4 ms·

Sadly Ohio's state government doesn't want to invest in higher education. My father was in the physics department at Kent State University (my alma mater) and I

Sadly Ohio's state government doesn't want to invest in higher education. My father was in the physics department at Kent State University (my alma mater) and I remember him complaining year after year about how the state was cutting funding. Really a shame. Between this, Ohio's shameful anti-LGBTQ laws, and the truly awful racism, it's really like the state is trying to drive people away. I moved to CA 7 years ago and couldn't imagine moving back after talking to friends who are still there.

pm90 5y ago
The incredible University systems in the US are an amazing asset… failure to recognize their value by craven businessmen turned Republican politicians that only understand money is going to be one of the biggest tragedies to befall America.
- someguydave 5y ago
  Republicans would probably be happy to support universities if they were no longer under the control of people who wish them ill.
  - pm90 5y ago
    Republicans shouldn’t support policies that the most educated members of society find bad enough to wish ill on them.
  - wolverine876 5y ago
    > under the control of people who wish them ill A bunch of victimhood to excuse their bad actions (and change the subject). So they are sacrificing assets and essential services to the American people for political revenge? They won't provide public goods to Democrats?
- jollybean 5y ago
  Republicans are pretty good are recognizing the value of good post-secondary education, their leadership still counts good schools as alma mater, even Trump. They lament some social issues on campus from a populist perspective but sometimes I think it's not always without merit, or at least a discussion. The political issue is at the elementary and high school level, and it's more about supporting families than it is the schools, where 'teacher quality' is a huge and ridiculous distraction. If every kid got a chance to attend school while living what most of us would call 'Normal Middle Class Circumstances' (i.e. decent parents, stable home, economic stability, no gangs or crime) there would be progress. This investment is such a hugely important announcement, the number of really high quality jobs ... and the secondary economic factors will be even bigger. The US Midwest has long been under utilized. If US leadership could do anything, it would be to convince some of the big SV operators to invest decisively and aggressively in 2cnd and 3rd tier places which are frankly very prepared for it. Ohio, Miami, Raleigh, Michigan, Chicago etc.. Concentration in specific areas has been going on too long and is at least a decade past it's benefit.
  - pm90 5y ago
    > Republicans are pretty good are recognizing the value of good post-secondary education, their leadership still counts good schools as alma mater, even Trump. The assertion wasn’t that Republicans are too stupid to know the value; but that knowing the value, they still want to make it difficult for more people to achieve it. Rich people recognize the value of money while at the same time denying money to others.
    - jollybean 5y ago
      Even if that is the assertion, I still wouldn't agree. The US spends more on education as a % of GDP than anywhere in the world. And - it has a very high GDP/capita as a starting point. And sends more people on to post-secondary education than most places, more than in most countries were post-secondary is socialized. Germany, with fully socialized University has to ration it - the end up 'streaming' kids by age 15, and those slots are disproportionately allocated to rich kids, moreover, the number of post-secondary students (in College programs, not internships) is lower than in the US, kind of exacerbating the inequality problem. To boot, the US has a massive problem with post-secondary debt. University education itself is not the only key to success, rather, it was historically a status marker of the elite. Since it is not just that anymore, we have to be more practical about who we send to school. I would argue we have too many liberal arts graduates, and not nearly enough trade programs and internships. While Liberal Arts programs absolutely embellish students with higher order thinking, and it would be nice if everyone could attend ... it's frankly the purview of the people who can afford to pay for it without having that cost related to a job on the other end. And, given that in the US that basic literacy is still a serious problem for many of those in High School ... do we really think that the quantity of post-secondary students really the problem? Probably not. The US does a pretty good job at getting people into post-secondary programs, even when they generally would not be qualified, and it's arguably inefficient. If this were 1970, then it would be an easy argument of 'getting more people into College'. But conditions have changed and it's a much more difficult situation. Keep the bars high and objective instead of trying to send everyone to College by virtue of magical thinking. Maybe we can graduate everyone from highschool as a matter of social equality, but providing kids with projects they can sink their effort into and especially develop the middle-tier apprenticeship programs (i.e. Germany) would be probably a better approach. I'll bet $1000 that these Intel Chip Fabs require just as many 'trained specialists' as they do College Grad designers. I'd also bet $1000 that 'Republicans' (at least practically and ideologically) would back that kind of approach. We could start by breaking 'Doctor' and 'Nurse' into more categories. By making college only 2 or 3 years + 2 years teachers college instead of requiring a 4 year degree. By defining and regulating some types of skilled trades, possibly even software. Etc. And of course, probably by raising minimum wage, supporting automation and happily moving out non-productive jobs to Mexico and Vietnam where the net surpluses are greater anyhow. In 2021, it's reasonable for people to take the position that fudging more people through college is just not the most productive or even equitable approach we should approach.
jscipione 5y ago
Go Buckeyes!
ericmay 5y ago
> Between this, Ohio's shameful anti-LGBTQ laws Which ones specifically? I’d like to learn more and this is something that I’ll pester my representative about. For Columbus specifically in day-to-day life I’m curious what effect these laws have. We have gay clubs and actually a reputation as a “gay mecca”. In Columbus we also have the doo-dah parade, a gigantic, corporate sponsored gay pride parade, and lots of drag events like during our big Halloween party. > and the truly awful racism Eh you can find racism in all 50 states, California included. People say this but it’s just the news talking that’s coloring your opinion.
- QuercusMax 5y ago
  Ohio passed a law to prevent trans folks from changing their legal gender; a federal court has struck this down, but I'm not sure where that stands. They also have laws that allow medical providers to refuse treatment to LGBTQ. This is just from a few moments on Google; there's a wiki article with more info: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Ohio https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Ohio
  - 0xedd 5y ago
    Why would a mentally disordered person be allowed to dictate his own treatment? That is ludicrous. https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/gender-dysphoria/what-is-gender-dysphoria https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/gender-dysphori... Regardless of your political stance on the matter, this is off topic. You should ask yourself why you feel compelled to thrust this subject here.

pm90 5y ago

The incredible University systems in the US are an amazing asset… failure to recognize their value by craven businessmen turned Republican politicians that only understand money is going to be one of the biggest tragedies to befall America.

someguydave 5y ago
Republicans would probably be happy to support universities if they were no longer under the control of people who wish them ill.
- pm90 5y ago
  Republicans shouldn’t support policies that the most educated members of society find bad enough to wish ill on them.
- wolverine876 5y ago
  > under the control of people who wish them ill A bunch of victimhood to excuse their bad actions (and change the subject). So they are sacrificing assets and essential services to the American people for political revenge? They won't provide public goods to Democrats?
jollybean 5y ago
Republicans are pretty good are recognizing the value of good post-secondary education, their leadership still counts good schools as alma mater, even Trump. They lament some social issues on campus from a populist perspective but sometimes I think it's not always without merit, or at least a discussion. The political issue is at the elementary and high school level, and it's more about supporting families than it is the schools, where 'teacher quality' is a huge and ridiculous distraction. If every kid got a chance to attend school while living what most of us would call 'Normal Middle Class Circumstances' (i.e. decent parents, stable home, economic stability, no gangs or crime) there would be progress. This investment is such a hugely important announcement, the number of really high quality jobs ... and the secondary economic factors will be even bigger. The US Midwest has long been under utilized. If US leadership could do anything, it would be to convince some of the big SV operators to invest decisively and aggressively in 2cnd and 3rd tier places which are frankly very prepared for it. Ohio, Miami, Raleigh, Michigan, Chicago etc.. Concentration in specific areas has been going on too long and is at least a decade past it's benefit.
- pm90 5y ago
  > Republicans are pretty good are recognizing the value of good post-secondary education, their leadership still counts good schools as alma mater, even Trump. The assertion wasn’t that Republicans are too stupid to know the value; but that knowing the value, they still want to make it difficult for more people to achieve it. Rich people recognize the value of money while at the same time denying money to others.
  - jollybean 5y ago
    Even if that is the assertion, I still wouldn't agree. The US spends more on education as a % of GDP than anywhere in the world. And - it has a very high GDP/capita as a starting point. And sends more people on to post-secondary education than most places, more than in most countries were post-secondary is socialized. Germany, with fully socialized University has to ration it - the end up 'streaming' kids by age 15, and those slots are disproportionately allocated to rich kids, moreover, the number of post-secondary students (in College programs, not internships) is lower than in the US, kind of exacerbating the inequality problem. To boot, the US has a massive problem with post-secondary debt. University education itself is not the only key to success, rather, it was historically a status marker of the elite. Since it is not just that anymore, we have to be more practical about who we send to school. I would argue we have too many liberal arts graduates, and not nearly enough trade programs and internships. While Liberal Arts programs absolutely embellish students with higher order thinking, and it would be nice if everyone could attend ... it's frankly the purview of the people who can afford to pay for it without having that cost related to a job on the other end. And, given that in the US that basic literacy is still a serious problem for many of those in High School ... do we really think that the quantity of post-secondary students really the problem? Probably not. The US does a pretty good job at getting people into post-secondary programs, even when they generally would not be qualified, and it's arguably inefficient. If this were 1970, then it would be an easy argument of 'getting more people into College'. But conditions have changed and it's a much more difficult situation. Keep the bars high and objective instead of trying to send everyone to College by virtue of magical thinking. Maybe we can graduate everyone from highschool as a matter of social equality, but providing kids with projects they can sink their effort into and especially develop the middle-tier apprenticeship programs (i.e. Germany) would be probably a better approach. I'll bet $1000 that these Intel Chip Fabs require just as many 'trained specialists' as they do College Grad designers. I'd also bet $1000 that 'Republicans' (at least practically and ideologically) would back that kind of approach. We could start by breaking 'Doctor' and 'Nurse' into more categories. By making college only 2 or 3 years + 2 years teachers college instead of requiring a 4 year degree. By defining and regulating some types of skilled trades, possibly even software. Etc. And of course, probably by raising minimum wage, supporting automation and happily moving out non-productive jobs to Mexico and Vietnam where the net surpluses are greater anyhow. In 2021, it's reasonable for people to take the position that fudging more people through college is just not the most productive or even equitable approach we should approach.

jscipione 5y ago

Go Buckeyes!

ericmay 5y ago

> Between this, Ohio's shameful anti-LGBTQ laws Which ones specifically? I’d like to learn more and this is something that I’ll pester my representative about. For Columbus specifically in day-to-day life I’m curious what effect these laws have. We have gay clubs and actually a reputation as a “gay mecca”. In Columbus we also have the doo-dah parade, a gigantic, corporate sponsored gay pride parade, and lots of drag events like during our big Halloween party. > and the truly awful racism Eh you can find racism in all 50 states, California included. People say this but it’s just the news talking that’s coloring your opinion.

QuercusMax 5y ago
Ohio passed a law to prevent trans folks from changing their legal gender; a federal court has struck this down, but I'm not sure where that stands. They also have laws that allow medical providers to refuse treatment to LGBTQ. This is just from a few moments on Google; there's a wiki article with more info: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Ohio https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Ohio
- 0xedd 5y ago
  Why would a mentally disordered person be allowed to dictate his own treatment? That is ludicrous. https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/gender-dysphoria/what-is-gender-dysphoria https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/gender-dysphori... Regardless of your political stance on the matter, this is off topic. You should ask yourself why you feel compelled to thrust this subject here.