MAC tOAMU Wrote:DrTorch Wrote:The point is, you don't have to do much to get by at tOSU and the environment doesn't foster solid scholarship.
As for the "15 years outdated", they were denying it then too. :eek: A few more "Olive Gardens" does not a rich cultural environment make.
Listen, I know this could go back and forth forever. But, how do you know what it takes to "get by" at Ohio State? Did you attend OSU? Did you graduate from OSU? If your answer to both is no, than how can a conclusion such as yours be reached?
I'll make no defense for the suburbanization of Columbus. Your point is valid. Then again, when discussing bastions of culture, the greater Toledo area doesn't often come to mind.
I wrote this yesterday, but couldn't get it to post. It's still off the cuff, and could use refinements. Don't treat it like it's a 2-year research thesis.
Dude, I would visit my friends in Drexel and the other dorms they lived in. They were holes. Dorms are bad enough for studying and hurt the college environment, but the ones at Ohio State were notoriously bad. I also attended a variety of classes with them. Including a requisite Lit class in a 1000 seat lecture hall. (They were discussing greek myth and the inconsistencies of the timelines and character involvement.) How much interaction do you really think occurs w/ 999 people rolling their eyes at you? I also attended a religion class (early in the term, discussing Gen 1 vs 3) and a history class. My friends (who basically got stoned all the time by their own admission, yet graduated) also lamented how some of
their roommates were turning in essays that were filled w/ spelling and grammatical errors,(prelude to message boards?) but they were getting good grades.
I lived around tOSU (Chittenden) for a couple of years as well. I saw plenty of "students" and subsequent graduates.
But, on to the discussion about Columbus. Trying to be brief, clear, accurate and interesting will be a chore. I was born in Columbus...lived there on various occasions and have plenty of extended family there. I know something about the city.
When you think of Pittsburgh, you think of a town built on steel. Chicago? Slaughter Yards. Detroit? Automobiles. Columbus? Government, insurance and banking. Yes, this town is the perfect city for the "service economy". No manual labor. No hard-working everymen. No forging an industry to build a country. No history. And no soul. It's a boring city built on white-collars and middle-management. (And most folks don't know what little history Columbus does have. They wouldn't recognize James Thruber if he ran toward the river nekkid.)
But, that's not the big problem.
The problem is the state politicians in Columbus tend to look out for their own very provincal interests. This is mostly the executive branch as legislators of course look for their home districts, but the executive branch clearly favors building up Columbus at the expense of the rest of the state. I suspect it's primarily to get power over what were bigger cities of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Of course it's not just the government, but their attitude and support keeps that agenda across many sectors.
Thus, they have built a system where people to migrate to Columbus and it has cost the rest of the state. In all fairness, Columbus has always been a haven for migrants from WV, KY and TN...including some of my own family. But, most other Ohio towns and cities are shrinking while Columbus' rolls swell. This costs the state its heritage, and infrastructure.
Ohio State is a willing tool for this methodology. And why not? The state favors the university in funding and exposure, and of course those are to Ohio State's benefit.
But, this too works against the good of the state, because state support helps universities grow...and consequently gain national prestige and national funding. That's true in research grants...and true in sports: Did Miami (OH) deserve a BCS game? Yes. Did they get one? No. Would it have put *millions* into the coffers of the university (and subsequently the state)? Yes. Did it? No.
What would have been good for the state, was pre-empted by those in Columbus with their myopic attitude toward Ohio St.
This is not some paranoid conspiracy theory. Sometimes circling your wagons and pitching your biggest/best stuff is the right approach (forgive the mixed metaphor). Perhaps that was the right thing to do for Columbus/Ohio State in the difficult 1970s. But, it's gone too far and is crippling the state in this decade.
Ohio St is not at the cutting edge of new research for new economic growth. And the state didn't foster new innovations at the other universities, despite having exceptional faculty and fine starting infrastructures. Now the state is reaping the rewards of this folly...and again the tax dollars are headed to Columbus to keep those folks happy...while the rest of the state deteriorates further.
Some of these points could be fleshed out, but I'm trying to stay brief. So, flame away.
. Torch isn't a Toledo fan (I don't think).