Posted on 01/24/2010 4:21:10 AM PST by reaganaut1
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Mr. Macias is just one of more than 26,000 students at San Francisco State, and now educational opportunities cost more and are harder to grasp and even harder to hold onto than ever before. Mr. Macias’s experience of truncated offerings, furloughed professors and crowded classrooms is typical.
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Terry Hartle, the senior vice president of the American Council on Education, a [higher education] trade association, confirmed that higher education in California has become akin to navigating an obstacle course.
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In 1960, he added, the state created “the gold standard in high-quality, low-cost public higher education. This year, the California legislature abandoned the gold standard.”
Because of state budget cuts to higher education, San Francisco State is now offering 3,173 course sections, 12 percent fewer than two years ago. From the university administration’s point of view, that is not as bad as it might have been: over $1.5 million in federal stimulus money prevented more draconian cuts.
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This semester, he is signed up for a biology class, but was unable to get into the companion laboratory class. His other courses are a workshop on the “history, aesthetics, mechanics and politics of rap music and hip-hop culture,” a class built around the campus radio station, KSFS, and a class called “The Origins of Rock,” which is supposed to be for upperclassmen.
He is on the waiting list for a humanities class called Style and Expressive Forms and a physics laboratory class, which he hopes will help him get into the physics lecture class. They are meant to be taken together.
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And it is not just classes that he has to deal with this semester. He must also deal with the legal system. He faces misdemeanor trespassing charges as a result of joining last semester’s protests of the budget cuts.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
But then the displaced, but tenured, faculty would have to be assigned to teaching courses in traditional fields like history, philosophy, literature, etc. for which they have no competency.
I would bet you dollars to donuts that the 2010 USF budget, even with these “cuts” is higher than the budget for 2008. The problem is that the institution grows to suck up every available dollar, and then cannot tolerate any diminuation of funding. Thus the one-way ratchet.
The stimulus money was probably wasted on discretionary raises for people who would not leave their jobs and try to find a employment in the real world in a million years.
Well, I guess they can use the S&E class knowledge gain to express how disgruntled at not being able to find a job.
This state deserves what it gets.
Economics 101: There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch (TANSTAAFL for short.)
The article says he has to be full-time to get financial aid. He can’t get in to courses relevant to his degree so he fills his card with crap courses.
Note that there were openings in the crap courses but not the good ones.
Larry Niven quote, I believe, right?
Heinlein had some great ones too. "There are makers, takers and fakers." College professors of rap music are probably the latter of the three. Government in general, and lawyers especially, are takers.
He also said "Always vote, and if you don't know which way to vote, vote AGAINST it."
Here’s the solution. Video every class up load it to 10’s of thousands of students on line......ooops no the professors wont like that.
I have worked in the University system for years. I will tell you this. In most cases it is a waste. You can get a better learning experience on line, unless you are talking about the upper sciences.
The University is the only guild system to survive the middle ages. It’s presupossition is “only knowledge can be passed down from a master lecturer to a student” . Well that is BS now within the information age. The thing that stops people is that a college degree is a membership card. Can you work for 4 years to get a degree? Okay then you qualify for a job.
Its a joke.
“Students face a class struggle” Oh, pleeeeease, poor babies. At least they are in college. Most of their cohort isn’t. Only about 50% of individuals who attend college ever complete their degree. Does everyone understand that only approx 29% of adults have college degrees and less than 1% have advanced degrees. Anyone who is a student is privileged and lucky they have the opportunity. Keep taking those hip-hop classes because I’m sure that will help you in life.
I have an idea. The school should drop all idiotic classes like rap, and use the money to provide biology, physics, and engineering and such.
I find it incredible that people pay tax dollars for idiots to take and teach foolish and meaningless idiocy. How did people ever get so stupid?
I do have some sympathy for this person regarding trying to get into the “real” college courses, that is, not the history of rap or basketweaving or BS like that. Perhaps in these tight times, the university should offer more legitimate classes for students like these to get into instead of feelgood BS classes which help nobody.
He can always join the military.
I’m afraid all the cuts were to Western Civ and American History (the unrevised edition).
When I was in college, if more people needed to take a class, they moved the class to a larger room. Some of my classes had 50, 100 or even 500 people in the class.
Didn’t matter to me, we were adults, we were responsible to pay attention and read the books.
Rap classes? It’s no wonder a college degree isn’t worth as much any more.
Kinda sucks when most of the money being spent now are for bloated pensions of public sector workers.
Also...perhaps if they got rid of some of the silly classes they could open up another section of physics.
“...low-cost public higher education...”
Gee, I guess these clowns have to wait until they enter college to learn that there is no free lunch.
i wonder how many are illegal aliens or children of illegals.
Exactly.
Before hiring, we tested AS degree applicants with an 8th grade math test and 40% failed.
Exactly.
Before hiring, we tested AS degree applicants with an 8th grade math test and 40% failed.
Hispanics hardest hit, apparently.
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