Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum
A main criteria for figuring out which programs to cut is how much they cost.
That's very advantageous for the potentates who run UNLV. The state subsidy is the same for each undergraduate. Smatresk has an incentive to enroll as many warm bodies as he can (until marginal cost exceeds marginal benefit) and to direct them into the most vapid programs he can. Huge lectures on video. Sections taught by part-timer ESL instructors or graduate students; online courses, etc.
Smatresk can't be bothered with a task to train the next generation of applied scientists. That's just too costly. Meanwhile, 90%+ of students (who stick around to graduate) earn worthless diplomas. Staffers at all levels earn money they could not make in the private sector -- especially those wacky liberal arts professors. Administrators make $200K+ for lording over the empire and shmoozing with bigshots (or whatever it is they do).
Now what's all this talk about higher education being key to the future of this state?
Showing posts with label Liberal_Arts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Liberal_Arts. Show all posts
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
Want BIG Government? Pay BIG User Fees
Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum
Under our constitution, the crooked politicians must first decide how much government they want in the biennium, and then find a way to fund it. Balanced budget.
The Legislature spends ~115 days piling on the government. More K-16. More REAL ID. More employment training for Horsefurd's clients to burn. More regulations for Raggio's clients to fight. More citizen dossiers (databases). More Prozac. More initiatives. And on and on and on. No one should be surprised that spending grows 8% from the previous biennium.
They spend the last 5 days arguing over how to pay for it. Existing tax sources at their practical economic limits, the crooked politicians go hunting for *new* ones. And why not? You have to pay for it somehow.
I oppose BIG government and the high taxes necessary to pay for it. Still, if we're going to be stuck with BIG government The Legislature should impose USER FEES. Charge parents $15,000/yr for each kid they send to public daycare (K-12). Charge UNLV liberal arts undergraduates $800/credit.
Make the folks who consume government services pay for their true cost.
Under our constitution, the crooked politicians must first decide how much government they want in the biennium, and then find a way to fund it. Balanced budget.
The Legislature spends ~115 days piling on the government. More K-16. More REAL ID. More employment training for Horsefurd's clients to burn. More regulations for Raggio's clients to fight. More citizen dossiers (databases). More Prozac. More initiatives. And on and on and on. No one should be surprised that spending grows 8% from the previous biennium.
They spend the last 5 days arguing over how to pay for it. Existing tax sources at their practical economic limits, the crooked politicians go hunting for *new* ones. And why not? You have to pay for it somehow.
I oppose BIG government and the high taxes necessary to pay for it. Still, if we're going to be stuck with BIG government The Legislature should impose USER FEES. Charge parents $15,000/yr for each kid they send to public daycare (K-12). Charge UNLV liberal arts undergraduates $800/credit.
Make the folks who consume government services pay for their true cost.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
So Many Things Wrong With Higher Education In Nevada
Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum
UNLV is one big POLITICAL institution. It's all about pumping money into a district other than Raggio's, jobs for friends, PC "goals" like diversity and "critical theory" (communism), and sports. It should be shuttered.
Division 1 sports is a tax CONSUMER. In the current biennium the state appropriation for UNR Intercollegiate Athletics (Division 1) is $5.8M/yr. The corresponding appropriation for UNLV is $7.9M/yr. See AB-562 Section 17 (2009).
Incidentally, whatever money is generated from D1 -- through ticket sales, broadcast rights, merchandising, snacks, etc should revert to the General Fund for the crooked politicians to redistribute as *they* see fit. Whoever authorized UNLV to operate semi-pro sports teams in lieu of direct taxpayer support and/or user fees (tuition)?
DRI is a tax CONSUMER. It's just another government contractor. Like Sandia, LBL and Oak Ridge. It could NEVER survive as a *commercial* research firm. It's the post office with no water.
NSHE should be reduced to its constitutional minimum: one campus (UNR) offering practical instruction in just three departments. Mining, Agriculture and Engineering. Funding provided by donations, traffic tickets and the Trust established ~140 years ago. All students on scholarship or else paying just nominal tuition.
Liberal arts majors can transfer to the Claremont Colleges.
UNLV is one big POLITICAL institution. It's all about pumping money into a district other than Raggio's, jobs for friends, PC "goals" like diversity and "critical theory" (communism), and sports. It should be shuttered.
Division 1 sports is a tax CONSUMER. In the current biennium the state appropriation for UNR Intercollegiate Athletics (Division 1) is $5.8M/yr. The corresponding appropriation for UNLV is $7.9M/yr. See AB-562 Section 17 (2009).
Incidentally, whatever money is generated from D1 -- through ticket sales, broadcast rights, merchandising, snacks, etc should revert to the General Fund for the crooked politicians to redistribute as *they* see fit. Whoever authorized UNLV to operate semi-pro sports teams in lieu of direct taxpayer support and/or user fees (tuition)?
DRI is a tax CONSUMER. It's just another government contractor. Like Sandia, LBL and Oak Ridge. It could NEVER survive as a *commercial* research firm. It's the post office with no water.
NSHE should be reduced to its constitutional minimum: one campus (UNR) offering practical instruction in just three departments. Mining, Agriculture and Engineering. Funding provided by donations, traffic tickets and the Trust established ~140 years ago. All students on scholarship or else paying just nominal tuition.
Liberal arts majors can transfer to the Claremont Colleges.
A Mission for the University of Nevada
Originally posted in a LVRJ forum
If a public university is to have any mission at all, it should only be to train the next generation of applied scientists, not future sports Hall-of-Famers. So which group does Smatresk propose to hit with higher fees? Which group does Smatresk think deserves free rides?
The applied science professors bring in the federal grant money. UNLV takes its "cut"; ~50%. Research is a profit center. That's right. But the primary mission of a professor is supposed to be teaching, not sales. Nobody wants to pay higher taxes create a sandbox for eggheads. Unless you expect X-Ray Crystallographers to teach The Short Stories of Vladimir Nabakov, that means UNLV must offer science courses and LABS. No way around that.
In contrast, the Liberal Arts programs are pure burden. Their professors bring in NO grant money. Students in *those* majors should pay full fee. $800/credit sounds about right.
For that matter, eliminate Division 1 sports. Field teams from the strapping ranks of the science students. Their professors can coach. $100/game. Graduate students assistant. Put the "student" back in student-athlete.
If a public university is to have any mission at all, it should only be to train the next generation of applied scientists, not future sports Hall-of-Famers. So which group does Smatresk propose to hit with higher fees? Which group does Smatresk think deserves free rides?
The applied science professors bring in the federal grant money. UNLV takes its "cut"; ~50%. Research is a profit center. That's right. But the primary mission of a professor is supposed to be teaching, not sales. Nobody wants to pay higher taxes create a sandbox for eggheads. Unless you expect X-Ray Crystallographers to teach The Short Stories of Vladimir Nabakov, that means UNLV must offer science courses and LABS. No way around that.
In contrast, the Liberal Arts programs are pure burden. Their professors bring in NO grant money. Students in *those* majors should pay full fee. $800/credit sounds about right.
For that matter, eliminate Division 1 sports. Field teams from the strapping ranks of the science students. Their professors can coach. $100/game. Graduate students assistant. Put the "student" back in student-athlete.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
N$HE Roll Call
Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum
No more Division 1 sports.
No more athletic scholarships.
No more NFL/NBA/MLB payscale coaches.
No more junk departments (like Interdisciplinary) maintained to provide jocks with academic cover.
No more staffers paid more than the Governor.
No more liberal arts programs at less than full fee ($800/credit).
No more buildings and roads named after Raggio.
No more NSHE lobbyists.
- UNLV Basketball Head Coach Kruger makes $1M/yr.
- UNLV Football Head Coach Hauck makes $450K.
- UNR President Glick makes $400K.
- Thienhaus (Med School) $395K [best guess]
- White (Boyd) $339K
- NSHE Chancellor Klaich makes $330K.
- UNLV President Smatresk makes $300K.
- UNLV Athletic Director Livengood makes $285K.
- NSC President Maryanski makes $250K.
- Harter (BMI) 248K
- West (Dental School) $218K
- VP Smith $192K.
- Provost Bowers $189K
- Division 1 assistant coaches make $125K.
- Unionized professors overpaid.
- and on and on and on.
No more Division 1 sports.
No more athletic scholarships.
No more NFL/NBA/MLB payscale coaches.
No more junk departments (like Interdisciplinary) maintained to provide jocks with academic cover.
No more staffers paid more than the Governor.
No more liberal arts programs at less than full fee ($800/credit).
No more buildings and roads named after Raggio.
No more NSHE lobbyists.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
UNLV Students Protesting The Wrong Things
Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum
Protest, huh? How about protesting your
Hey Liberal arts students. You should all be paying the true cost of college. That's the way our system was set up. $800/credit sounds about right.
Protest, huh? How about protesting your
- Professors' thick foreign accents?
- Teaching Assistants' miserable teaching skills?
- basketball coach's $1M salary?
- AD's $300K salary?
- football coach's $450K salary?
- President's $300K salary?
- Chancellor's $335K salary?
- jock departments like University Studies?
- money spent on lobbying fees?
- money spent on jobs for friends of politicians?
- money spent on scholarships for jocks?
- Faculty-student romances?
Hey Liberal arts students. You should all be paying the true cost of college. That's the way our system was set up. $800/credit sounds about right.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Another UNLV "Scholar" In a JUNK Department
[UNLV Professor Jennifer Livengood] tries to figure out how religious practices and beliefs influence how -- and how much -- people have fun
This is ridiculous.
Why do so many charlatan professors always want to be called "Doctor"? How many patients do they treat? I've read the titles of some of Livengood's papers. Not serious scholarship. Livengood's name also appears as an "ally" on a Celebrates National Coming Out Day brochure (LGBT related).
The original University of Nevada (now UNR) was chartered by the state constitution to provide practical in three fields relevant to this state: Mining, Engineering, and Agriculture. The constitution authorized the Legislature to create additional colleges as it deemed necessary. Does anything think a Hotel College, with a Department of Leisure, is *necessary*? Of course not! This is just politics. These Professors of Basketweaving all vote for Democrats.
Shutter this ridiculous college/department. Whenever I read about "academics" like Livengood, I'm reminded of that Dan Akroyd character in Ghostbusters. You've never been out of college! You don't know what it's like out there! I've *worked* in the private sector. They expect *results*.
If Livengood is so good, she should work for McDonald's University. Otherwise, UNLV should trade her to Cornell for a Physicist. We'll even throw in a $300K sweetener -- money we can get by canning Smatresk.
This is ridiculous.
Why do so many charlatan professors always want to be called "Doctor"? How many patients do they treat? I've read the titles of some of Livengood's papers. Not serious scholarship. Livengood's name also appears as an "ally" on a Celebrates National Coming Out Day brochure (LGBT related).
The original University of Nevada (now UNR) was chartered by the state constitution to provide practical in three fields relevant to this state: Mining, Engineering, and Agriculture. The constitution authorized the Legislature to create additional colleges as it deemed necessary. Does anything think a Hotel College, with a Department of Leisure, is *necessary*? Of course not! This is just politics. These Professors of Basketweaving all vote for Democrats.
Shutter this ridiculous college/department. Whenever I read about "academics" like Livengood, I'm reminded of that Dan Akroyd character in Ghostbusters. You've never been out of college! You don't know what it's like out there! I've *worked* in the private sector. They expect *results*.
If Livengood is so good, she should work for McDonald's University. Otherwise, UNLV should trade her to Cornell for a Physicist. We'll even throw in a $300K sweetener -- money we can get by canning Smatresk.
Monday, November 2, 2009
UNLV Liberal Arts
Originally posted in a LVRJ forum
Mary Hausch, a journalism professor .. has a Facebook page, but she's careful not to mix Facebook with class. She generally won't be Facebook friends with current students, she said, though she will accept their friend requests once the semester is over.
Yeah, sure. These liberal arts professors (and their graduate students) use social networking sites to get dates with their students. If you confront these degenerates, they'll give some 60's-era pablum about how sex broaden the college experience. Blah blah blah.
Abolish all these liberal arts departments, Division I sports programs, etc. Get the University of Nevada back to its original mission: instruction in three applied science subjects relevant to this state: Agriculture, Mining, and Engineering.
Mary Hausch, a journalism professor .. has a Facebook page, but she's careful not to mix Facebook with class. She generally won't be Facebook friends with current students, she said, though she will accept their friend requests once the semester is over.
Yeah, sure. These liberal arts professors (and their graduate students) use social networking sites to get dates with their students. If you confront these degenerates, they'll give some 60's-era pablum about how sex broaden the college experience. Blah blah blah.
Abolish all these liberal arts departments, Division I sports programs, etc. Get the University of Nevada back to its original mission: instruction in three applied science subjects relevant to this state: Agriculture, Mining, and Engineering.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Free Speech For CCSD Parents, Courtesy of YOU
Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum
When a government school stages a play -- be it left-wing trash like Rent or classics like Lear -- it is not *breaking* injustice put PERPETUATING it. Citizens should not be forced to support (via taxation) the political/artistic speech/taste of others, especially agenda which they completely oppose. What's worse, some of this money is going towards royalties for Rent's degenerate copyright owners. This is all patently offensive.
All you whining defenders of this "production" can purchase/alter your own costumes/sets, rent a private auditorium, sell tickets in front of Safeway, and sing til your hearts are content. Leave the rest of us alone.
When a government school stages a play -- be it left-wing trash like Rent or classics like Lear -- it is not *breaking* injustice put PERPETUATING it. Citizens should not be forced to support (via taxation) the political/artistic speech/taste of others, especially agenda which they completely oppose. What's worse, some of this money is going towards royalties for Rent's degenerate copyright owners. This is all patently offensive.
All you whining defenders of this "production" can purchase/alter your own costumes/sets, rent a private auditorium, sell tickets in front of Safeway, and sing til your hearts are content. Leave the rest of us alone.
College of Southern NV is Useless
Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum
CSN is a total waste of taxpayer dollars. It provided *remedial* education. How many times must Nevada taxpayers pay to teach kids the 3 R's? In many ways, NSHE is *worse* that CCSD.
CSN is a completely *political* institution. Legislators from Clark County were envious of all that money being pumped into (what is now) Raggio's district (UNR), so they politic'd to ensure that some of the booty gets spent in *their* districts. That is why we have the repetitive CSN, the redundant UNLV, and so forth.
Public education (K-16) accounts for ~50% of the ~$6.7B biannual state budget. If we restricted public education to its constitutional minimum -- public school per district (county) and three University applied science departments -- we could reduce our financial commitment to public education down to ~$2M per year. That's right.
But then, how would all those ridiculous school arts teachers earn a living? Good heavens. Kids interested in the performing arts might have to join a community theater group or something. OMG. The sky is falling.
CSN is a total waste of taxpayer dollars. It provided *remedial* education. How many times must Nevada taxpayers pay to teach kids the 3 R's? In many ways, NSHE is *worse* that CCSD.
CSN is a completely *political* institution. Legislators from Clark County were envious of all that money being pumped into (what is now) Raggio's district (UNR), so they politic'd to ensure that some of the booty gets spent in *their* districts. That is why we have the repetitive CSN, the redundant UNLV, and so forth.
Public education (K-16) accounts for ~50% of the ~$6.7B biannual state budget. If we restricted public education to its constitutional minimum -- public school per district (county) and three University applied science departments -- we could reduce our financial commitment to public education down to ~$2M per year. That's right.
But then, how would all those ridiculous school arts teachers earn a living? Good heavens. Kids interested in the performing arts might have to join a community theater group or something. OMG. The sky is falling.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Dump Liberal Arts
Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum
Liberal arts courses should be strictly limited to those which further the mission of applied science education. An engineer should know how to write an essay.
If I were a Regent, English Comp (or testing out of it) would be required. Liberal arts courses like Drama and Beowulf would NOT be available. Math, physics, etc are fundamental to applied science. A wide variety of such courses would be available. Many (ie two semesters of Calculus) are standard requirements, anyhow. I suppose enough would be offerred to make a dual-major program possible.
If I were a Regent, I would likely approve such an option. "History of Science", "Engineering Economics", etc are courses which should be available as electives. Peloponesian War, Marx's Theory of Capital, etc. would not.
If I were a Regent, there would be no liberal arts departments. The courses would be taught by contractors.
Liberal arts courses should be strictly limited to those which further the mission of applied science education. An engineer should know how to write an essay.
If I were a Regent, English Comp (or testing out of it) would be required. Liberal arts courses like Drama and Beowulf would NOT be available. Math, physics, etc are fundamental to applied science. A wide variety of such courses would be available. Many (ie two semesters of Calculus) are standard requirements, anyhow. I suppose enough would be offerred to make a dual-major program possible.
If I were a Regent, I would likely approve such an option. "History of Science", "Engineering Economics", etc are courses which should be available as electives. Peloponesian War, Marx's Theory of Capital, etc. would not.
If I were a Regent, there would be no liberal arts departments. The courses would be taught by contractors.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Rogers Defends Worthlesss Departments
Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum
Rogers said: If we start talking about (eliminating) a department, pretty soon everything falls apart.
How about eliminating all departments popular with "student"-athletes? UNLV is phasing out a degree program called "University Studies" because it's a jock major. Some huge percentage of players on the football and basketball teams were in it. The program's requirements are so soft, a 3rd grader could get through it. Nevertheless, most of its majors never complete it. Outrageous. Now UNLV is replacing that quack program with something called "Interdisciplinary". Same sewage, different toilet.
For that matter, how about eliminating *all* liberal arts programs? Most of those departments have no objective standards. It's noteworthy that a significant percentage of the majors are romantically involved with their professors. Why should blue-collar consumers of trashy romance novels have to pay sales taxes to support elitists who want to dissect Wuthering Heights as a pretext for sexual opportunism?
Rogers doesn't want to talk about eliminating ridiculous "academic" programs because then the truth about these charades would be exposed. Or, he might have to explain why UNLV places such a high value on professors of football ($431K per year) and basketball ($1M per year). Is Rogers the Chancellor of NSHE or ESPN?
Rogers said: If we start talking about (eliminating) a department, pretty soon everything falls apart.
How about eliminating all departments popular with "student"-athletes? UNLV is phasing out a degree program called "University Studies" because it's a jock major. Some huge percentage of players on the football and basketball teams were in it. The program's requirements are so soft, a 3rd grader could get through it. Nevertheless, most of its majors never complete it. Outrageous. Now UNLV is replacing that quack program with something called "Interdisciplinary". Same sewage, different toilet.
For that matter, how about eliminating *all* liberal arts programs? Most of those departments have no objective standards. It's noteworthy that a significant percentage of the majors are romantically involved with their professors. Why should blue-collar consumers of trashy romance novels have to pay sales taxes to support elitists who want to dissect Wuthering Heights as a pretext for sexual opportunism?
Rogers doesn't want to talk about eliminating ridiculous "academic" programs because then the truth about these charades would be exposed. Or, he might have to explain why UNLV places such a high value on professors of football ($431K per year) and basketball ($1M per year). Is Rogers the Chancellor of NSHE or ESPN?
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