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I think the point of your post's parent is that they are paid, but compared to how much they could be making in the private sector they are working slave-wages.

I think the point of your post's parent is that they are paid, but compared to how much they could be making in the private sector they are working slave-wages. Unless you think the work they are doing as grad students is worth less than what they're payed (slave-wages) the balance works out that we are getting more from them than they get from us.

timr 18y ago
That's his point, but it's an irrelevant one to my argument. The gains we get from paying for research are hypothetical. Research is an investment. Nobody expects it to turn an immediate profit, or even generate a revenue of any significance -- which is great, because it usually doesn't, and most academic research isn't commercially viable anyway. When we pay for foreign students to earn advanced degrees, only to kick them out of the country once they've graduated, we're cutting off our nose to spite our face. Why are people having such a difficult time understanding this?
- cconstantine 18y ago
  ah, reading comprehension... I can has some? You are more correct than I am :)
  - timr 18y ago
    I don't know if you're being sarcastic, but there must have been something about the way I wrote my original comment that was particularly obtuse, since I seem to be attracting quite the backlash....
    - cconstantine 18y ago
      No sarcasm. I'm not sure what it was for other people, but I decided I disagreed with you before I got to that critical last sentence in your root post.
      - timr 18y ago
        Ah. Must've buried the lede. :-)
- felipe 18y ago
  > When we pay for foreign students to earn advanced degrees, only to kick them out of the country once they've graduated, we're cutting off our nose to spite our face. Right, I agree with you, and I understand your argument (though I don't agree with it per se) that the return is questionable. I was just asking about your claim of "a huge number of foreign grad students and post-docs are being paid off", especially grads in high-tech industry (which is the focus of the article)

timr 18y ago

That's his point, but it's an irrelevant one to my argument. The gains we get from paying for research are hypothetical. Research is an investment. Nobody expects it to turn an immediate profit, or even generate a revenue of any significance -- which is great, because it usually doesn't, and most academic research isn't commercially viable anyway. When we pay for foreign students to earn advanced degrees, only to kick them out of the country once they've graduated, we're cutting off our nose to spite our face. Why are people having such a difficult time understanding this?

cconstantine 18y ago
ah, reading comprehension... I can has some? You are more correct than I am :)
- timr 18y ago
  I don't know if you're being sarcastic, but there must have been something about the way I wrote my original comment that was particularly obtuse, since I seem to be attracting quite the backlash....
  - cconstantine 18y ago
    No sarcasm. I'm not sure what it was for other people, but I decided I disagreed with you before I got to that critical last sentence in your root post.
    - timr 18y ago
      Ah. Must've buried the lede. :-)
felipe 18y ago
> When we pay for foreign students to earn advanced degrees, only to kick them out of the country once they've graduated, we're cutting off our nose to spite our face. Right, I agree with you, and I understand your argument (though I don't agree with it per se) that the return is questionable. I was just asking about your claim of "a huge number of foreign grad students and post-docs are being paid off", especially grads in high-tech industry (which is the focus of the article)