It’s not every day that you read an editorial bashing the place you work, and your colleague’s mental acumen and productivity. Well, if you work at UNLV it might be. First, a social work professor throws his peers under the bus by complaining that their work isn’t being published in enough indexed journals. Then he bashes the leadership a bit. Finally, he demands more money from the public. You’ve got to read it to believe it. From the LVRJ:
The Nevada gambling business has never paid its fair share for the civic health of the community but it now cries recessionary tears even while the Strip moguls ornament their vanities with priceless paintings and gems. They might heed G.K. Chesterton: "To be clever enough to get a great deal of money, one must be stupid enough to want it." But the real stupidity, a moral narcissism, is the obsession of endless acquisition unmitigated by civic duty or good taste. Modern Nevada has been created as a tax haven for the rapacious and the socially irresponsible.
The UNLV endowment drive has fallen short of its very modest target. In recent years UCLA and the University of Southern California have each raised $3 billion while UNLV has barely raised $425 million. Considering the dearth of higher education in Southern Nevada — UNLV is its only public university — and the great wealth even in comparison with Southern California, the private sector owes UNLV a few billion dollars to put together what all the clamor has been about: a quality research university.
I just want to discuss the bit I quoted above. Anyone who tries to compare UNLV’s donor base with those of UCLA or USC is either being deliberately disingenuous or is a moron. USC was founded in 1880, UCLA 1919. “Nevada Southern” began in 1957. Obviously, the LA schools have much deeper alumni pools to draw on. Plus, Los Angeles is a far larger and diversified city than Las Vegas–there are several industries that schools can turn to for partnerships. It would be hard to argue that Las Vegas is anywhere near as “wealthy” a city as Los Angeles.
I don’t think that the gaming industry owes UNLV anything. I’m being honest. As the guy who runs the Center for Gaming Research, I’d probably get a much bigger budget if, for some reason, the industry was compelled to pour money into Nevada’s higher education.
Nor does the rest of the private sector “owe” UNLV anything. If they want to support higher education, that’s great, but there’s no way to compel them to give more than they want. A university is a great thing, but I’m not about to tell people how to spend or donate their money.
Here’s the sentence I like best:
“But the real stupidity, a moral narcissism, is the obsession of endless acquisition unmitigated by civic duty or good taste.”
So, wanting more is stupid, narcissistic, and morally indefensible.
I’d like to know who wants less? Certainly not Professor Epstein, who wants to shake down the private sector for a few billion bucks to support a university that he says is mired in decrepitude. If we took his ranting at face value, and agreed that UNLV is a bad schools with a poor administration and crappy professors, why on earth would anyone want to give it more money?
Epistemologically, it shows a real poverty of agency; you don’t identify a problem and then fix it, or hold those who caused it accountable. No one action, it seems, can set the world aright. Instead, you insult those who’ve worked hard and been smart enough to make some money for themselves and demand they foot the bill for your failures.