#ofc i would say this as midwest nationalist

[mourning-again-in-america]

damn shame that even tho flagship R1 state schools have built so much of the backbone of the United States (the stereotypical example being agricultural development, but for sheer "wow" my favorite example is the ILLIAC machines), what are they good for now? what are people orienting the telos of these institutions around, besides taking a bunch of money from rich Chinese kids' parents and using it to plug leaks in underfunded pension programs?

maybe I'm just not around Actual Engineers enough, but to me, UMinn or UMich etc. are much more impressive than a 2nd-rate Ivy like Brown or Dartmouth, unless it's for some real frou-frou ass program. but, that's just me.