(no subject)
I have to say that as much as I despise the Solomon Amendment -- which says that colleges must allow the military to recruit on campus if they receive federal funding even whe the military violates the non-discrimination standards that colleges have for employers that recruit on campus -- reading all these articles and analyses of the Supreme Court hearings yesterday make me think that maybe it is constitutional. I can't believe that congress would be so dumb as to pass such a law and I can believe even less some of the arguments that the military is making -- that they want to be treated "just like any other employer" when in fact they are asking to be treated very differently from other employers -- but I'm also not entrely sure I buy the free speech argument being made by the Universities. There are lots of restrictions that the government gets to put on schools in exchange for the money they give them, and while this one seems a lot more distasteful than many others, it isn't clear to me that it is any less legal. Then again, I am not a legal scholar of any kind -- I don't even watch Law and Order.
In any event, I think this is just the next in a series of long hard conversations that the American public are going to have about the federal financing of higher education, and while I am scared of the outcome of these conversations in general, this one is extra-fun since it also gets to push on the hot buttons of the military and gay rights and gays in the military! Hooray!
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Early in my graduate school career, I remember going to visit my parents over spring break. And while I was there, my dad and I caught a pre-season exhibition baseball game. And this was in the days before I read Baseball Prospectus or any of a million other websites dedicated to every movement of the Braves Farm System (For those Yankees fans reading, a "farm system" is what you call minor league teams affiliated with your team where you nurture young talent so you don't have to buy it away from other teams at ridiculous prices). So when they brought out some young kid to play shortstop named Rafael Furcal, I knew almost nothing about him. But I was quickly impressed with his speed and bat skills.
I suppose I should be dissapointed that Furcal is leaving the Braves to go to the Dodgers. I liked Furcal, and thought he was a good player. But I didn't think he was worth $14 million a year, and if that's what the Dodgers were willing to offer him then I don't really think I could reasonably expect him to give that much of a hometown discount to the Braves. I like it when players show some loyalty -- I'm still pissed off at Glavine for jumping ship to the Mets, and I think that the Jones boys should be respected for staying with the Braves year in and year out -- but this was one of those cases where it seems to me that all parties involved behaved reasonably. And while I hope the Braves find a decent replacement at shortstop, the whole situation could be much worse.
After all, Furcal could have signed with the Yankees.
Speaking of the Yankees, can I mention my little dance of glee at the fact that they lost at least $50 million last year. Oh my.
In any event, I think this is just the next in a series of long hard conversations that the American public are going to have about the federal financing of higher education, and while I am scared of the outcome of these conversations in general, this one is extra-fun since it also gets to push on the hot buttons of the military and gay rights and gays in the military! Hooray!
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Early in my graduate school career, I remember going to visit my parents over spring break. And while I was there, my dad and I caught a pre-season exhibition baseball game. And this was in the days before I read Baseball Prospectus or any of a million other websites dedicated to every movement of the Braves Farm System (For those Yankees fans reading, a "farm system" is what you call minor league teams affiliated with your team where you nurture young talent so you don't have to buy it away from other teams at ridiculous prices). So when they brought out some young kid to play shortstop named Rafael Furcal, I knew almost nothing about him. But I was quickly impressed with his speed and bat skills.
I suppose I should be dissapointed that Furcal is leaving the Braves to go to the Dodgers. I liked Furcal, and thought he was a good player. But I didn't think he was worth $14 million a year, and if that's what the Dodgers were willing to offer him then I don't really think I could reasonably expect him to give that much of a hometown discount to the Braves. I like it when players show some loyalty -- I'm still pissed off at Glavine for jumping ship to the Mets, and I think that the Jones boys should be respected for staying with the Braves year in and year out -- but this was one of those cases where it seems to me that all parties involved behaved reasonably. And while I hope the Braves find a decent replacement at shortstop, the whole situation could be much worse.
After all, Furcal could have signed with the Yankees.
Speaking of the Yankees, can I mention my little dance of glee at the fact that they lost at least $50 million last year. Oh my.