Malloy Presents Details of $2 Billion Plan For UConn

[RS9999X]

I'm not sure who you are referring to when you say lots of people having short memories? The Uconn 2000 program was nothing short of an ESSENTIAL upgrade for the crumbling infrastructure of the Uconn Storrs Campus and subsequent branches. It was an investment that had to be made in order to grow and remain competitive, period........

Phenomenal change since I took grad courses there in 1981. The small populaton base means the only way UConn can keep up with the Research Arms Race is higher tuition.

Face it: The BiG has a political lobby that simply destroys CT when it comes to its ability to procure research dollars. Adding NJ, MD, VA and NC legislators will simply continue the BiG lobby superiority through the Century. One thing that is bi-partisan: research dollars. It's a pork-barrel quid pro quo favorite and the BiG has some ridiculous political leverage to grab the types of dollars that makes football revenues look like childs play.

 

[upstater]

Phenomenal change since I took grad courses there in 1981. The small populaton base means the only way UConn can keep up with the Research Arms Race is higher tuition.

Face it: The BiG has a political lobby that simply destroys CT when it comes to its ability to procure research dollars. Adding NJ, MD, VA and NC legislators will simply continue the BiG lobby superiority through the Century. One thing that is bi-partisan: research dollars. It's a pork-barrel quid pro quo favorite and the BiG has some ridiculous political leverage to grab the types of dollars that makes football revenues look like childs play.

The facts show that on a per capita basis, Conn. is not in the top 40% of state support for Higher Ed.

What political lobby are you referring to?

Pork barrel research?

The grants come through national academies and private foundations with experts in the field making the final decisions.

 

[upstater]

Thanks for your interesting and informative posts. The complexities involved in what you do are myriad and you've opened my eyes to just a few. I read an article or editorial (WSJ I think) about the role of the abundance of student loans plays in the rise of tuition. Do you have any insight about that?

BTW, I was I was just tweaking about that sample size of one.

Non-gov't student loans may help kids go to school, which allows kids to pay those private school tuitions. That being said, the average public school tuition is $7k. Given that, I would not be paying attention to how loans increase public school tuition since all you need to attend the vast majority of public schools (i.e. not Michigan or PSU) is a gov't loan, and those are still capped at less than $5.6k a year. When I was in school 25 years ago, the cap was $3k. So I don't think there has been a steep rise in the availability of student loans. It's pretty reasonable. Once you enter the private student loan market, that's where things go haywire and I'd advise students not to do it (maybe it works for some). But the studies I've seen, and I can link you to them, show that tuition rise is a product of lower state subsidies, and they specifically address the loan issue as a non-factor at public schools. I believe they're right. The study I mention is a decade old and it was conducted not only by academics, but by conservative and liberal think tanks as well as researchers affiliated with both wings of congress.

 

[RS9999X]

The facts show that on a per capita basis, Conn. is not in the top 40% of state support for Higher Ed.

What political lobby are you referring to?

Pork barrel research?

The grants come through national academies and private foundations with experts in the field making the final decisions.

Yeah right. Neutral stuff. Swing states, Lobbyists. Backdoor insights into how the grant needs to be written to win don't happen. I forgot, Grants are awarded by the research virgins and their heavenly choir of incorruptible cherubs and then fairly administered by the tooth fairy of higher education.

Here's some news from 2 years ago:

A $100 million federal hospital construction grant once believed to be earmarked for Connecticut was awarded to Ohio State University Wednesday, leaving the state $100 million short in its quest to renovate and expand the UConn Health Center's John Dempsey Hospital.

The money was considered key to a $362 million plan intended to secure the long-term future of the Farmington hospital. U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd got the grant inserted in the health reform law last year amid accusations that it was an earmark. But it proved to be anything but.

Malloy lobbied for the money earlier this month in a meeting with U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. At the time, he called the grant "critical to the future of our state's only public medical and dental schools," and said a federal contribution was "the only solution to addressing the long-term financial challenges that have confronted the UConn Health Center."

Rell praised the university's application and said that the project would bring thousands of jobs, new medical technology and "greatly improved" access to health care.

"While today's decision is tremendously disappointing, I know that UConn, our Congressional delegation, John Dempsey and the partner hospitals remain committed to finding the funding necessary to realize this important goal," she said in a statement.
Dodd, who helped usher through the health reform law that includes the grant, issued a statement expressing his unhappiness with the outcome.

When Dodd had the grant inserted in the health reform bill last December, it was believed that only a dozen or so states would qualify.

Martin Kramer, a spokesman for the federal Health Resources and Services Administration, the division of HHS that awarded the grant, said 27 institutions were eligible to apply for the grant. All applications were scored by an objective review committee, and Ohio State's application had the highest scores, he said.

Ohio State University will use the money to support ProjectONE, the university's largest-ever construction project, which will expand the university's medical center. It will include a new cancer hospital, critical care tower, outpatient center, research laboratories and classrooms.

 

[upstater]

Yeah right. Neutral stuff. Swing states, Lobbyists. Backdoor insights into how the grant needs to be written to win don't happen. I forgot, Grants are awarded by the research virgins and their heavenly choir of incorruptible cherubs and then fairly administered by the tooth fairy of higher education.

Here's some news from 2 years ago:

A $100 million federal hospital construction grant once believed to be earmarked for Connecticut was awarded to Ohio State University Wednesday, leaving the state $100 million short in its quest to renovate and expand the UConn Health Center's John Dempsey Hospital.

The money was considered key to a $362 million plan intended to secure the long-term future of the Farmington hospital. U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd got the grant inserted in the health reform law last year amid accusations that it was an earmark. But it proved to be anything but.

Malloy lobbied for the money earlier this month in a meeting with U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. At the time, he called the grant "critical to the future of our state's only public medical and dental schools," and said a federal contribution was "the only solution to addressing the long-term financial challenges that have confronted the UConn Health Center."

Rell praised the university's application and said that the project would bring thousands of jobs, new medical technology and "greatly improved" access to health care.

"While today's decision is tremendously disappointing, I know that UConn, our Congressional delegation, John Dempsey and the partner hospitals remain committed to finding the funding necessary to realize this important goal," she said in a statement.
Dodd, who helped usher through the health reform law that includes the grant, issued a statement expressing his unhappiness with the outcome.

When Dodd had the grant inserted in the health reform bill last December, it was believed that only a dozen or so states would qualify.

Martin Kramer, a spokesman for the federal Health Resources and Services Administration, the division of HHS that awarded the grant, said 27 institutions were eligible to apply for the grant. All applications were scored by an objective review committee, and Ohio State's application had the highest scores, he said.

Ohio State University will use the money to support ProjectONE, the university's largest-ever construction project, which will expand the university's medical center. It will include a new cancer hospital, critical care tower, outpatient center, research laboratories and classrooms.

Do I really need to explain to you that these are not peer reviewed research grants?

 

[Doggie Style]

Good points all - my issue is that Malloy acts as if this is the UConn of 1990. We're a little closer to the level you and I want the school to reach than what is being portrayed. $2B seems a bit much. The $1B 'investment' in the last decade came when the state was running surpluses. The problem is so much money is being spent/wasted elsewhere (busway, anyone?) there's not much left for things that are truly necessary.

I agree with this position. When Malloy said the investment should of been made 10 years ago my first thought was that the cost could of been significantly less if we had funded this Earlier. 2B is a ton of money!

 

[junglehusky]

Do I really need to explain to you that these are not peer reviewed research grants?

Yes, apparently you do.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

I'm not sure who you are referring to when you say lots of people having short memories? The Uconn 2000 program was nothing short of an ESSENTIAL upgrade for the crumbling infrastructure of the Uconn Storrs Campus and subsequent branches.

UConn 2000 was a response to the fact that the state ignored UConn for three decades, then woke up one day wondering why the campus looked like something from the former Soviet Block. UConn 2000 made up for a lot of lost time and neglect.

 

[RS9999X]

Do I really need to explain to you that these are not peer reviewed research grants?

Peer reviewed? What's that? There's at least 5 graduate papers and dissertations written every year about thr corruption and politics and nepotism and favoritism of Peer Review


Even the Tooth Fairy giggles at Peer Review as a politically pure process of writing the specs, grading the proposals, and awarding grants.


Hint: Search for "Peer Review Bias" at Yahoo and come up with 235,000 hits. I don't have access to the Academic Journal libraries at home but there's at least 5 decent papers every year published on the "Peer Review " fallacy usually by stat or political science grad students.


What's next? State RFPs and the "Neutral" process of writing the specs and grading the applicants and proposals as overseen by the Tooth Fairy of Academic Purity?

 

[WestHartHusk]

Peer reviewed? What's that? There's at least 5 graduate papers and dissertations written every year about thr corruption and politics and nepotism and favoritism of Peer Review


Even the Tooth Fairy giggles at Peer Review as a politically pure process of writing the specs, grading the proposals, and awarding grants.


Hint: Search for "Peer Review Bias" at Yahoo and come up with 235,000 hits. I don't have access to the Academic Journal libraries at home but there's at least 5 decent papers every year published on the "Peer Review " fallacy usually by stat or political science grad students.


What's next? State RFPs and the "Neutral" process of writing the specs and grading the applicants and proposals as overseen by the Tooth Fairy of Academic Purity?

So to summarize your argument: research grants stupid , highways awesome. Did I get it about right?

 

[upstater]

Peer reviewed? What's that? There's at least 5 graduate papers and dissertations written every year about thr corruption and politics and nepotism and favoritism of Peer Review


Even the Tooth Fairy giggles at Peer Review as a politically pure process of writing the specs, grading the proposals, and awarding grants.


Hint: Search for "Peer Review Bias" at Yahoo and come up with 235,000 hits. I don't have access to the Academic Journal libraries at home but there's at least 5 decent papers every year published on the "Peer Review " fallacy usually by stat or political science grad students.


What's next? State RFPs and the "Neutral" process of writing the specs and grading the applicants and proposals as overseen by the Tooth Fairy of Academic Purity?

I'll try to explain this to you again. I was answering your claim about the B1G's lobbying arm. If you're talking about the CIC, that group's aim is at peer reviewed grants from the national academies. You provided a link to political pork barrel research grants which were subject to horse-trading by congressman. In fact, the grants you showed were construction grants, not even related to research! In other words, this is not the type of thing that the CIC is interested in, nor the type of thing the AAU takes notice of. It is the type of thing Nebraska excelled at landing especially as it related to agriculture, and that's exactly why Nebraska was kicked out of the AAU.

 

[HobokenHusky]

I'll try to explain this to you again. I was answering your claim about the B1G's lobbying arm. If you're talking about the CIC, that group's aim is at peer reviewed grants from the national academies. You provided a link to political pork barrel research grants which were subject to horse-trading by congressman. In fact, the grants you showed were construction grants, not even related to research! In other words, this is not the type of thing that the CIC is interested in, nor the type of thing the AAU takes notice of. It is the type of thing Nebraska excelled at landing especially as it related to agriculture, and that's exactly why Nebraska was kicked out of the AAU.

Just had to look up "pork barrel" and "horse-trading" to decode your post, so thank you for that. Your use of political idioms actually managed to make it sound like we were set back 100 years and still the Connecticut school of Agriculture, dealing in both the bartering of pork and horses.

 

[upstater]

Just had to look up "pork barrel" and "horse-trading" to decode your post, so thank you for that. Your use of political idioms actually managed to make it sound like we were set back 100 years and still the Connecticut school of Agriculture, dealing in both the bartering of pork and horses.

I suppose there will be a new set of idioms dealing with spending for high-tech. Mutant-breeding? Server-farming?

 

[geordi]

As long as that's all you do with the goat...

View attachment 2199

That's not a goat! It's a sheep! And with HFD, in the words of the immortal Danny DiVito, 'No sheep will be safe tonight.'