I knew it! MSU is in fact the root of all evil in the world!

Submitted by James Burrill Angell on

Love it! As if our friends at Michigan's Secondbest University don't have enough of a complex being called the younger sibling and featuring a student body loaded with Michigan rejection letters, there's now this:

http://www.freep.com/article/20110308/NEWS06/103080381/After-attacks-MSU-s-Libya-program-under-scrutiny?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

Apparently MSU, in an effort to find someone's top students who will come to their school, have started a program in cahoots with Moammar Gadhafi to train Libya's "future leaders" as picked by Gadhafi's government. AWESOME!!!! Maybe the football team learned its ski-mask enhanced student group suppression tactics during some idea exchange sessions with the Future Libyan Leadership club.

Space Coyote

March 8th, 2011 at 1:46 PM ^

Doesn't mean it's a better school.  I got into Michigan grad school.  I didn't get in to Penn St.  Penn St. has a very good grad program for engineering, but Michigan's is perceived to be better.  MSU is a better school than all the schools you listed.  The closest is probably Tech.

I'm not going to bash smaller schools, I think they serve a good purpose and realize big schools aren't for everyone, so Hope and Hillsdale are probably good schools.  But the resources, research, etc. that MSU brings in far outweighs what those schools can offer.  Name recognition also plays a huge roll in getting jobs.  That's why sports actually can be important for representing Universities.  MSU is a better school overall for some of the same reasons Michigan is a better school overall than MSU.  Also, obviously, I think it depends greatly on what your major is.

blacknblue

March 8th, 2011 at 2:16 PM ^

I went to Tech.  Tech is one of the best engineering schools in the country.  If you're going into Engineering Michigan Tech is easily on par with Michigan.  The problem with Tech is that if you're not going into Engineering, Computer Science, or surprsingly Technincal Communication, you're better off going anywhere else.

Space Coyote

March 8th, 2011 at 2:25 PM ^

Being an engineering major, I see that.  I was speaking about overall in my comment above. I think even in engineering it can get into specifics.  I'm sure there are aspects in engineering that are better at UM, some that are better at MSU, and some that are better at tech, depending on what you want to do with whatever type of engineering degree you get.

I think a lot of arguments can be made about what "better" means as well.  Does better mean how well profs teach undergrads.  If that's the case, I'll flat out say Michigan isn't one of the "best" because they do tend to focus on grad students.  That's not what I believe "better" to mean, but it could be argued as much.  I tend to think it's a mix of a lot of things personally, including how much it helps you get a job.  I think one important thing to realize as well is that any school is as good as you make it.  I don't care if it's UM, MSU, CMU, Tech, Northern, Hope, etc., a college education is what you get out of it.  If you want to work harder, study more, challenge yourself, those challenges can be had at any school.  I think the fact that Michigan is naturally challenging gives it the perception of being "better", which is nice for a lot of us on here, but I do think that challenge can be had at almost any school.

Space Coyote

March 8th, 2011 at 2:31 PM ^

I would refrain from using such unwitty and unclever jokes as calling "Buttwipe College" a better school than MSU.  It makes you seem uncredible and any school you are actually claiming to be better uncredible simply because you used a joke that a 5 year old could think up.

I say this because, in a debate, I tend to agree with the Joker when he says "why so serious?"  I like agood,  clever joke.  But damn dude, that joke was lame.  That was like some serious Krusty the Clown stand up material.

MGoRob

March 8th, 2011 at 1:53 PM ^

I guess it depends on your point of view.  I think of it in terms of research in natural science.  MSU blows both of those out of the water.  And Michigan blows MSU out of the water (except in plant research).

For liberal arts studies though, you definitely may have a point, but I don't know enough of either departments to make an accurate statement.

Dezzy

March 8th, 2011 at 12:14 PM ^

So by preparing a country's leaders to be culturally sound and have good diplomatic skills, MSU is doing a bad thing? 

I think this is more political than sports bashing...

jhackney

March 8th, 2011 at 12:19 PM ^

“There is no state with a democracy except Libya on the whole planet.”

 

Muammar Gaddafi

 

Way to go State. Now I know why Gaddafi chose an all green flag.

Desmonlon Edwoodson

March 8th, 2011 at 12:26 PM ^

But I have taken a vow not to rip on little brother.  For the record I do NOT think MSU is training more fluent terrorist cells, and doubt that MSU has taken more than the $2 million dollars they have reported from the Libyan government.

saveferris

March 8th, 2011 at 12:49 PM ^

...and featuring a student body loaded with Michigan rejection letters...

Not according to some of the posts I've seen on the RCMB. The claim that, "I applied to Michigan just to turn them down" occurs with surprising frequency with a close second being, "Michigan was my safety school".

double blue

March 8th, 2011 at 1:21 PM ^

yep, because all of the statistics point to michigan being easier to get into than msu.  oh, i forgot they don't understand statistics and therefore, this rationalizations is exactly that- a rationalization. 

 

god, i am so happy things are starting to return to normal with our dominance of them.

saveferris

March 8th, 2011 at 2:14 PM ^

See and here I thought it was because they were all just a bunch of gratuitous liars.

It's a ridiculous lie at that, as if an 18 year old high school student is going to piss away a $100 application fee (or whatever it is these days) just to have the satisfation of telling that institution to "piss off".  Ludicrous.

James Burrill Angell

March 8th, 2011 at 2:29 PM ^

Which shows how stupid they really are.

Why the hell would you voluntarily go to a school to get a sheepskin that is considered inferior to another one you could have received if you went elsewhere. Just stupid.

I someday hope my kids go to Michigan BUT if they get into an Ivy League school, I'll get a second and third job to send them there if I must and they WILL go regardless of my or their sports allegiances.

Space Coyote

March 8th, 2011 at 3:03 PM ^

I used my Penn St. story above, but that is understandable based on the fact that Penn St. funds something like 95% of the graduate students themselves.  These weird things do happen on occassion though, no matter the school.  The only thing I question is the number of people that claim it to happen and, even more so, the reasons they give for picking MSU over Michigan.

Mgobowl

March 8th, 2011 at 1:35 PM ^

While I see you are trying to be humorous, lets separate out the Libyan people from Moammar Gadhafi. Just because he's off his rocker doesn't mean all the people from Libya are too.

Many countries (Iraq and Iran included) will pay for their citizens to go to school in foreign countries so long as they are willing to return to the country when their program is done. Regardless of how the 35 students were chosen, this is a good thing because it exposes those students to western culture, gives them an education, and hopefully when they return to Libya they have a more positive view of the US.

SFBlue

March 8th, 2011 at 2:12 PM ^

I too think it's a stretch to call Sparty Michigan's "Second Best University."  Kalamazoo College, Michigan Tech, and Calvin College could all make good arguments for being number two. 

 

iawolve

March 8th, 2011 at 2:17 PM ^

Expect to see him playing in next week's game. The crimes against humanity deserved a second chance so he will be traveling with the team and sitting out the first series... to teach him a lesson.