Chilean activist destroys student debt papers worth $500m

[The Mad Monk]

from the independent

Bankrupting universities

[The Mad Monk]

exactly.
education is free

Go be a teacher, then.

[Jon Miller]

I am interested in your perspective Cockney. I haven't been here long and I don't interact with most of society.

Also, I can compare your perspecitve to that of the Brazilian professors/students I know.

JM

[AAAAAAAAH!]

Go be a teacher, then.

How much of the cash that goes into universities actually pays educators?

[Jon Miller]

In the US, the increase in the cost of education has not gone to the professors at all.

http://chronicle.com/article/faculty-salaries-barely-budge-2012/131432

JM

[Sava]

Major universities are little more than minor league football clubs.

[The Mad Monk]

Yes, you can. The state should pay for everyone's education through at least a four year degree. Or at least they should pay, say, the 1st $50,000 of it. Maybe add a bit more if people want to major in useful disciplines.

Who determines what's useful?

[regexcellent]

How much of the cash that goes into universities actually pays educators?

Most of RIT's expenses are payroll, although a lot of it is administration.

Education costs would not be 1/3 as high as they are now if we didn't have federally guaranteed student loans.

[Jon Miller]

Most of RIT's expenses are payroll, although a lot of it is administration.

Education costs would not be 1/3 as high as they are now if we didn't have federally guaranteed student loans.

I am trying to learn about RIT:

http://www.studentsreview.com/viewprofile.php3?k=1012280026&u=983

http://www.studentsreview.com/NY/RIT_comments.html?page=11&type=negative&d_school=The%20Rochester%20Institute%20of%20Technology

I am wondering if RIT isn't representative.

JM

[AAAAAAAAH!]

***READ THIS***: put simply, we used to have balconies on all the rooms of the dorms, they had to remove them for reasons of which i won't mention. RIT is the most depressing place i have ever seen. I used to be a happy, enthusiastic person, now im a cold, mean shell of my former self. I wish there were F-'s on the rating scale. The admin. of this school has their he's so far up eachothers rear ends that they don't have to ask what their co-workers had for lunch. If you want a good education, or a life, go somewhere else. the only reason RIT still looks like a good school is because of it's lingering reputation. many of their supporting companies are going under (Kodak). and their curriculum is turning to garbage

Wow, what a terrible writer.

[regexcellent]

Um. I don't think he ever went here because we've never had balconies on the dorms. Ever. I have never heard of any balconies and I've been here three years.

They did change the windows out though years back to make them harder to jump out of (I think that's the reason but not sure).

e: lolol engineering technology major no wonder he had an awful time. It's exactly what it sounds like, "engineering" for people who can't hack calc/physics. I can do the ECTET coursework in my sleep, I know because there was someone in that program on my floor freshman year and I used to help him with his homework.

[Bereta_Eder]

Why? If it is cost free, that only leads to more people majoring in Ethnic Studies or Basket Weaving who are shocked they can't find a job.

That's their choice to make. Not yours.
You also get to study to be a nuclear physicist if you want and later work for NASA.
Another one studies why the papua people have a fondness for birds and maybe remain unemployed.

[C0ckney]

Bankrupting universities

bankrupting already bankrupt universities

(3rd time now, seriously...)

[C0ckney]

Basically, in Chile many of the good jobs (elite jobs) go to 'expats' from the US/Europe. These are not necessarily the 'elite' of those countries (the upper class in europe/america, although they are 'elite' by some other measures (smart, good degrees)).

So I am thinking that the system is breaking for the elites in Chile, that they are now competing with those outside of Chile for the elite positions and in general I don't think they can compete. They maybe don't realize it, or there are enough new jobs that they still are in the 'elite' side of the system, but a lot of lower class people from europe/america are taking the more 'elite' positions.

I know that some of the high income americans don't fit in class wise to the places that their positions would afford them.

Additionally, many of the new companies/jobs/etc (innovation) comes from 'normal people' from america/europe and not from Chilean elite (or masses).

Even as far as places for students in this institution, it is being opened to people in all of Latin America and even europe and if more people from europe (or america) applied, fewer Chileans would be accepted.

JM

that's interesting jon, thanks.

i accept that you probably know more about the local situation in chile than i, however i will question how recent this phenomenon is. in chile, as in most south american countries, there is a long history of foreigners (europeans and americans) occupying some positions at the top of society: industrialists, railway men, bankers, traders etc. there is also a long history of ordinary europeans, workers and peasants, coming to south america, and becoming part of those societies, occupying diverse positions within them. the same thing is happening today, although the occupations are different, as is the context in which these things happen. i know some foreigners who've come over and have good jobs, in various sectors, some in insurance and finance, and the entire oil and gas industry depends on foreign expertise, because of a lack of suitably qualified brasilians (this is changing now though). 100 years ago the typical self-made foreigner in brasil was an italian or german farmer, today it's more likely to be an american running an english course.

today, with (relatively) cheap flights and an increasingly globalised world, travel is much easier and ordinary people, who before, would have come to south america and stayed forever, can spend a few years in a place and move on. this greater mobility certainly increases the potential for people to take 'elite' positions, but this very ease must also mean that a lot of the effects are ephemeral, as fewer people will stay long term and put down roots. it's an interesting question as to whether foreigners coming in have a greater impact today than say 50-100 years ago. in terms of numbers, fewer people are coming, in terms of influence, well that's a good question and one i can't really answer in general terms.

[C0ckney]

i will say though, that in general terms, south american elites are very entrenched, although at the same time flexible, being able to admit new members in response to changing circumstances. this means for example, that europeans and americans, with the right amount of money and/or education can enter the elite, but this changes nothing for the ordinary people in chile or brasil etc. if any real change to the social and economic contexts of these countries is to come, it will have to come from below. this may be starting to happen, witness for example the recent protests in brasil (mostly a middle class phenomenon, but with some working class participation).