War on Universities, Lawyers & Expertise

  • Thread starter Thread starter nycfan
  • Start date Start date
  • Replies: 438
  • Views: 12K
  • Politics 
Mulberry Heel said:
“My belief is that a public confrontation is going to be counterproductive" = "Signing this petition would likely get me fired, so no way."
Click to expand...
The thing is-he is in such good shape to date-a little good Public institution good will-maybe turn things around-rally around the Flagship......Nahhh
 
donbosco said:
When historically we’ve had some great leaders the fact that currently we could have done worse is cold fucking comfort.
Click to expand...
At this point, the Republican project to destroy universities puts UNC straight in the crosshairs of the legislature. The absolute best thing for the long-term viability of the university is to keep a low profile on hot-button cultural issues. Obviously, that is easier said than done. But I also wouldn’t put it past the legislature to turn UNC into the New School of Florida or to expand the Civic Life college to the entire school. At least until NC becomes a little more blue, UNC leaders need to tread very carefully on certain subjects.
 
Calheel said:
There was never any chance we’d sign on to anything anti-Trump and given the current political makeup in NC, it would be idiotic for the administration to do anything like that.
Click to expand...
So the citizens of North Carolina should change that makeup right Calheel?
 
Calheel said:
At this point, the Republican project to destroy universities puts UNC straight in the crosshairs of the legislature. The absolute best thing for the long-term viability of the university is to keep a low profile on hot-button cultural issues. Obviously, that is easier said than done. But I also wouldn’t put it past the legislature to turn UNC into the New School of Florida or to expand the Civic Life college to the entire school. At least until NC becomes a little more blue, UNC leaders need to tread very carefully on certain subjects.
Click to expand...
Two things can be true at one:

1. Governmental overreach into universities and destruction of R&D should be fought tooth and nail. Trump only understands when someone punches back.

2. Universities should emphasize free speech. Social liberalism simply isn't pertinent to many or most disciplines (science, biomedical, engineering), but universities need better PR to fight MAGA and GQP fake narratives.
 
Duke Mu said:
Two things can be true at one:

1. Governmental overreach into universities and destruction of R&D should be fought tooth and nail. Trump only understands when someone punches back.

2. Universities should emphasize free speech. Social liberalism simply isn't pertinent to many to most disciplines (science, biomedical, engineering), but universities need better PR to fight MAGA and GQP fake narratives.
Click to expand...
That is a luxury a school like Duke has. UNC is basically captured by the GOP right now. Its administration does not have the hands off luxury it has enjoyed for most of the last 230 years.

The faculty and student body can issue statements. But the political reality is that South Building cannot say boo against Trump or GOP in any way for the foreseeable future. Fortunately, our Duke President seems to understand pretty well how to navigate these treacherous waters.
 
Calheel said:
That is a luxury a school like Duke has. UNC is basically captured by the GOP right now. Its administration does not have the hands off luxury it has enjoyed for most of the last 230 years.

The faculty and student body can issue statements. But the political reality is that South Building cannot say boo against Trump or GOP in any way for the foreseeable future. Fortunately, our Duke President seems to understand pretty well how to navigate these treacherous waters.
Click to expand...
Is it that our d00kie Chancellor understands how to operate during Trump’s raging idiocy or that he, too, is a right-wing Republican, maybe even a Trumplican?
 
60% of American jobs after WWII were made possible by investment in NSF, NIH, NASA, DOE, DOD and other R&D endeavors. They had the US the envy of the world in the economy and higher education. Cell phones, the internet, computers, biomedical equipment, meds, etc. were made possible by using government grants to researchers, small businesses, and corporations. We take risks that most companies concerned about next quarter profits cannot take. We're the venture capital driven R&D that provide the infrastructure we live in, especially in technology.



In addition, the foolhardy "analysis" leaves out the substantial damage on future jobs, GDP, quality of life, healthcare, and progress being cripped by undercutting R&D investment.



From Eric Tucker - entrepreneur and designer:



The NSF is America’s ultimate venture capitalist, whose visionary bets on basic research have sparked transformative industries, from Google to GPS to AI. The secret behind these successes isn't luck—it's NSF's independence and people.

Independent science agencies are not a luxury; they are a necessity. NSF's independence means rigorous peer review, rotating experts from academia, insulation from political pressures, stable long-term funding, a commitment to basic science, risk-taking, and transparent decision-making driven by intellectual merit and broader impact. These elements form the backbone that allows groundbreaking innovation to flourish.

Consider these eight moonshots, nurtured by NSF independence, that shaped our modern world:

Internet: NSF's foresight built NSFNET, the backbone of the Internet, connecting universities long before commercial telecom saw the potential.

Google: An NSF-funded algorithm developed by two Stanford grad students—PageRank—became the heart of Google's trillion-dollar empire.

Doppler Radar: NSF-backed research transformed tornado warnings from guesswork into reliable, lifesaving predictions, now delivering billions in economic benefits.

GPS: Originally a Cold War tool, NSF-funded advances made GPS an everyday utility worth over a trillion dollars to our global economy.

LASIK: Laser research funded by NSF, initially purely curiosity-driven, evolved into LASIK surgery, dramatically improving vision for over 40 million people worldwide.

Graphene: Before industry saw its potential, NSF funded research into graphene, sparking innovations in electronics, batteries, and beyond.

Artificial Intelligence: NSF patiently invested through "AI winters," laying the foundation for today's AI revolution—a sector projected to reach $13 trillion globally by 2030.

Gravitational Waves: A seemingly impossible NSF investment over 40 years culminated in detecting gravitational waves, opening an entirely new window on the universe and earning a Nobel Prize.

While politicians make headlines, NSF invests in breakthroughs. Protecting its independence ensures America remains at the cutting edge and secures the future, turning curiosity into world-changing reality.

Read and share my latest piece: "Moonshots, Not Pork: How an Independent NSF Secured Our Future."
 
Duke Mu said:
60% of American jobs after WWII were made possible by investment in NSF, NIH, NASA, DOE, DOD and other R&D endeavors. They had the US the envy of the world in the economy and higher education. Cell phones, the internet, computers, biomedical equipment, meds, etc. were made possible by using government grants to researchers, small businesses, and corporations. We take risks that most companies concerned about next quarter profits cannot take. We're the venture capital driven R&D that provide the infrastructure we live in, especially in technology.



In addition, the foolhardy "analysis" leaves out the substantial damage on future jobs, GDP, quality of life, healthcare, and progress being cripped by undercutting R&D investment.



From Eric Tucker - entrepreneur and designer:



The NSF is America’s ultimate venture capitalist, whose visionary bets on basic research have sparked transformative industries, from Google to GPS to AI. The secret behind these successes isn't luck—it's NSF's independence and people.

Independent science agencies are not a luxury; they are a necessity. NSF's independence means rigorous peer review, rotating experts from academia, insulation from political pressures, stable long-term funding, a commitment to basic science, risk-taking, and transparent decision-making driven by intellectual merit and broader impact. These elements form the backbone that allows groundbreaking innovation to flourish.

Consider these eight moonshots, nurtured by NSF independence, that shaped our modern world:

Internet: NSF's foresight built NSFNET, the backbone of the Internet, connecting universities long before commercial telecom saw the potential.

Google: An NSF-funded algorithm developed by two Stanford grad students—PageRank—became the heart of Google's trillion-dollar empire.

Doppler Radar: NSF-backed research transformed tornado warnings from guesswork into reliable, lifesaving predictions, now delivering billions in economic benefits.

GPS: Originally a Cold War tool, NSF-funded advances made GPS an everyday utility worth over a trillion dollars to our global economy.

LASIK: Laser research funded by NSF, initially purely curiosity-driven, evolved into LASIK surgery, dramatically improving vision for over 40 million people worldwide.

Graphene: Before industry saw its potential, NSF funded research into graphene, sparking innovations in electronics, batteries, and beyond.

Artificial Intelligence: NSF patiently invested through "AI winters," laying the foundation for today's AI revolution—a sector projected to reach $13 trillion globally by 2030.

Gravitational Waves: A seemingly impossible NSF investment over 40 years culminated in detecting gravitational waves, opening an entirely new window on the universe and earning a Nobel Prize.

While politicians make headlines, NSF invests in breakthroughs. Protecting its independence ensures America remains at the cutting edge and secures the future, turning curiosity into world-changing reality.

Read and share my latest piece: "Moonshots, Not Pork: How an Independent NSF Secured Our Future."
Click to expand...
I’d also say that NSF (and CDC, NOAA, NIH, and many other “alphabet” agencies) fund “basic” research that might lead to nothing except a greater understanding of science and our world/universe.

Then, down the road, a “practical” application is identified.
 
Calheel said:
That is a luxury a school like Duke has. UNC is basically captured by the GOP right now. Its administration does not have the hands off luxury it has enjoyed for most of the last 230 years.

The faculty and student body can issue statements. But the political reality is that South Building cannot say boo against Trump or GOP in any way for the foreseeable future. Fortunately, our Duke President seems to understand pretty well how to navigate these treacherous waters.
Click to expand...
How did that happen? Pressure from the legislature? State boosters?
 
Duke Mu said:
How did that happen? Pressure from the legislature? State boosters?
Click to expand...
You don’t live in North Carolina, do you?

The GOP took control of the State Legislature in 2011. From 2013 to 2017, they also controlled the Governor’s Mansion.

At times, the GOP has had a veto-proof majority in the Legislature and has had a majority of the State Supreme Court for a good while.

North Carolina is gerrymandered to death.

They’ve neutered the Governorship. North Carolina’s Governor has never been a particularly powerful governorship; but, today it’s weak as hell.

While the University Board of Governors (statewide system) and the respective Boards of Trustees (each specific institution) has never been apolitical, they’ve historically not been politically partisan.

The GOP-controlled Legislature has turned the Board of Governors and the Boards of Trustees into rabidly partisan political entities that are controlled by hard right politicians.
 
Zoo_View said:
I’d also say that NSF (and CDC, NOAA, NIH, and many other “alphabet” agencies) fund “basic” research that might lead to nothing except a greater understanding of science and our world/universe.

Then, down the road, a “practical” application is identified.
Click to expand...
You mean like the internet and computers? NSF and NASA research are essential to product development, innovation, teaching a new generation of STEM applied innovators and scientists. Innovation from whole cloth rarely happens in real life. Businesses can't afford the risk short-term.

X-ray crystallography of molecules, identification of new protein is basic science. However, biomedical research, engineering

NSF and NIH fund engineers and biomedical scientists with specific diseases usually in mind (it's a requirement on grant application to identify diseases and pragmatic goal. It is applied science by nature.

The Research Triangle was bare bones and a wish back in the day. Traffic on I-40 was sparse, but North Carolina's economy was well behind the Rust Belt. NC (re)built itself on R&D (RTD) and banking (Charlotte). In 1982 NC and SC had relatively close GDP/capita: $10-11K. In 2023, NC GDP per capita was $12,000 higher in NC.

That differential is largely R&D, higher education, and health care investment. And now the fake Republicans would like to tear it apart.
 
Duke Mu said:
You mean like the internet and computers? NSF and NASA research are essential to product development, innovation, teaching a new generation of STEM applied innovators and scientists. Innovation from whole cloth rarely happens in real life. Businesses can't afford the risk short-term.

X-ray crystallography of molecules, identification of new protein is basic science. However, biomedical research, engineering

NSF and NIH fund engineers and biomedical scientists with specific diseases usually in mind (it's a requirement on grant application to identify diseases and pragmatic goal. It is applied science by nature.

The Research Triangle was bare bones and a wish back in the day. Traffic on I-40 was sparse, but North Carolina's economy was well behind the Rust Belt. NC (re)built itself on R&D (RTD) and banking (Charlotte). In 1982 NC and SC had relatively close GDP/capita: $10-11K. In 2023, NC GDP per capita was $12,000 higher in NC.

That differential is largely R&D, higher education, and health care investment. And now the fake Republicans would like to tear it apart.
Click to expand...
 
What is more frustrating is that under Biden the GDP/capita in NC increased an average of 8%/year and about 2.5% during Trump 1.0.

Inflation:
Biden: 4.95/year%
Trump: 2.46/year%

Yield: Biden = +3%/year
Trump = +0.5%/year

Yet, NC thought Trump is better for the economy. Oy.
 
nycfan said:


Trump Administration Halts Harvard’s Ability to Enroll International Students​

The move was a major escalation in the administration’s efforts to pressure the college to fall in line with President Trump’s demands.

Click to expand...

“…
The administration notified Harvard about the decision after a back-and-forth in recent days over the legality of a sprawling records request as part of the Department of Homeland Security’s investigation, according to three people with knowledge of the negotiations.

“I am writing to inform you that effective immediately, Harvard University’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification is revoked,” according to a letter sent to the university by Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary. A copy of the letter was obtained by The New York Times.

Spokesmen for the Department of Homeland Security and Harvard did not immediately respond to requests for comment. …”

——
I imagine Harvard will get a TRO pretty quickly …
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top