Considering the relative meekness and lack of ambition on these boards, its evident that a career peak of even a thousand a week for life is hopelessly optimistic for some people here, so a regular allocation of your already limited resources is understandably not going to be at the top of most people's priorities.

But a simple acknowledgement of respect of the place that enabled you to have the means to have a trade at all would be much more appropriate than the spit in the face that most of you seem all too eager to dish out.

12/21/2009 12:07:23 PM

i'll never donate money to NCSU. i don't owe them shit. my undergrad experience was systematically diminished every year by all kinds of new rules, slashed classes, destroyed traditions, shitty athletics, etc etc.

12/21/2009 12:08:21 PM

^^ In that scenario, I should give money to my four high schools, my middle school, my elementary school, my friends, my family, my ex-girlfriends, that dude that bought me lunch when I was homeless, etc etc.

^ That is why I would never give money to NCSU.

12/21/2009 12:44:01 PM

I value the degree I received from NCSU, and overall, I enjoyed going to school there. I paid tuition to attend, though, and I'm still paying on the loans. I don't see why I would donate money to an institution that sold me a service.

I saw plenty of money go to waste during my 4 years there, so if they are strapped for cash, there's a lot of ways they could reduce costs. I don't accept that there needs to be an increase in tuition every year. Costs should be able to go down. When the government guarantees loans for anyone, though, you can see why universities would continue to raise tuition year after year. There's no incentive to run an efficient operation and lower costs.

12/21/2009 12:50:04 PM

The value of your degree increases with the prestige of your school/department. Donating money to it is one small way to help.

12/21/2009 12:54:08 PM

Quote :

"enabled you to have the means to have a trade "

they enabled me to have a trade because i paid them to teach me.

12/21/2009 1:21:40 PM

Exactly

12/21/2009 1:38:41 PM

so um yeah. they don't need more money

12/21/2009 1:42:12 PM

Quote :

"i'll never donate money to NCSU. i don't owe them shit. my undergrad experience was systematically diminished every year by all kinds of new rules, slashed classes, destroyed traditions, shitty athletics, etc etc."

12/21/2009 2:06:49 PM

if i ever get mega rich im gonna donate a large amount for the sole express purpose of setting up a very good student advising center, one that will be proactive about getting students into the right classes/major for them. basically just getting someone involved in student life really, faculty can opt in but will be trained and monitored for effectiveness (they would get a pay bonus ofc).

that and a sponsor several of the old traditions back to life (large parties, etc)

[Edited on December 21, 2009 at 2:41 PM. Reason : s]

12/21/2009 2:40:43 PM

Quote :

"We've given them enough money in tuition."

If you've paid in state tuition, you've got to realize that that doesn't even begin to cover the cost of your education.

12/21/2009 3:35:03 PM

People think its their birthright to receive an education at a Land-Grant University for pennies on the dollar

Its like that Sopranos quote, when Carmella says "I want what I'm entitled to."

YOU'RE ENTITLED TO SHIT

[Edited on December 21, 2009 at 3:43 PM. Reason : x]

12/21/2009 3:43:34 PM

but they took away the Brent Road party!!!!!1

12/21/2009 4:06:22 PM

I can understand not wanting to donate, I don't get all of the "OMG THEY FUCKED ME OVER SO FUCK THEM" whining.

I think in most cases none of those people would have donated anyway, but they are just malcontents looking for an opportunity to bitch, which is a sad way to live.

12/21/2009 4:19:36 PM

Remember those commercials from a few years back, when people would take a sip of beer and make the "______ Beer Face"

I can't remember what that word was, but surely some of you are all too familiar with it

12/21/2009 4:26:26 PM

I have not enjoyed my time at State. And I will likely not give money to State.

But I don't think the two are connected.

I'll probably fall into Mr. Famous' "thousand a week" club so I won't have the money to donate. If I was some fat cat hog farmer, I might pony up some dough in order to keep up appearances...

In terms of me not enjoying my time at State, I already express that dissatisfaction by advising the young people I know to consider all their college options and take the decision seriously.

12/21/2009 5:09:55 PM

why do I get the feeling the actual reasons for this "I did not enjoy my time at state" bunch are going to sound pretty dumb and trivial compared to learning and getting a degree that will greatly help you in life

12/21/2009 7:13:10 PM

^Most students can technically learn and get a degree in their field at several different universities.

Finding the right fit, finding a place where you will enjoy your time is important. Otherwise, why even let people have a choice? Everybody should just apply to the state with their academic interests and take whatever university is assigned to them. After all, concerns outside of learning and getting a degree are "pretty dumb and trivial."

12/21/2009 8:12:25 PM

I won't donate money to NCSU for a number of reasons.

^^ See, there's issues with how you present that. Yes, having a piece of paper that says you have a BS in *So and So Field* is a great thing for your career.

My issue lies with how state protects the value of this piece of paper. Cheating was rampant and ridiculously obvious to any professor who paid attention. Professors were too lazy to write up new questions for tests and to instruct TAs to solve them so that each semester's tests couldn't be given to the next semester's students. Changing one or two numbers in the same problem doesn't really fix this problem either. This problem is especially apparent with homework, as it was all taken from the book (not a good idea, as solutions manuals are just a torrent search away these days).

State gives tenure to professors who never had the least goddamn interest or skill in teaching to begin with, as the research they do is more important to the university than our perceived satisfaction with the education we receive (regardless of how much we're paying for it, it's irrelevant).

Also, our administration keeps proving to have problems with keeping its nose clean and staying out of trouble, which makes our university look shitty. Is it really that difficult to make ethical decisions that will save the university money and prevent us from looking corrupt?

Some of our programs are wholly inadequate compared to other public universities. Case in point, I went to work some months back and it is very clear that people who received their degrees at other universities that teach a civil/structural program actually learned how to do weld design for steel members and had some practice with precast concrete, where our undergrad program teaches you nothing about either. With these two things being rather important in the field of structural engineering, you have to wonder what you're supposed to do with this piece of paper once you graduate, even with four internships under your belt.

NCSU approves images like this to be used to represent them officially on pieces of merchandise and probably thinks that it was a great decision:



See, I was having a ball at state until I compared the quality of my BS with the quality of other universities' BS degrees (in the same program, for similar amounts of money when you consider what financial aid would be offered at some universities) and realized that our grad program in my field just sucks enough on the funding side that the only people who are going to bother with it are going to be people with rich parents, people with GPAs over the arbitrary limit, and a shit ton of indians.

I'm glad they're planning on making a number of improvements to my field/degree/department that will prove very useful to future students (I wish I could've been there to receive a five year BS degree, as that would've filled in all the educational gaps that exist right now for the field), but as is they're a broken organization that doesn't need more money from their students to accomplish their goals.

I must concede that many of these problems are systemic to the entire post-secondary education field, however. Much of my anger could be directed at all the professors and department heads who caved into whining students and parents and who just drifted along at their jobs (in respect to teaching, not research) instead of telling students to shut the fuck up and do their work and booting people who cheat from the university.

[Edited on December 21, 2009 at 10:49 PM. Reason : TEXT BLOCK. For tl;dr: NCSU is dumb, but so are the other colleges, but they still don't get my $$.]

12/21/2009 10:48:45 PM

I'll donate money when we actually compete in athletics again. so Im thinking im in the clear for awhile.

12/21/2009 11:00:30 PM

Donating because of athletics is a terrible reason to donate.

12/21/2009 11:02:55 PM

I know, but I'll never donate anyway cause i'll never be able to afford it. at least this way it seems like a better reason

12/21/2009 11:29:17 PM

I'll probably give after I get out of grad school, but I didn't pay them after undergrad because their degree was inadequate to get me a job to pay for food, let alone allegiance to a school that already had all my money.

12/21/2009 11:35:40 PM

It seems like a perpetual cycle to me. The less money that the alums give, the less money there is for scholarships and departmental needs. This in turn results in more dissatisfied alumni like myself who may donate a small amount or may not donate anything. Don't get me wrong, I would never complain or whine about the MAE program at NCSU because I made my experience what it was. I knew there was plenty of cheating going on around me, but I chose to focus on what was important to me, and that was putting forth by absolute best effort. I won't be giving any money back to the university any time soon because I could buy a new lexus with the size of my student loan.

12/22/2009 10:00:32 AM

Quality post, Mindstorm.

12/22/2009 10:37:07 AM

Quote :

"Some of our programs are wholly inadequate compared to other public universities. Case in point, I went to work some months back and it is very clear that people who received their degrees at other universities that teach a civil/structural program actually learned how to do weld design for steel members and had some practice with precast concrete, where our undergrad program teaches you nothing about either."

Disagree. I'm a structural engineer and I learned plenty about each.

12/22/2009 12:25:35 PM

Quote :

"im not donating jack shit til my student loans are paid off lee fowler is fired"

THIS

12/22/2009 12:57:47 PM

my graduation was great, I graduated with Rivers so we had lots of press. We had to hold everything up when we walked in (COM graduation was held at the RBC Center) so the press could all get in place. I think Rivers was mentioned like a dozen times by the speakers.

[Edited on December 22, 2009 at 8:22 PM. Reason : w]

12/22/2009 8:16:52 PM

I don't get the "I'm not donating until Lee Fowler is fired" line.
You don't like Lee Fowler? Don't donate to the WPC or buy tickets or go to games.
But really, your donation to the general endowment or to your college or program doesn't have a damn thing to do with Lee Fowler. If you don't want to donate for whatever reason, then don't donate. But don't falsely justify your own stinginess to yourself by blaming it on Lee Fowler.

12/22/2009 8:23:09 PM

Those bitches gave me a parking ticket as I was moving out on graduation day - after the general population had already moved out. When I contested it and basically asked them to give me a break, they as much as laughed at me.

That's fine... I broke the rules. I paid the fine, whatever. But thats the last goddamn cent they'll see from me. They wanna play shit by the book? No problem at all... Just don't come beggin to my ass when u wouldn't cut me a break on my own freaking graduation/move-out day

[Edited on December 23, 2009 at 2:49 PM. Reason : s]

12/23/2009 2:48:02 PM

^ You're right. They should cut everyone a break who illegally parks.

12/23/2009 2:59:23 PM

^It's different when there is an empty lot and nobody around. The purpose of a parking ticket is to ensure equal, fair or paid access as the case may be. When you ticket the only car with two blocks' worth of parking available, that's just petty.

12/23/2009 4:15:20 PM

I would donate to my department (history), but that's it.

12/23/2009 6:00:56 PM

I graduated from ECU and I'm grateful for the education I received there. Since I'm not raking in the $$ right yet, I won't be able to give much, but I'll definitely give. When I do have the cash, I'll probably offer to buy the books of the senior with the highest GPA from the previous semester or something like that.

I think I'm also willing to give to ECU to spite State since I wasn't able to switch concentrations while I was there. Certainly I'm at fault for some of it; I made some poor choices. ECU was forgiving of them and gave me a second chance while State would not.

Even if I had graduated from State, I wouldn't give them a dime, especially with all the corruption crap going around. I don't want my money funding a good ol' boys club.

12/23/2009 9:34:43 PM

Quote :

"im gonna donate a large amount for the sole express purpose of setting up a very good student advising center, one that will be proactive about getting students into the right classes/major for them. basically just getting someone involved in student life really, faculty can opt in but will be trained and monitored for effectiveness (they would get a pay bonus ofc)."

This would be awesome.

12/24/2009 2:52:02 AM

Quote :

"People think its their birthright to receive an education at a Land-Grant University for pennies on the dollar"

actually, it is:

"The General Assembly shall provide that the benefits of The University of North Carolina and other public institutions of higher education, as far as practicable, be extended to the people of the State free of expense."

http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/Legislation/constitution/article9.html

12/24/2009 4:04:16 AM

12/24/2009 4:24:01 AM

Quote :

"You're right. They should cut everyone a break who illegally parks."

I didn't say that they should cut me a break - I acknowledged that I deserved the fine... But what I'm saying is, the parking lot was empty, it was graduation day and I was moving out - IOW, I needed to park near the entrance to load my dang crap...

Now, if they can't help a poor brotha out, then when that brotha get rich why in the F will he want to help them out? Exactly.

I am the type to contribute - I donate to NPR all the time. But when they stuck it to me for that parking ticket, I told myself that was the last $50 I would ever give to NCSU.

12/24/2009 3:59:26 PM