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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: July 7th, 2023

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  • In 1986, my mom paid $386 ($1,106 in 2024) in tuition for a quarter at the University of Washington. In 2015, I paid around $3,700 ($4902 in 2024) for a quarter at UW.

    In 1986, UW got $440 million dollars from the state. That’s $1.2 billion in 2024. In 2015, UW got $644 million from the state. That’s $0.8 billion today.

    It’s hard to find enrollment data for some reason, but there were less than 30,000 students at UW in the late 80s. In 2015, that figure was closer to 55,000.

    Using inflation adjusted figures, the state was contributing $41,000 per student in 1986 compared to $14,500 in 2015. Adding in yearly tuition, the total cost was $44,700 in 1986. In 2015, that’s $29,300 per student.

    Importantly, this analysis leaves out private contributions to the university’s budget which makes up a large portion of its funds. However, those funds are usually restricted in how they can be spent.

    Most of the buildings on UW’s campus were built in the 50s or 60s. There were some that were from the 20s and 30s or older. Forget cosmetics, most of those need renovations just to remain usable. There were thousands of good, usable computers in the libraries that were always in use. Keeping that fleet running is an expense that just wasn’t around 30+ years ago. Labs equipment has gotten better and more expensive. I used a $100,000 high speed camera when I was in school. My mom sure didn’t have access to that.

    Based on my quick, back of the envelope math, education has not gotten 3 to 4 times more expensive, but the state has been contributing less and less money to fund it.


  • Second, the only reason for the massive amounts of student debt is due to universities massively inflating the cost of an education to milk the government of their federal student loans.

    I can’t speak for everywhere, but that’s not true for my alma mater. Tuition has been rising because of a lack of state funding. 20 years ago, state funds made up 2/3 of the University budget. Now it’s 1/3. The difference has to come from somewhere.

    Go to an in-state school. Prices are lower. Go to a community college to take your desired program’s prerequisites and transfer to a state university. Or just finish up a degree at a community college.






  • No, their airlines are not an ancillary product. They are their main product. According to Boeing’s earnings reports, the commercial aircraft segment of the company made up 56% of total revenue in 2018, 42% in 2019, 27% in 2020, 30% in 2021, 38% in 2022, and 43% in 2023. The rest of their revenue is split between the Defense, Space and Security segment, and the Global Services segment.

    Prior to 2017, the vast majority of the earnings for the whole company came from the Commercial Airplanes segment. Since then, that segment has been operating at a loss. Since 2022, both Defense and Commercial Airplanes have been operating at a loss.

    If you’re curious you can look up Boeing’s 10-k form. Page 56 has the revenue breakdowns.






  • While this policy is bullshit, I’d firmly disagree that kei cars are safer than half of vehicles in the US.

    • They’re all right hand drive, which makes it harder to see other traffic and pedestrians. Their headlights are also aimed to illuminate the left shoulder in Japan. In the US, those headlights will blind oncoming drivers.
    • In order to be imported into the US, these kei cars are all 25 years old at least. Crash safety has improved a lot in that time. The slab fronts of these cars provide no crumple zone for occupants. Like many modern pickup trucks, a pedestrian will be crushed, rather than scooped onto the hood and windshield of a shorter car like a sedan.
    • Because of their age, many of these vehicles might not have ABS or airbags. Additionally, their age also will make them more likely to have a technical problem, which will be harder to solve since they’re JDM only vehicles.