I like her. I remember an interview with Napolitano and Palin talking about state issues when they were both governors and before Palin was on the VP ticket. I was thinking that Napolitano was clearly of superior intellect.

DHS is not CIA or NSA.

[quote=spdrun]
How the FUCK does CA get off appointing someone like Nappy Jane as head of U of C? If the UC system is being regularly headed up by political whores, then no wonder it’s gone down the drain in the last 20 years.[/quote]

I’m not terribly excited about this choice either, but the claim that the system has gone down the drain in the last 20 years is just ridiculous. The UC has the top 2 public universities in the country, 5 of the top 10 public universities, and another campus is number 12. There are no other public university systems that come close to the quality of the UC. Compare UC with the state university system, and SDSU is the highest ranked at 70. (There are 2 or 3 more UC’s on the list before SDSU appears.) You can justly ask whether the Univ of California will maintain it’s high stature with her at the top. Fair question. But to argue that her selection is part of a downward trend is absurd.

[quote=spdrun]I’m not saying it’s horrible. I’m saying that it’s gone downhill (especially the non-Berkeley/UCLA schools) and shot up in price over the last 20 years.[/quote]

You’re wrong. Not even close. UCSD, UCD and UCSB are as good as they’ve ever been. The only campus that may have seen a meaningful drop in quality is UC Santa Cruz (my son may have had something to do with that). As a whole, it hasn’t gone downhill at all.

[quote=spdrun]You didn’t hear horror stories of people unable to get into required courses and graduating in 4.5 or 5 years 20 years ago. Nor were tuition rates as high as now, even adjusted for inflation and incomes.

As far as other good state university systems: U Va., U Mich., Rutgers (medical college Medicare scandal notwithstanding), U Md., U. Illinois (UIUC in particular) …[/quote]

The only reason you didn’t hear about students not getting required courses 20 years ago is that you were 12. I heard about those issues 40 years ago when I was in college, though it was never as bad at the UC’s as it was at the Cal State U system.

The UC’s are not the only good public schools. Naming a handful of other good schools doesn’t really prove anything.

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/top-public

While I’m really not a fan of JNap in her prior employ she may actually help the UC system.

Follow the money. The job of any university pres is to bring in money. She has fed friends to be tapped for grants. Next, we have some very large lib run business in California that my kick in more $ to her.

My largest concern is policy changes to allow more foreign students to be admitted and offered generous fin aid rather than Calif natives and other US citizens.

It is what it is.

[quote=Hobie]

My largest concern is policy changes to allow more foreign students to be admitted and offered generous fin aid rather than Calif natives and other US citizens.

It is what it is.[/quote]

My understanding of that policy change was to admit more foreign and out of state students to raise revenues. By limiting the number of resident students, the UC system keeps the tax money it gets without having to spend it on CA residents.