Burnt Orange Report

I testified at the committee meeting where tuition dereg got approved and Fred Brown talked down to us, ignored us and voted for this bill. We stood there and told him- University Democrats, Young Conservatives of Texas and the Campus Greens together- told him that this plan was foolish and would tax the middle class. He ignored us so he can kiss my ass.

Don't blame me for your tuition increase seems to be the mantra of many state representatives.

Um, perhaps they did remove the leash. But, surely the college administrators - with their million dollar football coaches and non-teaching Nobel laureates...you know, the ones who actually raised the tuition - should get the blame?

Preemptive response to those tempted to excuse the college administrators by citing state budget cuts: convince me there was not enough fat in the college bureacracy to get by with the cuts. Puhlease.

Mr, Harden,

I seriously doubt that football coaches (even in TX) earn a million a year. Nonetheless, football programs in "big sports" schools actually MAKE universities money.

Non-teaching Nobel Laureates? A great University is, almost by definition, a research university, and the research and teaching components exist in a symbiotic relationship. Not only are research universities great for students they are great for the local community and society in general (again the multiplier effect). Take Boston for example. High tax base, yet it attracts so much more investment and business than our low tax base Dallas or Houston. Why? The several research universities have boosted the economy. The infratsructure of human capital and intellectual is enormous. Ditto for Silicon Valley and Research Triangle Park, NC. The list goes on and on. The term Ideopolis has even creeped into the venacular.

Texas deserves a great flagship research university and they do not come cheap. They benefit the entire state and the entire State should chip in - their cost should not be shouldered on students, some of the least able to afford it.

All I know is, this ridiculous tuition increase has negatively affected me, and those who cared enough to testify--campus groups, both liberal and cinservative were united against this, and the likes of Fred Brown and Florence Shapiro, whoe children probably did not have to work their way through school, have really slapped all of us in the face who try to balance school, work, and extracurriculars. Disgusting.

I do not know about Fred Hill, but I know Florence Shaprio's daughter, Lisa, and she certainly did not have to work her way though college. In fact, mommy made sure she got a plumb DA job after law school, and then she quit shortly thereafter because it did not pay enough, was too much work, and she got her Mrs degree.

I seriously doubt that football coaches (even in TX) earn a million a year.

Link.

Mack Brown of UT will receive - as just one of his perks - a one-time bonus of $1.6 million on his Aug. 27, 2004, birthday. How sweet of UT - Happy Birthday, Coach! How many underprivileged academic scholarships would $1.6 million buy?

,

I'm no fan of college athletics run amok. However, if the criticism is strictly one of financial expenditures, football / basketball actually MAKE colleges money.

Pointing out Mack Brown's salary bonus as an indictment of wateful college spending is like looking only at the debit side of an accountant's ledger. If you own your own business, you certainly know that it costs money to make money.