Most people don't appreciate that given to them for nothing.

I tend to agree. All that free scholarships do is force the colleges to dumb down like has happened with our other schools. It does however give those that won’t or can’t cut it a few more years of free rides. I made it through two undergraduate degrees and one masters and did it while working full time. What is it that keeps others from doing the same?

I've noticed that when you bring up Obama's failures the people that voted for him get all angry and blue in the face. As I run before I get stoned I love the sound of my voice. Then I think what good have I done in pointing out his lies and failures.

Thank Jimmy,.

Another mandate. Who paid for his college education? I know who paid for mine. Who is John Galt?

Lying is hard work for some people; not so much for Others.

No, my premise is not mistaken, and I respect you as well, SaltyDog.

Indeed it does take ability to produce the world's finest engineers, and we do our best. I can take someone who could compete at a top ten school and prepare that person into the next John Galt. In fact, I have one such protege. More often, I take those who are talented enough, but not the world's elite, and mold them into engineers who can compete against the world's best at the undergraduate level.

However, without the equipment base in place, you will not attract the world's best talent at the graduate level. That is part of the reason I have advertised in the Marketplace.

We get some of the world's best talent, and quite a bit of talent from the progeny of those who are the world's wealthiest. When your competition is not only subsidized, but you are forced to subsidize it, you cannot be the world's best. It takes money and infrastructure to attract the world's best graduate students. We have some infrastructure, but not nearly the vast research infrastructure that most of the State Science Institutes do.

My university did make it into the world's top 200 and is the youngest to make it there. Academically, my university is much like one of the Cinderella college basketball teams that pulls off a major upset once in a while, and yes, we can compete at that level. Without the endowment of an Ivy League school or the state support like The University of Florida, getting into the top 200 in the world (according to The London Times) in less than 60 years is unprecedented.

Finally, and most importantly for me, I am putting a handicap on myself. I am not going after State Science Institute money any more. That is a contradiction that I morally cannot tolerate. Those who have no such moral quandary about taking looted money are thus at an advantage over me.

I heard on Fox News this morning that Obama wants it required that everyone vote. If we don't he would probably impose a fee. I also heard he wants every preschooler to be weighed. Never heard the reason. Did any one of you?

Respectfully, I think your premise is mistaken.

It doesn't take money to gain a reputation for producing the world's finest engineers; it takes the ability to produce the world's finest engineers, and no amount of football (or baseball or basketball) scholarships will alter that fact.

I would like us to be known as the finest engineers on the planet, but that does take money. It is hard to compete with the Florida Gators when they are both looters and moochers from the State of Florida, and I have to subsidize my competition. I have no problems with individual Gator students, faculty, or alumni. However, I have had to write numerous recommendation letters for INTERNATIONAL students to transfer to UF because it costs less than Florida Tech. FIT is not expensive by private standards, but I would not teach at a state institution for Galtish reasons.

Take my word for it...I understand the recognition factor. I'm a Southerner; college Football is in our blood. (GO GATORS!). That said, the recognition of which you speak is available without the athletic scholarships. Wouldn't you rather your alma mater be rocognized for producing the finest engineers or doctors or poly scis on the planet?

Many folks do not understand that part of it. Getting your college's name in the papers (on a positive note) is worth millions of dollars. Additionally, there have been studies that show that even people who are very prejudiced against blacks used 'we' and 'our' in speaking of a black player on their alma mater's team. Sports cuts across prejudice lines, it appears. (I think that military service does so to, but that is a different topic.)

Jan

The athletes are trading value for value - their ability, time, and performance in exchange for the university's increased name recognition, enhanced sponsorships, and the students' educations. With the exception of perhaps top NFL or NBA draft picks, it is a pretty even exchange.

They keep the math scholarship until their GPA drops below a certain level, typically 3.0. That usually gives them an extra year.

I think they should get the rest of that year on scholarship, but after that they are on their own. Let me ask a question: If someone has a scholarship based on their outstanding mathematical abilities, and they get in a car accident and those abilities go away - do they keep the math scholarship?

Jan

Good points.

I've always been somewhat against athletic scholarships as they stand. They're potentially taking a seat from someone in a classroom who'd actually do something with math, sciences, humanities, etc. the solution of course is both simple and obvious. Create a new degree--Bachelor of Athletics--with a minor in baseball, basketball, football, whatever. That way they'd have a degree in their chosen field. However, the degree would garner all of the respect due a potholder in any field beyond athletics.

Not sure why more people don't see it like I do, but I don't think he's screwing anything up by accident. He knows full what he's doing; he's following Cloward-Piven like it's his bible.

I think every damn thing this guy has done is by design.

Hell, why charge anyone for anything? I'm sure that the liberals in academia would support that. I'm equally sure that they'd agree to work gratis to make the scheme feasible.

The man is on a mission - to destroy everything we hold dear -

I think they should find some derelict from an alley somewhere behind a bar in Chicago, clean him up, dress him up real nice, give him a degree in brain surgery, and then let him operate on the presidents brain to find out what makes him tick. But that is just my opinion, I could be wrong.

I take a different view, I think the NCAA needs to go away entirely, they rip off the kids completely- look at EA Sports, NCAA rakes it in on the kids' likenesses and personality in video games (forever) and doesn't give them a penny of it, even after they graduate.

Scholarship, big deal, if you can fog a mirror you can get a student loan, and if you don't want to, there is the armed forces... The advertisers have always wanted to go straight to the athletes and not deal with the NCAA, let them and they can pay their own tuition and take the corruption out of the multi-million dollar coach endorsements and 8-figure university salaries at the same time and the kid could even get their own health coverage.

Smart enough to fool a 100 million people. Or, wait, he fooled a hundred million fools... So, may be you're right.

More big government socialistic crap from this imbecile. Who pays, he doesn’t care. Add to our debt. Anything free is always going to be too expensive!

13% of the population of the US is black. Only 13% of ALL basketball teams should be black. Now THAT would be fair, equitable, social and economic JUSTICE.

Obama is President. Of course, it's Bush's fault.