patentesq's post is SO SO SO misguided, I can't let this pass without a rebuttal, though I try mostly to limit my contribution in this board to strictly ROTC related issues.
Especially, the following:
There's something amiss in our education system today. The "Occupy" protesters should not be looking at Wall Street but should be directing their anger at Harvard Square. IMHO.
OMG. where do I begin. Nobody is invading US elite colleges and steal the precious spots American students should be rightfully occupying.
(1) Most of the Asians's in America's elite colleges are Asian AMERICANS. Something like 20-30% of MIT student body are Asian AMERICANS. Foreign nationals, Asians or not, are counted separately, and they total about 9 %. The MIT has the highest % of Asians in all elite colleges except Berkeley and there they are about 50%, and that's because Cal system decided to enforce race blind admissions policy. AND, they are MOSTLY Asian Americans.
Are you saying there are too many Asian Americans in USA elite colleges and we should balance it out better, as in reduce Asians and accept more whites, blacks and hispanics? If so, you and I am in agreement, and I am an Asian and my kids are half Asians. My reason is, the America's future elite class should better represent the overall population. What's yours? But you realize my reason is not about resenting the fact that so many foreigners are "occupying" seats at US elite colleges.
(2) Most foreign nationals must have HIGHER scores and qualifications to get a seat a elite US colleges. If you think the elite colleges are giving seats to less qualified foreign nationals. you are wrong.
(3) Scholarships are very hard to get for foreign nationals. If anything, most of them pay full pay. At state schools, they pay through the nose. Please note that foreign nationals with green cards are still considered foreign nationals, and though they pay taxes through their nose: everything, state, local, social security, medicare insurance, local real estate tax, they do NOT get in state college tuition at their public schools. So, because they lack the citizenship, they are in fact subsiding citizen's education at public school.
(4) Most of the "foreign nationals" who come and occupy seats at elite colleges fall into two categories:
(a) elites from their home countries who go back and become elites of their own countries with very favorable opinions about USA and implement USA style policies, values, and what not. In fact, in many countries, a ruling class in their countries are US educated.
THIS IS VERY BENEFICIAL for American interest on the long term basis. If anything we should ENCOURAGE more foreign nationals who will come and imbibe US values, policies, and culture and go back to their country to become the decision makers in their own country.
(b) the top brains from their own country who come to USA, get top quality education, and STAY in USA to become the engine of growth for knowledge industry. Both my husband and I work in high tech industry, and about 30-40% of the engineers and company leaders of ALL ELITE tech companies are foreign born professionals who came to USA's top elite Ph.D. programs and stayed on and became naturalized and raise their family as American citizens. Most of the foreign born Ph.D. actually want to stay in USA and become citizens but post 9 11 immigration quotas are making it difficult for a lot of them, and they are going to Europe instead to enrich THEIR competitiveness. What a shame.....
Do you know that the founders of Sun Microsystem, Google, Yahoo, Youtube, etc are ALL foreign born professionals? Do you think these people are stealing university seats at elite schools and employment positions at elite companies that would have been well staffed by equally well qualified natural born US citizens??? Can you imagine USA without Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, etc without foreign born nationals who were educated at elite USA universities' PH.D. program and stay on? If you can, you are deluded.
Without top quality brains we managed to lure to USA from all over the world, you will be left with decaying manufacturing industry but without the globally dominant knowledge industry companies like the likes of Google and Apple.
If anything, we should ENCOURAGE more of the top biologists, chemists, software engineers from all over the world to come and educated here in USA and STAY.
The true strength of USA lies in its ability to continuously lure the very best from the rest of the world.
Get rid of all the foreign born brain talents, you will be signing your name on the decline of American in a short order.
PS
Both my husband and I are foreign born. We came to USA to get Ph.D. we got married, stayed on, and played a rather meaningful role in ensuring this this country stayed as a dominant force in global knowledge industry. We raised two kids who are incredibly exemplary young men in this country, the kind any nation would love to have as part of their future generation. And yes, one of them is willing to risk his life to defend and serve this country. Do you feel that we invaded the American elite educational institutions and occupied the seats better deserving American students should have occupied?
By the way, both my husband and I are very proud Americans and very grateful that this country provided all the opportunities for us to excel and contribute without prejudice and discrimination, and for that, our son will be dedicating his life to serve. My goal is in a few years to retire from my primary career and become a public advocacy lawyer to give back to this society by helping the least privileged among us.