursup was a very bad d…

Foreigners aren't a "race", what are you saying. The proper definition of foreigner in this context is: never paid any taxes and most likely will not later. If foreigners in China, Chile or Uganda start paying french taxes, I'll follow you. On raising in the Shanghai index, it's bullshit only if you don't want to compete. Sure the metrics can be discussed but the impact of the low rank is very much here: top research…

> top researchers abroad won't even hear about french labs

I think it's not how it works. Researchers in a given field know each other. They will choose to collaborate based on personal reputation and scientific affinity, rather than the shanghai ranking of their institution.

Re: Cédric Villani: mathematician challenging to be Paris mayor

#96

Post by latestagetest »

Misteur-Z wrote: post #90
jnaddef wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Current mayor is hated by a lot of Parisians because of the "greenification of Paris" as you call it. She closed a few roads and made them pedestrian-only; that was not well received by a number of people.

She's applying short sighted solutions for the declining 2 million of "rich" Parisians (aka her electors) in an area of 12 million. She's basically flipping the bird to more 80% of the population. Lived in Paris for 20 years, everything is getting worse: - Public transportation => many subway lines are saturated - Traffic jams => stupid road and signals reworks (for cycling lanes mostly), it's a disaster, I am starti…

The problem is that she is elected by the 2 millions and not by the 12. Paris needs to annex its surrounding, Grand Paris is just too slow. A mayor of the 7-8 million of Petite Couronne would probably benefit Paris immensely.

That means public transport is working, Paris is one of the few big mature cities that invests heavily in new lines. (Not all of them make sense, but I guess that's politics)

Cars create traffic. Paris has been basically one traffic jam since 50 years, congestion pricing is what's needed, which she sadly is not pushing for, but which would create an even crazier absurd outcry than the closing of the berges (if that's possible).

The Paris Police Prefecture is under the Ministry of Interior, there slowly rolling out a much needed municipal police force.

Automatic enforcement of vehicle vignettes is not allowed yet, but will, from my understanding, be changed with the new mobility law.

Have you been to a country without working infrastructure and state with little power?

One of the problems is investing so much in public housing that could be used in better ways. So the debt of Paris has been rising quite sharply. At least the region (Ile de France) is actually building lots of housing compared to other big cities.

Re: Cédric Villani: mathematician challenging to be Paris mayor

#97

Post by latestagetest »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #50
jnaddef wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Current mayor is hated by a lot of Parisians because of the "greenification of Paris" as you call it. She closed a few roads and made them pedestrian-only; that was not well received by a number of people.

Basically, everyone without a car loves her, everyone who drives in Paris hates her.

I think one has to hate oneself to drive in Paris.

Re: Cédric Villani: mathematician challenging to be Paris mayor

#98

Post by p4bl0 »

yodsanklai wrote: post #93
p4bl0 wrote: post #21

He is already an elected representative in the French parliament, being part of the current government's majority. His political party and the government have already passed several laws that are very damaging to research and higher education (among other things, but these two topics Villani actually knows something about, and he should care a bit given his background). He has never said anything publicly about it, o…

I think it's unfair to blame him for everything his political party does. If you want to be in a place where you can make a difference, you need to go along with certain decisions you may disagree with.

He has not disagreed with a single thing. The only difference he wants to make is to have his political career on track.

Re: Cédric Villani: mathematician challenging to be Paris mayor

#99

Post by throwaway744678 »

p4bl0 wrote: post #70
xwolfi wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Foreigners aren't a "race", what are you saying. The proper definition of foreigner in this context is: never paid any taxes and most likely will not later. If foreigners in China, Chile or Uganda start paying french taxes, I'll follow you. On raising in the Shanghai index, it's bullshit only if you don't want to compete. Sure the metrics can be discussed but the impact of the low rank is very much here: top research…

Are you sure you know what racism is? Racism isn't about race. Otherwise it wouldn't exist: there is only one human race. Racism is about culturally perceived race. The vast majority of the people who are affected by this measure come from North Africa. You know, French ex-colonies. So yes, it was a racist move in my opinion. Concerning Shanghai index: what if I don't want to compete? The model of small French univer…

Having the law discriminate between nationals and foreigners is not, in itself, racist (eg. foreigners can't vote in most elections). You may state that you believe this move was racist, but you have to back your claim.

Re: Cédric Villani: mathematician challenging to be Paris mayor

#100

Post by throwaway744678 »

jnaddef wrote: post #22
prideout wrote: post #3

Not just a mathematician but a Fields medal winner. The current mayor of Paris is also an interesting person, being a Spanish-born woman from a working class family. She has made huge strides in the greenification of Paris: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/05/world/europe/paris-anne-h...

Current mayor is hated by a lot of Parisians because of the "greenification of Paris" as you call it. She closed a few roads and made them pedestrian-only; that was not well received by a number of people.

To add to your point, she is disliked by some for the gentrification of Paris, of which 'greenification' is only one aspect. Granted, this is a phenomenon that started well before her, and is not completely under the mayor's control.

Basically, only super-rich, single households or very poor (only in designated neighborhoods, thanks to social housing) people can still afford to live there. Middle-class families with kids can't anymore.

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