kyle

 

 

 

"astound people with our boldness."

^^^ this is the way that we do things at TEXAS...

 

All you need to do to make this quote more representative of reality is replace "boldness" with "arrogance".

Using PUF money, to which UH doesn't have access, to buy land in Houston under the guise of a "research hub" without the knowledge, much less approval, of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, only to admit that this "research hub" will offer undergraduate and graduate courses (which sounds a lot more like a university than a "research hub"-- whatever that term is supposed to mean) sounds about par for the course for "TEXAS".

Never mind the fact that the PUF can in no way fund the construction of buildings/labs, the hiring of faculty/staff/researchers, nor the ongoing operations of a 300 acre university, which means that "TEXAS" will be going to the State for new, ongoing funding for this redundant, ego-inflating project of theirs. Where does that money come from?

Yeah... it's astounding alright.

Thanks. This is a better ELI5 since I'm not familiar with state funding. Is money that's appropriated for various institutions proportional to the nearby tax base? In other words, is the pie size fixed for each part of the state?

No, it's not proportional to the surrounding tax base. Otherwise the state flagship universities (UT/TAMU) would not be located in Austin and College Station.

All this talk about state funding. There are how many UH alumni? Does no one ever donate to UH..? What kind of fundraising campaigns does UH have and how successful are they at reaching those goals?

UH has raised over $100 million per year in private donations for the last 5 or so years in a row. Most likely less than UT/TAMU, but more than almost every other school in the state except perhaps TTU, who probably raises a similar amount. The total budget of UH is ~$1 billion per year, if I recall correctly.

The alarmists on this thread make it sound like UH is a crappy school with poor funding who can't compete against UT. If UH is in that bad of shape then your arguments are wanting me to get UT even more. Houston needs top universities and if UH is in that bad of shape then we need UT in this city.

This isn't like United vs. Southwest. This would be like GE creating 2 subsidiaries that operate in the exact same industry and then locating both subsidiaries' headquarters in the same city. And then giving one subsidiary a 5 times larger budget.

UH and UT are essentially owned by the same parent company, i.e., the state. And both institutions' funding comes from the same pie.

Instead of "wanting to get UT even more" because they have better funding, the solution is much more simple, just have the state give UH better funding.

They should just put it by TSU-- since TSU will be playing in the stadium too. I'd love to see several acres of land by TSU turned into a stadium and parking lots!

I agree it's super ugly, but it's supposed to be made of brick and limestone, which you cant tell from the rendering-- so maybe it'll turn out better than it looks. I think the point is just to get more kids on campus as fast (and as cheap) as possible and not worry about the looks for now.

Is that a goal? Why?

Well, basically the goal is to have enough housing for 25% of the campus population, which is apparently what's necessary to be designated a residential campus.

Which means the goal is for 11,000 beds, since enrollment is expected to grow to 40k+ or so.

All the more reason to remodel Robertson. I think it should be a smaller version of the Westfalenstadion. (Or even the same size, if the Cougars really think they can bring in that many fans.)

great idea. doesn't seem like one they're willing to consider though, for whatever reason.

Are these the cougar place apts?

http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&...5&encType=1

no, that's cullen oaks. cougar place is a little bit farther north. just south of the stadium, but north of wheeler.

for those concerned about the new dorms:

http://media.www.thedailycougar.com/media/...e-3160808.shtml

this is the fourth-largest city in the United States, the gateway to Mexico, Central America and South America.

With a soccer-specific stadium downtown, the Dynamo would continue to elevate national and international awareness of our city. When the Dynamo play teams from Mexico and other Central American countries, the games are broadcast to other nations.

With the NBA, NFL and MLB not involved with international competition of "meaning," the Dynamo and soccer hold an important key for bringing global attention to Houston.

More international competition will come the Dynamo's way in the future with the CONCACAF Champions' League, SuperLiga and other tournaments that provide a measuring stick and exposure for MLS teams.

Most of these games are midweek matches that can't be played at Robertson Stadium due to class schedules at UH.

Unless a stadium is built, these games will go elsewhere, costing the city revenue.

With a new stadium the Dynamo would be sure to host the MLS Cup final, All-Star Game, international competitions and collegiate and high school sports. And Houstonians would gain great joy watching professional soccer in a proper facility.

Top youth and adult soccer league events could be played in the new venue.

costing the city revenue or costing the dynamo revenue?

um, the rockets don't bring global attention to houston? have you seen their website?

The rockets - milwaukee regular season game got more views than a superbowl because of china.

china is a little bit more influential than mexico.

i just want someone to explain to me why the dynamo "deserve" a new stadium, especially with help from the city.

unlike the dynamo, which is a privately owned company, UH is a public institution that educates thousands of houston's children, supplies thousands of graduates to the houston workforce, and injects 3 billion annually into the houston economy.

meanwhile, there has been countless academic research proving that pro sports teams do nothing for their surrounding economies.

but the dynamo Deserve public money for a new stadium, millions of dollars.

somehow though, UH can't even get the city to re-pave cullen blvd...

it would be nice if they could put the stadium in the 3rd ward. they'd have room for huge parking lot, a dozen practice/league fields, etc. be nice to also include a regular park there too.

i thought there were supposed to be undergrad housing going on east side of calhoun, kind of disappointing.

is this garage going to be on the same side of calhoun as bauer/new grad housing or is it going to be on the other side of calhoun where there's supposed to be more housing in the future?

i hate strip centers.

rather have more 1st floor retail in dorms, or another parking garage

I am bitter too.

It makes absolutely NO SENSE that we continue to fund schools after archaic guidelines established around 100 years ago back when there were no other public schools in Texas.

It's a disgrace. AND, it affects Longhorns and Aggies too by creating overcrowded conditions because there is a mindset that there are really only two options for top-quality public higher education. That's the main reason why UT and ATM continue to drop in the rankings. 34,000 full-time undergraduates is simply too many no matter how much money you have.

Texas needs to adopt the California system NOW. With top 50 schools at UC-Berkeley, UC-Los Angeles, UC-San Diego, UC-Irvine, UC-Davis, and UC-Santa Barbara with UC-Santa Cruz and UC-Riverside climbing towards the top 50 every year, they have an incredible system that makes multiple schools highly desireable to quality students. Full-time undergrad populations range from 12,000 to 23,000.

My ideal would have the following;

UT-Austin, UT-Dallas, UT-El Paso, UT-San Antonio, and UT-Pan Am would join Texas ATM, Texas Tech, and Houston as tier-one schools.

You'd have every major city/region covered with highly regarded public universities from Houston to El Paso and DFW to the Rio Grande Valley.

I'd cap undergrad enrollment at Texas and ATM at 30,000.

Houston and Tech could be capped around 25,000 to 28,000.

All the others should have undergrad numbers around 20,000.

It would be incredible for the state and for the state's most important feature; the cities. It would also be great for increasing opportunities in heavily Hispanic areas like El Paso and the RGV. With the demographics changing quite quickly, Texas simply needs to do a better job with educating Hispanics.

someone with common sense!

now, if only the texas legislature, UT-A, and TAMU alums could see it this way.

Gee, what else could possibly happen downtown that could make it the social spine of the region?

Astros, Rockets, Comets, and Aeros games.

Jones Hall, Wortham Center, Hobby Center, and Alley Theatre.

Houston Pavilions and Bayou Place.

Concerts at Toyota Center, Verizon Wirless Theater, and House of Blues.

Marathon Weekend.

Art Car Parade.

I-Fest.

Parades for Thanksgiving, Rodeo, Cinco de Mayo, St Patties and Juneteenth.

New downtown park.

Continued Buffalo Bayou improvements and better access to the water.

Dragon Boat Races.

4th of July events.

Large-scale conventions.

all we need now is people

what is that "tarp" or mosquito-net-looking stuff covering a lot of the building? that's the ugly part, and its been there for several years. i thought it was an abandoned building or something by the way it looks.

the architecture is nice, but it just looks in disrepair.