40% = Death

[trenchkamen]

Classes so far:

JPN 314: Here we go again.
Human Sexuality: I already love this professor. This looks like it's going to be a fascinating class.
Biochemistry II: Woodbury is a good speaker, but I already knew that.
Microbiology: FUCK this is elementary.

As if I needed another reason to be pissed at the government of Arizona:

What the fuck.

Crow's right--Arizona's higher education system will become the Third World purgatory it was a decade--or two--ago nobody wanted to be stuck in. All the smart students will start leaving the state again no matter what incentives you offer them. So will the influential researchers and professors. Graduate students won't give the university a second thought unless they have no alternatives. ASU will become nothing but a 'safety school' once again.

The biomedical research ASU and UA has been doing the past decade have driven ASU's status and funding. As a researcher in this system, these budget cuts terrify me. There are student researchers who can only do research because they get paid. If they stop getting paid, they will have to quit to get other jobs. Biodesign is an ASU institution, one I came to believe in strongly despite the douchebaggery of some of the faculty, and TGen, Barrows Neurological Institute, Mayo Clinic, Piper Cancer Center, and MAC5 in Tucson all collaborate intimately with ASU's researchers. They are in the innovative backbone of this state, and they will feel the backlash. I hate the concept of hiding behind a name. But, unfortunately, names hold influence, and snubbing the holders of said names when the bring such prestige and influence to Arizona's research infrastructure is a horrible idea--especially when you are snubbing for no reason. It will also fuck over our collaborations with out-of-state Names; I see logos for prestigious Name universities all over the posters in Biodesign and SOLS.

I'm sure Crow knows this. And I'm willing to bet that the liberal arts, or any sort of 'arts', will go before any of the hard sciences. This also worries me.

40% budget cuts will be the death of the university on every level, except maybe sports. But as much as I hate to admit it, college sports bring in a huge amount of revenue, and we can't afford to cut out such a lucrative source, trivial though it may be.

The counterargument would be that I view this from the pedantic perspective of a University peon. There is rhetoric thrown around about taking away from the "working poor" so the university can do elitist, trifling things up in the ivory towers. The university and research system creates jobs, even for the uneducated. We rely on the janitors, deliverymen, and other unsung positions to keep everything running.

Also, research saves lives.

Research creates alternate, cleaner, cheaper fuels.

Research helps to make affordable, healthy food sources.

I fail to see how this would not negatively effect the entire state.

Yes, we have serious budget problems, and we have to deal with it. Crippling and maiming higher education (and yes, these are appropriate terms) are not the ways to go about it.

I've come to believe in this university and all the progress it has been making. It truly has been worthy of attracting the best and the brightest in the past few years. I am proud to say I am a researcher working within Phoenix's biomedical network. This almost feels like the second blow the state has delivered to the gut, Prop 102's passing being the first.

Thanks for solidifying my resolve to leave for graduate school. Fuck you very much.

Comments

[hiraku536.livejournal.com]

I don't know if I should say this...
But, you should apply to my school for grad! The research is great! Well, depends on what you do, still, but nonetheless, the option is huge!

I'd be crippling the education system in AZ even further if I "lured" you to come to Baltimore, but you're smart, and damn all my panging guilty conscience in the world! (As if I don't feel guilty enough for the mistakes I've already committed...)

[trenchkamen.livejournal.com]

Johns Hopkins? I've looked into it.

Also, are you sure your sister didn't apply to Mayo Clinic Rochester?

[hiraku536.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure she mentioned that Mayo will be her only reason to come back to the South to study if not Baylor

[hiraku536.livejournal.com]

If it makes you feel any better, Mayo is one of the choices of my sister's when she goes for med.
My idea is to go to obtain higher education, and then coming back, hopefully, to spread the knowledge, yes.

[feuervogel]

Come to Carolina. It's shiny here. (Not that UNC doesn't face its own budgetary shenanigans...)

And I understand the state's attempt to save money, but surely there are better ways to do it than by devastating the research universities.

[skuldchan.livejournal.com]

Come to California! It's warm. And liberal. (And shiny!)

[feuervogel]

But it's full of PEOPLE. Though the desert nature wouldn't bother her much, since AZ is a desert, too. (And some of California's about as liberal as rural North Carolina.)

I could spend a 1000 word digression on the strange, seemingly paradoxical, rapidly changing nature of North Carolina politics, but I don't think anyone else would be interested.

[trenchkamen.livejournal.com]

LA is humid to me.

And I *am* still seriously looking at UCLA, UC Berkley, and UCSD.

[feuervogel]

You crazy desert-acclimated people.

I'm just as prejudiced against California as a lot of people are against the South. Also, I hate cities.

[skuldchan.livejournal.com]

Thanks for solidifying my resolve to leave for graduate school.

Given how it's pretty common and almost expected (in the US) for you to have different undergraduate and graduate institutions (the only exceptions I can think of are if you're in a very top-tier school), I fail to see how this really does affect your graduate school choice. *scratches head*

But that aside, cutting education funding ALWAYS SUCKS. :( I think we're all universally in the same boat here. Not the just schools, but also the government organizations that provide grants (NSF, NIH), and the private research foundations.

[trenchkamen.livejournal.com]

I wasn't planning on staying at ASU, but University of Arizona in Tucson wasn't totally off the radar of possibilities. It's just so big and growing right now.

This just strengthens my resolve to leave the state, period.

[skuldchan.livejournal.com]

As someone who has bounced around and lived in a few different states during various periods of my life--BOUNCING AROUND: A+++!! Would buy again.

[njordsifusansoo.livejournal.com]

ugg, so they want to cut our funding by a big amount again? I remember when they cut something like $65 million when I was an undergrad because of some shortfall caused by some alternative fuel rebate program or some such. That was the year they almost doubled in-state tuition by raising it by $1000. I remember why education took such a big hit (prisons followed by schools are the two biggest items on the state budget; prisons took a bigger hit then we did). I don't think out budget was even restored from that hit (and they want to slash our budget again!).

[trenchkamen.livejournal.com]

I consider myself lucky that I'm on scholarship. Tuition hikes will only mean that I have to *start* paying, period. As much as that sucks, there are people who have been paying tuition for ages and will have even more costs heaped on them.

[micrll.livejournal.com]

Same here, I expect if they raise costs its going to SUCK to be like me and out of state, we always get the short end of the stick.

[zoe-sama.livejournal.com]

I know UT was suffering some cuts too. They're also not admitting as many freshman as they used to, but it's still not as bad for the school as what you're talking about for ASU.

I'm looking at UCLA and Berkeley as well, though I really have no idea where I might end up, or even where I could see myself ending up.

[skuldchan.livejournal.com]

There are basically cuts everywhere because of the recession, not only in state schools like UT, and the UC's, but also in the private schools. A lot of private schools also have large financial investments, and they have seen those shrink A LOT in the past few months. I know that even the schools with the huge endowments like Harvard and Princeton are tightening their belts. Basically, there's no place you can go where you can escape the schools trying to save money or spend less right now, but there are schools make less drastic moves than others. One of the most important things about picking a graduate school is how you get funded--make sure to look into that when you're applying and interviewing.

[micrll.livejournal.com]

I got that email as well this morning, and damn. The only good thing I have going for me is my scholarship and the fact that I am a CS major. Our department has remained well funded because we bring in big bucks and companies love us but we would not be immune to this.

Also, like you this would scare me away from any possible grad school with ASU if these do go through.

[fabula-umbrae.livejournal.com]

I don't know why so many people seem to think that education is a great place to cut funding. It makes everything else cost MORE. Cutting education is right up there with cutting down on food production and water. Oh right. People like to do damage to those too.

[darkenedwings.livejournal.com]

Berkeley's amazing, but even we're getting hit with various budget cuts. It's really tough to get into classes now, because everything's waitlisted and so many departments had to be cut down. :|

That said, if I can be allowed a brief moment of immaturity, I still giggle whenever you mention Phoenix if only because I first met you as the "Phoenix from Phoenix".

[fuyu]

...My parents have made noises about moving to Oregon in a few years. Going with them is starting to sound like a real good idea.

[sumomonkeyninja.livejournal.com]

I live in Oregon and it's a-freakin-mazing. Especially Portland.

[sumomonkeyninja.livejournal.com]

Well, due to the current economic crisis places all over the country are going to be like this. Luckily, you are doing bio-chemical-medical type research which is usually well funded. NIH and NSF funding numbers used to be ~16%, but now they are moving back down to 5-6%. This means everyone is going to be competing for money and many state governments (California especially) are going to be hit with huge budget shortfalls. State run Universities are going to go hit irregardless. You'll see more cuts after state taxes for 2008 are in.

You're lucky that you have a lot of experience in the lab as an undergrad going into grad school. I would ignore the advice you're hearing and find someone, somewhere that's doing research you find exciting. Contact them to find out more and odds are strong that you can join their group.

When you're an undergrad, the name of your institution means something (Oh, you went to MIT?) Throw all that out the window when you get to grad school. Your advisor and his/her reputation is far more important than the name on the diploma. Your advisor can introduce you to colleagues, your advisor can get you published, etc. Having been through the process myself and being attached to an academic institution right now I have plenty of opinions on the matter. Just email me if you want to hear them.

Heck, I even have some friends who are Professors looking for grad students. ;)

[miwasatoshi.livejournal.com]

Looks like I picked the right time to leave.

[kitschaster.livejournal.com]

Aaaaah, the ol' budget cut song and dance. I'm sorry to hear about your school, but look at it this way -- never a better time to start thinking about your relocation process. At least you have a head's up now, and not, like, maybe a semester.

*ugh* Don't you know education is a useless and pointless venture? Learnin' is for lazy folk! That's what He Who Shall Not Be Named taught us with No Child Left Behind, amirite or amirite?

[musicheartsoul.livejournal.com]

Guess this means I won't be able to get a scholarship extension for next fall?

Oh and imagine along w/research, being a music major. And a music major that is already treated like a second class citizen (B.A.'s tend to be treated like they don't care about music).

yay.