Other Effects of Uncontrolled Growth in Texas (Houston, San Antonio: crime, buy)

[HappyTexan]

While colleges in India and China are growing and graduating masses of degreed students, education here is of higher quality. Yes, an American education is still worth more globally especially Master degrees and Doctorate degrees

[Trainwreck20]

So, we are essentially subsidizing outsourcing with our tax dollars,

Actually, most of these foreign tuition students pay more money than it costs, probably, and in doing so subsidize locals kids.

and barring the slots from local kids

Nope, no one is 'barring' them. And I can say with a certainty, given equal (or even near equal) credentials, an American student would get the spot. When I was in college, they were practically begging American students to enter engineering school and/or go to graduate school.

[mimimomx3]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

Actually, most of these foreign tuition students pay more money than it costs, probably, and in doing so subsidize locals kids.


Nope, no one is 'barring' them. And I can say with a certainty, given equal (or even near equal) credentials, an American student would get the spot. When I was in college, they were practically begging American students to enter engineering school and/or go to graduate school.

In my own opinion, and based on the experience of my dh who is in IT,

1) When comparing American students with foreign students of the same intellectual caliber, American students are far superior. The day I think that foreigners are more talented is the day I pull my kids out of Texas schools and move overseas.
2) The reason more talented American kids don't pursue engineering, math and science graduate degrees is because those jobs don't pay nearly enough for the amount of work involved in training for them. It's galling to hear Bill Gates at UT a few months ago implore American kids to study engineering with the salaries they pay outsourced employees in India. Law school is 3 years or fairly easy work....and I don't hear too much about lawyers being outsourced. Bright math and engineering students follow the management route of engineering. Management has not been outsourced- yet.

[scongress1234]

Originally Posted by mimimomx3

In my own opinion, and based on the experience of my dh who is in IT,

1) When comparing American students with foreign students of the same intellectual caliber, American students are far superior. The day I think that foreigners are more talented is the day I pull my kids out of Texas schools and move overseas.
2) The reason more talented American kids don't pursue engineering, math and science graduate degrees is because those jobs don't pay nearly enough for the amount of work involved in training for them. It's galling to hear Bill Gates at UT a few months ago implore American kids to study engineering with the salaries they pay outsourced employees in India. Law school is 3 years or fairly easy work....and I don't hear too much about lawyers being outsourced. Bright math and engineering students follow the management route of engineering. Management has not been outsourced- yet.

Good point. I would imagine the percentage of Asian foreign students who major in law would be next to nill, because they plan on taking the knowledge back to the home country, which doesn't put much premium on American law degrees. Also, many native students don't take tech for the fear that it will be outsourced within their working lifetimes, and they will be left with nothing but college loan bills to show for it. Much of this is beyond the concern of University issues, and more germane to the currents going on in the US and world economy at large. Indeed, barring or capping foreign students won't stem outsourcing or create a healthy job market for the vast majority anyway. It's just a part of the problem. If US companies didn't outsource, and help facilitate the building of manufacturing infrastructure, often funding it entirely, it would be a moot point, and foreign students would stay here, like they did in Silicon Valley in the 80's and 90's. Now, its a new ball game, and far into the game to change much anyway.

[austinaggie]

Gee, when I was in law school those three years sure didn't feel like "fairly easy work" to me.

[scongress1234]

Originally Posted by austinaggie

Gee, when I was in law school those three years sure didn't feel like "fairly easy work" to me.

I think she meant compared to doctorates in Physics, Mathematics and such,
though Tort law and such isn't exactly a walk in the park either!

[arbucle]

All the growth was great until it hit critical mass and the state starts falling a part just like california.If you want to see what Texas will be like in 15 years with all the growth just look to cali.Your kid will need to be a one armed polysexual that also has deviant interests in fruit flys to get in UT.Dont tell me cali. is a place the average American wants to live anymore because it has been ruined just like Texas will be in the future.

[HappyTexan]

arbucle hit the nail on the head.."critical mass".
That's what happened to California and I'm afraid will happen to Austin because "it's the place to be" just like California was.

[case44]

You simply cannot control growth in the state of Texas. As long as the jobs are here, other companies will keep coming here. So, too, will the people. I've been saying that this is by design. We've got the best cities and the most livable conditions of any state in the U.S. We can't just tell people, "Take a hike. There's no more room." As for the colleges and kids being able to get in, I don't sense any problems. We have more colleges and universities than ever in Texas, and there's a lot of branching out going on. It just means greater opportunity.

Now, also keep this in mind. This is a big state with 254 counties and many, many square miles. There's no possible way we can overpopulate every single county, and very few, if any, can possibly be built out completely. There are still wide open spaces out there, and most of them are going to pretty much stay that way. The big cities will continue their growth patterns, but remember that there are many more small towns than there are big cities. And the small towns are not experiencing explosive growth. If you are about 50 miles or more away from a major metro, I'd say you'd be pretty safe if you don't want sprawl.

[scongress1234]

Originally Posted by case44

You simply cannot control growth in the state of Texas. As long as the jobs are here, other companies will keep coming here. So, too, will the people. I've been saying that this is by design. We've got the best cities and the most livable conditions of any state in the U.S. We can't just tell people, "Take a hike. There's no more room." As for the colleges and kids being able to get in, I don't sense any problems. We have more colleges and universities than ever in Texas, and there's a lot of branching out going on. It just means greater opportunity.

Now, also keep this in mind. This is a big state with 254 counties and many, many square miles. There's no possible way we can overpopulate every single county, and very few, if any, can possibly be built out completely. There are still wide open spaces out there, and most of them are going to pretty much stay that way. The big cities will continue their growth patterns, but remember that there are many more small towns than there are big cities. And the small towns are not experiencing explosive growth. If you are about 50 miles or more away from a major metro, I'd say you'd be pretty safe if you don't want sprawl.

Very good point! Look at this map.....and note that the vast majority of pink space is in a small area, namely the Metroplex, Houston, Austin/San Marcos/San Antonio, and small bits of south Texas, El Paso, and a little bit of the panhandle......and look at all the open spaces. Think of it! It's just like a bunch of gerbils huddled together in a huge cage, when they can roam at will. Perhaps they need to start building new metros and getting rid of the cattle.