Extra Credit: Astronomy, Basic Research, Society and Universities

If you want to do a "light" extra credit assignment, just do Part I (summarize "Does College Cost Too Much") in a page, for +1% on your grade.

I) Universities: +1% extra credit: View and summarize in one page (250-300 words)
     Bob Martin's 2013 Mortar Board lecture "Does College Cost Too Much" (in 8 YouTube segments linked here including slides)
     (Bonus: Please create a list of definitions or further explanations for slides if you like, for Bob Martin to add.)

II) Astronomy + Society: +0.5% extra credit: Read and summarize in a half page (125-150 words) ONE of these three articles on astronomy basic
research which ended up being applied, with relation to society - for 0.5% extra credit
     What Has Astronomy Done for You Lately, R. James, Astronomy Magazine, May 2012
     Astronomy in Everyday Life, Rosenberg et al. 2009, International Astronomical Union (for Int'l Astronomy Year)
     Conservationists Use Astronomy to Save Species, Pallab Ghosh 2018, BBC

III) Basic (Science) Research: +1% extra credit: Write 1 page (250-300 words) on ONE of the following topics (a, b or c):

a) the value of astronomy (or *basic research* in chemistry, math, biology or geology)  in terms of undergraduate,  graduate student or
faculty research  to students' educations, University income/donations and/or benefits to society/advancement of  knowledge.  Interview
any faculty member, graduate student or  undergraduate  student who is *CURRENTLY ACTIVE WITH A RESEARCH PROJECT*. 
Discuss what resources that person needs to do the research, and ask and describe how
UofL can stack up/compete with other universities for research funding.  Remember that basic research is different from applied research.

b) a CURRENT undergraduate or graduate student doing a research project in YOUR major or minor department.  Interview a faculty member
mentor or the student doing the research.  Discuss what that person needs to do the research, whether it is basic or applied, and how the research
contributes to the general body of knowledge.  Also discuss how the person's research resources at U. Louisville compare to those people who are doing similar
work at other R1 universities (see list here).

c) the relative merits of U. Louisville investing in astronomy research and how to pay for it.  (This might be appealing to business majors!)
If UofL would want to fund more astronomy research for increasing its research profile, how would you recommend raising $80k/yr to
support the  operating expenses for a large university telescope as other universities have?  Such a sum could buy for example
i) 5% time on a medium-sized timeshare telescope (about 2-4m diameter) in a good location like Arizona, or
ii) annual dues for a data-sharing consortium like the Dark Energy Survey (see HERE for a description and click on "COLLABORATION"
for a list of universities/laboratories which pay for membership, or
iii) part of an endowed professorship to bring a "big name" professor to the University or 2 post-doctoral researchers to enhance the research activity in astronomy.

If you would propose to invest in astronomy research, how would you pay for it?  Would you consider asking the administration to use part of
UofL's $21m/year endowment income (3%/yr income from a $700M endowment), which currently goes somewhere else?
Would you consider asking the administration to fund-raise to add $2M to the $1B endowment to generate $80k/yr income (4%/yr return)?
If you had to reduce expenses to balance out the $80k/year cost, what would you cut?  Something from other departments? If so, which ones?
For comparison, $80k/yr is about the cost of one Assoc Prof of English or one Asst Prof of Physics salary (including benefits),
or about 1.5 administrators in the Student Activities office.  There are other budget items to balance: groundskeeping, University Police, the student
recreation center etc.

For all three options above (a, b or c), at the end write an additional 100 words on how your education at U. Louisville (an R1 research university) could benefit
(or differ) compared with one at a university with less of  a research mission i.e. one where faculty mostly teach and do less research.
For reference, see the list of R1 (Doctoral: very high research activity) universities at this link.

IV) Universities + Society: +0.5% extra credit: Write a half page (125-150 words) relating any one of your majors or minors to astronomy, and how you
could relate the two in a job.  This could involve incorporating astronomy into teaching school, doing financial management for a space project, science writing for journalism, space history etc.  Speak with any faculty member, graduate student or undergraduate major in physics/astronomy or in your
major/minor if you need ideas.

There is a lot of material you can read posted/linked below.  You don't need to read it all, but you should read enough to make reasoned arguments.
Or, you can read extra sources and discuss them, too, of course, if you want to do a super job and aim for extra points.
You do not have to support astronomy to get a good grade.  You should have well-reasoned arguments and CITE YOUR SOURCES.

The whole extra credit assignment is strictly limited to a maximum of about 1000 words.

BACKGROUND:

    UNIVERSITY RESEARCH INCOME:
The state mandates that UofL be a research university, to train students in practical problem-solving and help the state have a skilled work force.
Look at the research income here of various Arts & Sciences Depts. from 2009-15.  UofL takes about 1/3 of the money in overhead to fund
university-wide building maintenance, administrator salaries etc.  Every time a department hires another faculty member, the research income should
grow as that person wins national grants.  So, in 2014-15, an "average" physics faculty member, based on 15 faculty, raised
$934,868/15 = $62325 in grants, of which $20,775 went to UofL overhead.  Some faculty raised more, some less.  In general, those with better labs
(or bigger telescopes than competitors in other universities!) and better ideas tend to raise relative more grant money. Research-active
faculty need undergraduate majors and especially graduate students to help with their research and to win grants.

      UNIVERSITY TEACHING INCOME:
Look at the teaching income here of various Arts & Sciences Dept. from 2009-15.  Each FTE (full time equivalent) faculty member generates
about $400/credit hour (for in-state undergraduates).  So, in 2014-15, a physics faculty member raised on average 770.9 x $400 = $308,000
in tuition money, but cost about $120k in salary, including benefits.
Teaching big classes raises more money per faculty member, which has to be balanced with students who may prefer more instructor attention and
smaller classes.  Sometimes, big general education classes in a department subsidize smaller upper level classes for majors and graduate students --
who help faculty to win grants, increase research income of the university, train students in practical problems for future jobs and add to
society's general knowledge for basic research.

     UNIVERSITY DONATION INCOME:
Universities solicit donations to fund scholarships, projects, buildings and activities which would not otherwise get covered by
state subsidies (in the case of public universities), teaching income or research income.  See here what donations would cover
for astronomy.  The case is similar for other departments.

Universities compete to be rated well in teaching, to get better undergraduates to apply, and in research, to get better faculty and graduate
students (and also some better undergraduates) to apply for jobs/student positions.  Better research ratings go hand-in-hand with higher research income.


UNIVERSITY FINANCES AND SPORTS
Right now Athletics mostly funds itself through ticket sales, TV money and donations/corporate sponsorship.
Would you think that the University would accept imposing  an academic tax of $1-2/sports ticket to fund a broad range of  academics?
Some universities do that.  How would you convince Athletics and UofL to accept such a proposal?
If you think that this sort of money should go to another department (Chemistry, Biology, Psychology, English, Communications etc.) rather than
Physics and Astronomy, which one would you pick and why? Remember that state government mandate is that Louisville be a research university.

Factors you might consider could include:
   a) general education teaching (700-750 students/year in Astronomy 107, out of about 3000 incoming freshmen each year)
   b) undergraduate majors (about 15-20 physics majors/year, half doing the "astronomy concentration", with 3-4 upper level astronomy courses added to the physics major)
   c) graduate education (about 30 PhD students in Physics and 5 PhD students in astronomy as of 2014)
   d) faculty research (3 full-time faculty, ownership of  two 50cm and one 70cm telescopes in Oldham County and Australia)
  e) Our Feb. 2015 US News & World Report national rankings by departmental graduate programs (which do
relate at least partially to the quality of our undergraduate programs) are here, along with the other ACC institutions.
In the long run, we are supposed to be academically consistent with ACC levels.

Here are more things you might want to consider in your Part III essay.  Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona is
closing due to budget cuts from the federal government around 2015-16, so ground-based observational astronomy
will mostly be left to universities with their own private telescope access.  The Green Bank Radio Telescope in West
Virginia, the world's largest steerable dish, is also proposed to be closed/sold off.
A) UofL Annual Budget: $1.2B; UofL Endowment: about $712M as of Nov 2019 $32k/student generating $960/student at 3% return
per year in income from the interest), but having to cover
expenses after over 10 consecutive years of cuts from state support, forcing tuition increases
B) Number of universities with doctorates in physics richer per student (with >$46k/student endowment): 42
C) Number of universities with bigger astronomy groups (4 or more full-time astronomy faculty): 73
D) Number of universities with much bigger telescope access (private access to at least one research telescope of diameter 2m or greater): 60
E) KY portion of US population: 1.3%.  KY portion of US professional astronomy (39 of 7015 American Astronomical Society members): 0.56%
F) One-time purchase of 2.5% share (ownership, 8 nights/yr which is plenty for 2-3 faculty) on a 4m telescope: $400k
G) Annual operating cost for 8 nights (2.5%) of time on a 4m telescope on top of one-time purchase: $40k
H) Salary and benefits for one average UofL professor, including 20-25% for health plan/retirement
     contributions: about $100k/year, with most in a range of salary+benefits from about  $80k to $150k)
     check here for the salary of UK/UofL employees, including athletics coaches, administrators and faculty
     There are about 2300 faculty, 4600 staff (administrators, other employees) and 23000 students at UofL
I) Tuition income from one 3-hour Astro 107 course with 150 students: $180k (at $400/credit hour)
J) Courses taught per astronomy professor per year: two 107 courses plus two smaller courses
K) New UofL Student Recreation Center: $38M, with annual student fee of $98
L) UofL Annual athletics budget: $84.5M in 2011-12
M) Papa John's Cardinal Stadium construction $135M (1998), $72M expansion (2009)
N) Dr. Mark & Cindy Lynn Soccer Stadium construction $18.5M (2014, after their $5M donation)
O) YUM! Center: $238M (paid by state/city, leased by UofL)
P) total annual possible attendance at football (6 dates, 55000/game) and men's basketball (21 dates, 22000/game): 792,000
Q) UofL probably breaks even on sports income and expenses, though this is not common.  Here are a few examples.  You can look for others.
Univ. Houston
Ohio Universities (except Ohio State)
Georgia St. and other smaller programs

R) Look up articles about U. Louisville / Foundation academic and non-academic costs/expenses by Louisville Courier-Journal writers Phillip M. Bailey and Andrew Wolfson for other ideas in 2015, 2016 etc.
S) Think of any other campus expenses if you like to put costs into perspective.  GIVE YOUR SOURCES.