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Lumina Foundation Issues Commentary: Why Americans Should Care When International Students Stop Coming
INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, Aug. 28 -- The Lumina Foundation issued the following commentary by chief data and research officer Courtney Brown:
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Why Americans should care when international students stop coming
For decades, America has enjoyed an extraordinary competitive advantage that we rarely talk about: many of the world's most talented people have wanted to study here.
We have gotten so accustomed to this advantage that we seem to assume it will always exist. It won't, and the warning signs are beginning to flash. International graduate enrollment fell in 2025, and although undergraduate
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INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, Aug. 28 -- The Lumina Foundation issued the following commentary by chief data and research officer Courtney Brown:
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Why Americans should care when international students stop coming
For decades, America has enjoyed an extraordinary competitive advantage that we rarely talk about: many of the world's most talented people have wanted to study here.
We have gotten so accustomed to this advantage that we seem to assume it will always exist. It won't, and the warning signs are beginning to flash. International graduate enrollment fell in 2025, and although undergraduateenrollment continued to grow, it did so more slowly than the year before. Application data suggest fewer international students are considering American colleges, too.
According to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, international graduate enrollment fell 5.9 percent in fall 2025, a decline of roughly 10,000 students after years of steady growth. International undergraduate enrollment grew 3.2 percent, less than half the growth rate of the previous fall.
Common App reported in August that first-year international applicants fell 10 percent during the 2025-26 application cycle. The decline was remarkably widespread: nine of the 10 countries sending the most international applicants saw decreases. Applications from India fell 15 percent, and those from Nigeria fell 21 percent. Meanwhile, domestic applicants increased 4 percent.
This isn't just about international students, and it isn't just about universities. The consequences extend beyond college campuses, reaching American workers, businesses, researchers, students, and communities.
International students support American jobs
International students contributed $42.9 billion to the U.S. economy and supported more than 355,000 American jobs during the 2024-25 academic year, according to NAFSA: Association of International Educators. For every three international students studying in the United States, NAFSA estimates that one U.S. job is created or supported.
That money doesn't stay inside university gates. International students rent apartments. They eat at restaurants. They buy groceries, furniture, and clothes. They use transportation and other services. Their spending supports jobs throughout the communities where they live.
What happens when fewer of them come?
A recent NAFSA analysis projects that the United States could see as many as 111,000 fewer international students this fall, resulting in as much as $3.4 billion in lost economic activity and putting nearly 40,000 American jobs at risk.
But the bigger loss may be harder to see.
International students are deeply woven into America's innovation economy. A recent NBER study examining international master's students and U.S. startups found that greater international enrollment led to more companies being created after graduation. And the effect wasn't limited to international students themselves: researchers estimate that 30 to 45 percent of the increase came from American graduates who studied alongside them.
In other words, international talent doesn't simply add to American talent. It can help multiply it.
That matters at a moment when the United States is racing to lead the world in artificial intelligence, biotechnology, advanced manufacturing, and other emerging industries.
The people who come here to study aren't simply filling seats in classrooms. They are working in laboratories, contributing to discoveries, developing new technologies, and helping create companies.
International students also contribute something harder to quantify but no less important: they help prepare American students for the world they are entering.
Most American college students will never study abroad. But they will graduate into an economy where their colleagues, customers, and competitors span the globe. Learning alongside classmates from other countries gives them experience working with people who bring different experiences, perspectives, and approaches to problem-solving.
America has to compete for talent
International education isn't only about educating international students.
It is also about educating Americans.
Yet at precisely the moment international interest in American higher education appears to be weakening, new policies and visa uncertainty are making studying here more difficult and less predictable.
The Department of Homeland Security has finalized a rule ending the longstanding "duration of status" approach for international students and exchange visitors. Students will instead be admitted for fixed periods and may need to apply for extensions if their studies take longer. At the same time, prospective students have faced visa delays and other uncertainties about whether they will be able to study and remain in the United States.
The United States can enforce immigration law while also recognizing that delays and uncertainty can come at a cost. And we should also consider whether we're making it more or less likely that talented students from around the world will choose America.
That question matters more today because students have more high-quality options than they once did.
American colleges and universities remain among the best in the world. But excellence in higher education is no longer concentrated here. The 2027 QS World University Rankings include universities in the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, and Australia among the world's top 20, alongside leading U.S. institutions.
That is good for students and good for the world. But it also means America has to compete for talent.
A 2026 OECD analysis of international students in higher education shows just how much that competition has grown. Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom have all experienced strong growth in international enrollment over the past decade.
And students don't choose a country based on university rankings alone. The OECD finds that international students weigh an institution's quality and reputation alongside the country's safety, affordability, opportunities to work while studying, visa requirements, career prospects, and their ability to work after graduation.
In other words, talented students aren't simply asking, Where can I get a great education?
Increasingly, they can get one in many places.
The question is whether they will continue to choose America.
For generations, one of America's greatest advantages has been its ability to attract ambitious people from around the world, but that advantage is not guaranteed.
International students have more choices than ever. If they increasingly choose to study, conduct research, and build businesses elsewhere, the economic and intellectual benefits will go with them.
That is an American advantage we should be very careful about giving away.
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About the Author
Courtney Brown is the foundation's chief data and research officer and leads Lumina's strategic planning, research, evaluation, data, and learning efforts
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Original text here: https://www.luminafoundation.org/news-and-views/why-americans-should-care-when-international-students-stop-coming/
Hispanic Access Brings Together 200+ Leaders to Put Communities at the Center of California's 30x30 Goals
WASHINGTON, Aug. 28 -- The Hispanic Access Foundation issued the following news release on Aug. 27, 2026:
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Hispanic Access Brings Together 200+ Leaders to Put Communities at the Center of California's 30x30 Goals
More than 200 community leaders, government officials, conservation advocates, academics and philanthropic partners gathered today at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County for Pathways to 30x30 and Beyond: Urban Nature, a convening focused on the role communities and cities can play in advancing California's goal of conserving 30% of its lands and waters by 2030. Hosted
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WASHINGTON, Aug. 28 -- The Hispanic Access Foundation issued the following news release on Aug. 27, 2026:
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Hispanic Access Brings Together 200+ Leaders to Put Communities at the Center of California's 30x30 Goals
More than 200 community leaders, government officials, conservation advocates, academics and philanthropic partners gathered today at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County for Pathways to 30x30 and Beyond: Urban Nature, a convening focused on the role communities and cities can play in advancing California's goal of conserving 30% of its lands and waters by 2030. Hostedby Hispanic Access Foundation, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and UCLA Sustainability, the convening brought leaders across sectors together to strengthen connections, elevate community-driven solutions and explore how urban conservation can protect biodiversity, build climate resilience and connect more families to nature.
The event spotlighted Pathway 9 of California's 30x30 strategy, which recognizes the importance of protecting "in-between" spaces--including farms, ranches, suburban neighborhoods and urban areas--that connect natural areas and support biodiversity. Through conversations highlighting efforts across the City and County of Los Angeles and throughout California, participants explored how local leadership, cross-sector partnerships and community advocacy can help shape the decisions, policies and investments that affect communities and conservation.
By creating space for community leaders to exchange ideas, build relationships and engage directly with decision-makers, the convening highlighted the importance of ensuring that the people closest to these issues have a meaningful role in shaping solutions.
"Latino leaders already have the knowledge, relationships and solutions to address the challenges facing their communities. Our role is to walk alongside them--connecting leaders to one another and to the systems where decisions are made so they can turn community-driven solutions into lasting change," said Maite Arce, President and CEO of Hispanic Access Foundation. "Achieving 30x30 requires communities to be more than participants in conservation. They must have the opportunity and influence to help shape what conservation looks like in the places they call home."
That approach is central to Hispanic Access Foundation's work to cultivate Latino leadership and strengthen the relationships and networks that help communities turn local knowledge and solutions into collective action and lasting impact.
Participants included Wade Crowfoot, Secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency; Randall Winston, Deputy Mayor of Public Works for the City of Los Angeles; Rita Kampalath, Chief Sustainability Officer for the County of Los Angeles; Miguel Luna, Chief Administrative Officer for the Fernandeno Tataviam Band of Mission Indians; Anthony Redblood Morales, Chief of the Gabrieleno Tongva-San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians; Lori Bettison-Varga, President and Director of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County; Maite Arce, President and CEO of Hispanic Access Foundation; and Nurit Katz, Chief Sustainability Officer at UCLA.
Pathways to 30x30 and Beyond: Urban Nature underscored that lasting conservation solutions are strongest when communities are connected, their leadership is valued and they have opportunities to help shape the decisions that affect the places they call home.
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Original text here: https://www.hispanicaccess.org/news-releases/3134-hispanic-access-brings-together-200-leaders-to-put-communities-at-the-center-of-californias-30x30-goals
Health Foundation Responds to Latest ONS Figures on NEETs
LONDON, England, Aug. 28 -- The Health Foundation issued the following statement by policy and research manager Sam Atwell:
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The Health Foundation responds to latest ONS figures on NEETs
Responding to the latest ONS figures showing that 13% of 16 to 24-year-olds are not in education, employment or training (NEET), Sam Atwell, Policy and Research Manager at the Health Foundation, said:
'While today's figures point to a slight fall in the number of 16 to 24-year-olds not in employment, education or training (NEET), they also show that too many young people are still struggling to establish
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LONDON, England, Aug. 28 -- The Health Foundation issued the following statement by policy and research manager Sam Atwell:
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The Health Foundation responds to latest ONS figures on NEETs
Responding to the latest ONS figures showing that 13% of 16 to 24-year-olds are not in education, employment or training (NEET), Sam Atwell, Policy and Research Manager at the Health Foundation, said:
'While today's figures point to a slight fall in the number of 16 to 24-year-olds not in employment, education or training (NEET), they also show that too many young people are still struggling to establishthemselves in work or education. Spending long periods neither earning nor learning can have lasting consequences for young people's health, incomes and future opportunities.
'Poor health is an increasingly important part of this picture. Our figures show that nearly half of young people who are NEET now report a health condition that limits their ability to work, making it harder for many to find and sustain the right opportunity.[1]
'If we want to meaningfully prevent young people falling out of work or education, government needs to act earlier through stronger support in schools and better help to overcome barriers and find their next step. This must be matched by enough good entry-level jobs for young people to start and build their careers.
'Alan Milburn's final report into NEETs and Peter Fonagy's review into the prevalence of mental health and neurodevelopmental conditions, both due to report this autumn, should prompt government to build a system that gives young people the support and opportunities they need to manage their health and participate in work or education.'
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Notes to editors
1. Why are a growing number of young people who are NEET reporting work-limiting health conditions? (https://www.health.org.uk/reports-and-analysis/analysis/why-are-a-growing-number-of-young-people-who-are-neet-reporting-work)
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Original text here: https://www.health.org.uk/media-office/press-releases/the-health-foundation-responds-to-latest-ons-figures-on-neets
Foundation for Economic Education Posts Commentary: EU Regulations May Block EasyJet Sale
DETROIT, Michigan, Aug. 28 -- The Foundation for Economic Education issued the following commentary by freelance journalist and critic Mark Nayler:
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A Hostile Takeover?
EU regulations may block easyJet sale.
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On August 6, the budget airline easyJet formally announced its acceptance of a pound sterling5.7 billion ($7.7 billion) takeover bid from the US private equity firm Apollo Global Management. Apollo topped a rival offer of pound sterling5.5 billion ($7.5 billion) from Castlelake (another US private equity firm), and received the backing of easyJet's Cypriot-British founder Stelios
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DETROIT, Michigan, Aug. 28 -- The Foundation for Economic Education issued the following commentary by freelance journalist and critic Mark Nayler:
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A Hostile Takeover?
EU regulations may block easyJet sale.
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On August 6, the budget airline easyJet formally announced its acceptance of a pound sterling5.7 billion ($7.7 billion) takeover bid from the US private equity firm Apollo Global Management. Apollo topped a rival offer of pound sterling5.5 billion ($7.5 billion) from Castlelake (another US private equity firm), and received the backing of easyJet's Cypriot-British founder SteliosHaji-Ioannou, whose family retains a 15% stake in the company. If completed, the deal would return the airline to private ownership after 26 years on the London Stock Exchange--but doubts about its compliance with EU regulations look likely to delay the process.
Under EU law, European airlines must be majority-owned by EU citizens or entities. On July 22, Reuters reported that the EU Commission is scrutinizing the Apollo bid to ensure that it complies with these regulations, causing easyJet's shares to drop by almost 12%. They have since rebounded, but would likely take another hit if the EU Commission blocks or delays Apollo's takeover. If Brussels gives its approval, the deal is expected to be finalized by March 2027 (assuming also that it receives majority approval from easyJet's shareholders).
This is a reversal of the situation after the 2016 Brexit referendum, when the airline itself was placed under scrutiny by EU officials. Following Britain's vote to leave the EU, both easyJet and Ryanair were told by Brussels that they needed to relocate their headquarters and/or sell the majority of their shares to EU citizens in order to keep operating across the continent. easyJet solved the problem by opening a European office in Vienna, although its overall base of operations has remained in Luton, 30 miles north of London. New York-based Apollo has revealed few details about how it proposes to adhere to Europe's airline ownership regulations, under which its stake is capped at 49.9%.
Some aviation experts have noted that Apollo could satisfy Brussels by leaving majority voting rights with EU stakeholders, but still restructure or break up the airline to gain overall economic control. It would probably take the EU years to review the new ownership structures, prompting one analyst to tell Reuters: "It might even be that Apollo achieves its target of exiting and relisting easyJet by 2034 with a 20%+ return before the EU has worked out its review."
Ownership and antitrust legislation are the main reasons why there has been just one serious attempt to acquire easyJet in recent years, from rival low-cost carrier Wizz Air in 2021. But the company's attractiveness to investors is obvious. Founded in 1995 by the then-28-year-old Ioannou, easyJet initially operated just two routes, from Luton to Glasgow and Edinburgh. Easily recognizable with its distinctive orange-and-white branding, its 356 aircraft now transport almost 100 million passengers between 164 European destinations annually. In 2025, easyJet posted pre-tax profit of pound sterling665 million ($901 million), a 9% increase on 2024 and the third consecutive year of growth. The airline's operating margins increased from 5.8% in 2023 to 7% last year, boosted by its package-holiday operation, easyJet holidays. Last year, this part of the business generated 38% of easyJet's total profits on around 11-12% of the revenue.
easyJet also has assets that could potentially be broken up and sold off to increase the return on Apollo's investment. A 2024 study by the International Air Transport Association found that 60% of the world's commercial aircraft are leased rather than owned by airlines, a figure that rises to almost 70% in Europe. easyJet, however, owns 205 of its 356 planes, equivalent to 58%. It also holds valuable departure and arrival slots at several of Europe's most congested airports, including Gatwick (London), Paris, Milan, and Amsterdam, and has increased its capacity in this area by 20% compared to pre-pandemic levels. These slots are big business in themselves: in 2016, Oman Air paid Air France-KLM a record $75 million for a pair of slots at London's Heathrow Airport. If Apollo is in this for a quick buck, the options are plentiful.
One can see why the easyJet board was impressed by Apollo's bid. The private equity giant offered the airline pound sterling7.15 ($9.70) per share, an 81% premium compared to easyJet's closing share price of pound sterling3.94 ($5.30) on May 28, the last business day before Castlelake's takeover attempt became public. That would yield a profit of pound sterling3.21 ($4.40) per share, although shareholders have also been given the option to roll over their stock into the new financial structure (whatever that might be). In making its offer, Apollo said that easyJet's strong brand and budget offering would not be changed, although its fleet will be "upgauged," a development that rival low-cost carriers like Ryanair and Jet2 will follow with interest. Apollo also wants to scale the airline's booming holidays business into a "structurally differentiated earnings stream"--although again, it's not clear what, if any, changes that will bring for customers.
Some analysts have speculated that Apollo will use EU proxy operations to satisfy ownership rules while effectively gaining economic control of easyJet, emulating the setup at International Airlines Group (IAG). A Spanish-registered company based in London, IAG owns British Airways, Spanish carriers Iberia and Vueling, and Ireland's Aer Lingus. It lists shares on the London and Madrid stock exchanges, with Qatar Airways holding the largest stake at 25.1%. Though IAG's subsidiary entities preserve their brand identities and accountability to local management, the group's directors are "responsible for managing and allocating capital, driving overall Group performance and setting the agenda for sustainability and innovation."
Within Europe, strict competition regulations are the biggest hurdle to airline takeovers, as IAG discovered a few years ago. In 2019, it announced plans to acquire the Spanish carrier Air Europa for Euros1 billion ($1.2 billion), initially planning to incorporate it into Iberia while retaining the former airline's unique branding. The EU objected on the basis of reduced competition, not only on domestic and European routes, but also on those connecting Spain with the Middle East, as well as North and South America. IAG dropped its bid in 2024, having decided that the extra requirements to appease the EU Commission made the deal financially unviable. (More recently, Spain's Socialist prime minister Pedro Sanchez was cleared in a conflict-of-interest case related to Air Europa's Euros475 million--$555 million--state bailout in 2020.)
Perhaps the most crucial part of the Apollo takeover will only begin if the EU determines that further ownership and control conditions have to be met. But whatever Brussels decides, this case is already testing limits in Europe's intensely competitive budget airline industry. If the deal goes through, Apollo will have set new limits.
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Mark Nayler is a freelance journalist and critic based in Malaga, Spain. He writes regularly for The Spectator and Times Literary Supplement and is working on a biography of the philosopher Bryan Magee, due to be published by Bloomsbury (London) in 2028.
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Original text here: https://fee.org/articles/a-hostile-takeover/
Lumina Foundation Issues Commentary: Building Better Workforce Credentials - Lessons From 3 States
INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, Aug. 27 -- The Lumina Foundation issued the following commentary by Strategy Director Kermit Kaleba:
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Building better workforce credentials: lessons from 3 states
This year, I've traveled 18,000 miles visiting 12 states across the country to learn how education and business leaders are strengthening the connection between learning and work. As employers struggle to find skilled workers and learners seek faster, more affordable pathways to good jobs, policymakers are refining what it means for a credential to have value.
When Lumina launched the FutureReady States
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INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, Aug. 27 -- The Lumina Foundation issued the following commentary by Strategy Director Kermit Kaleba:
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Building better workforce credentials: lessons from 3 states
This year, I've traveled 18,000 miles visiting 12 states across the country to learn how education and business leaders are strengthening the connection between learning and work. As employers struggle to find skilled workers and learners seek faster, more affordable pathways to good jobs, policymakers are refining what it means for a credential to have value.
When Lumina launched the FutureReady Statesinitiative in July 2025, we intentionally designed it around state and local context. While we've learned that there are key commonalities in how states define and invest in short-term workforce credentials of value, there are important differences across states as well. Red and blue states, densely populated and more rural states, large and small states: All approach the work through the lens of their own economies, priorities, and partnerships.
Although every FutureReady State is pursuing the same goal--ensuring short-term credentials lead to economic prosperity--there is no single blueprint. Each state's economy, workforce, political context, and education system shape a different approach.
So while we have found common themes across the 12 states--and will publish more analysis in the coming months--we also want to share the individual stories of each state to show how local priorities, industries, and communities shape each state's approach to building credentials of value.
To that end, we're excited to launch the first three FutureReady States profiles, a series of short pieces that highlight the policies and practices the 12 states are working on, and--critically--why they chose those priorities. To capture those differences, veteran higher education journalist Kathleen Kennedy Manzo traveled to all 12 FutureReady States, interviewing policymakers, higher education leaders, employers, and workforce partners about how they're building credential systems that reflect their state's unique needs. As the series unfolds, she'll highlight the student populations state leaders hope to better serve, the industries driving labor market demand, and the unique strengths each state is building on to increase attainment of credentials of value.
Together, these first three profiles illustrate a broader shift: States are moving beyond simply increasing credential attainment to ensure those credentials lead to good jobs, higher wages, and long-term career mobility. They show how:
* Connecticut is using the development of a statewide credential of value definition to strengthen and align an often-fragmented workforce development ecosystem;
* Mississippi is working with employers and other stakeholders to identify credentials that not only lead to a good first job, but also connect to further college or apprenticeship pathways that support longer-term career advancement; and
* Tennessee is making significant new investments in short-term credentials, including dedicated funding for credentials that lead to jobs in the nuclear and green energy fields, where employment opportunities are growing rapidly.
Collectively, these stories demonstrate that there is no single model for building a credential ecosystem. Instead, states are building systems that reflect local economies while pursuing a common goal: helping more learners earn credentials that create lasting opportunity. These aren't just 12 profiles--they're a snapshot of a national movement already underway.
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About the Author
Kermit leads a Lumina portfolio aimed at increasing the number of programs leading to occupational short-term credentials and associate degrees.
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Original text here: https://www.luminafoundation.org/news-and-views/building-better-workforce-credentials-lessons-from-3-states/
Foundation for Economic Education Posts Commentary Entitled 'The Truth About Data Centers'
DETROIT, Michigan, Aug. 27 -- The Foundation for Economic Education posted the following commentary by Marvelous Spiral Studios CEO Stephen Weese:
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The Truth About Data Centers
It's all about how and where.
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It seems that everyone is talking about data centers these days; they've taken over the Internet with memes and conspiracy theories. As a computer professor, I decided to apply an academic research regimen to the situation and cut through the exaggeration and emotion that often accompany these current polarizing issues.
Two important points to begin with: AI's water and power usage.
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DETROIT, Michigan, Aug. 27 -- The Foundation for Economic Education posted the following commentary by Marvelous Spiral Studios CEO Stephen Weese:
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The Truth About Data Centers
It's all about how and where.
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It seems that everyone is talking about data centers these days; they've taken over the Internet with memes and conspiracy theories. As a computer professor, I decided to apply an academic research regimen to the situation and cut through the exaggeration and emotion that often accompany these current polarizing issues.
Two important points to begin with: AI's water and power usage.As I have demonstrated in my previous article, data centers use about 0.02% of the water supply in the US according to recent sources, and most future data centers are already planned to use advanced cooling technology that requires very little water. While it is true that data centers require a lot of electricity, their impact on power systems and customers has been greatly exaggerated. Bloomberg's often-cited piece on the subject mentions that at the highest instance, one area of the country experienced a 267% increase in wholesale costs. This data describing one area in one instance has been used incorrectly to state that it is the expected or average raise (rather than the high end), and it doesn't even account for the fact that this is wholesale power costs, which does not translate directly into consumer costs. (Often the tech companies will offset these increases.) What this data does tell us is that there are places where we simply should not build data centers. This is one problem that should be avoided. The other problem is companies acting unethically.
One of the most egregious examples of unethical data center implementation is xAI's Colossus near Memphis, Tennessee. The company promised years ago that it would not rely on local water supply for cooling. Not only does it continue to use local water daily, but the proposed solution has been delayed. In addition, xAI ran as many as 35 unpermitted methane gas turbines at Colossus 1 beginning in June 2024, generating up to 421 MW without any preconstruction or operating air permits under the Clean Air Act. If there was ever an example of how not to build a data center, it is this one.
Another prime example is Project Blue in Tucson, Arizona. Beale, the project developer, actively deceived the city and used the local water supply to clean dust from the data center. And they used a lot of it. This caused Tucson to shut down its water supply. Not only that, but city staff and Amazon had signed an agreement to keep knowledge about the center secret from its residents for three years. It's no wonder that many communities are suspicious of tech companies coming into their neighborhoods and deceiving them about their plans and the benefits they will bring.
There are cases where companies are unethical in their approach to data centers, and there are cases in which the location is just not suitable. Sometimes, both points of failure occur. Colossus 1 is an example of both, where the deception was extreme and its use of water is actively causing problems with the local aquifer.
An example of poor location choice but good ethics is Microsoft's West US 3 in the Phoenix area. Microsoft separately agreed to invest $40 million directly into the water utility. Microsoft is testing a new zero-water cooling strategy, and it published its water use and other relevant information in its Environmental Sustainability Report. However, it built these data centers in the middle of an extremely arid, low-water area. There are reasons for doing this, but, generally speaking, drawing water from a nearby desert city's supply is not ideal. It's not entirely bad news, in that it has spurred Microsoft to invest in new cooling strategies that do not draw on the local water supply. This problem should not affect future data centers as much because of the new cooling technologies that require little to no water from the local supply.
You probably haven't heard of too many examples of successful data center developments, and that's partly because "something worked; everything is just fine" is not a common news story. However, CNN recently reported on exactly that: Quincy, Washington, is home to over 30 data centers and has experienced an incredible boom as a result.
The data centers now cover an estimated 57% of Quincy's property tax revenue, funding a wave of public infrastructure projects: a $15 million aquatic center, a 143,000-square-foot indoor sports complex, a $120 million high school, a new hospital, library, police and fire stations, paved sidewalks, sewage systems, and a wastewater treatment plant.
Residential electricity rates in the county rose 3.5% last year, while large industrial users, such as the data centers themselves, absorbed a 9.1% increase. The data centers there are paying for their own added infrastructure and generation costs rather than spreading those costs to households.
Another advantage of this site is that it has abundant cheap hydroelectric power. As for water, Microsoft partnered with the city to build a $30 million water reuse facility. The only real caveat here is that the data centers generated so much revenue and development that housing prices have risen across the area.
As you can see, there are definitely ways to build, and examples of ethical and beneficial data centers. The benefits to a local community are substantial. Not only do local tax revenues increase, but data centers come with the benefit of being a generally low-traffic, relatively quiet development. Revenues can increase without needing to build many new roads, or bring large amounts of noisy traffic.
This goes along with the fact that we simply need more data storage. Yes, AI is driving much of the current surge, but we have continually created more data and need a place to store it. We take pictures with our cell phones, leave voice notes, and write emails. With self-publishing, so many people now are writing books. So many songs are written and digital videos made. All of that goes into data centers. All of your apps: data centers. All of the Internet: data centers. Nearly all human knowledge is now stored in these data centers; they are the modern archives of human creativity, education, and achievement.
Efficiency gains in AI are real and dramatic. OpenAI's Sam Altman has pointed out that ChatGPT models have become roughly 1,000 times more efficient at a given level of intelligence in less than two years. But this doesn't mean data center demand will eventually shrink; it means the opposite. Every time a computing resource has gotten this much cheaper, historically we haven't used less of it; we've found a thousand more uses for it. Drops in data-storage prices didn't lead to people using less data; now no one deletes anything. Altman's prediction that we will use AI and data in the same way that we use utilities such as water and the Internet will likely come true, and in some ways, it already has.
This is not only happening in the United States. China, Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia are all rushing to build data centers, and they are encountering very similar issues. This is a global phenomenon, and, the way things are going, data centers will be as much a part of modern infrastructure as airports, phone lines, and railroads, which people once opposed. Farmers once believed sparks from railroad tracks would burn their land, and doctors at the time warned the human body couldn't survive driving at speeds over 20 miles per hour. We see the same patterns of resistance to new technology repeated throughout history.
The truth is, data centers themselves aren't the problem. Poor location choices and unethical business practices cause the failures we've seen. If we're wise about where we build and who we trust, we can avoid the pitfalls and reap the rewards.
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Stephen Weese is a computer professor and consultant in CS, IT, and AI. He also works in media and is the CEO of Marvelous Spiral Studios.
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Original text here: https://fee.org/articles/the-truth-about-data-centers/
FFRF Rebuts Oklahoma AG's Defense of School-Sponsored Prayer
MADISON, Wisconsin, Aug. 27 -- The Freedom From Religion Foundation issued the following news release:
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FFRF rebuts Oklahoma AG's defense of school-sponsored prayer
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is refuting the Oklahoma attorney general's erroneous claim that a public school district is free to organize and promote a Christian prayer event.
FFRF recently secured a victory for students and families in Muskogee Public Schools after the district canceled a school-sponsored "Back to School Community Prayer Walk" scheduled for Aug. 12 at Muskogee 6th and 7th Grade Academy. The district
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MADISON, Wisconsin, Aug. 27 -- The Freedom From Religion Foundation issued the following news release:
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FFRF rebuts Oklahoma AG's defense of school-sponsored prayer
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is refuting the Oklahoma attorney general's erroneous claim that a public school district is free to organize and promote a Christian prayer event.
FFRF recently secured a victory for students and families in Muskogee Public Schools after the district canceled a school-sponsored "Back to School Community Prayer Walk" scheduled for Aug. 12 at Muskogee 6th and 7th Grade Academy. The districtcanceled the event, removed its announcements and notified parents subsequent to receiving an Aug. 11 letter from FFRF objecting to the unconstitutional religious exercise.
Rather than applaud the district for respecting the constitutional rights of its students and parents, Attorney General Gentner Drummond issued a letter on Aug. 21 claiming that the district had no constitutional obligation to cancel the event. He argued that because attendance was voluntary and occurred outside instructional hours, the so-called prayer walk did not violate the First Amendment's Establishment Clause. He also offered the Attorney General's Office's assistance to other Oklahoma school districts receiving similar complaints.
"The attorney general is attempting to give Oklahoma public schools a green light to sponsor religious exercises -- and the Constitution simply does not permit that," says FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor. "Public schools serve students of all religions and no religion. They have no business organizing prayer or any other religious events and encouraging families to participate. If that doesn't constitute an establishment of religion, as explicitly barred under the Establishment Clause, what does?"
FFRF has quickly responded with a follow-up letter to Muskogee Superintendent Jarod Mendenhall explaining why Drummond's legal analysis is wrong.
Drummond asserted that there could be no Establishment Clause violation because students were not compelled to attend the prayer walk. But as FFRF's response notes, courts have repeatedly rejected the notion that lack of coercion excuses unconstitutional actions by public schools.
FFRF's letter asserts that Drummond mischaracterizes the Supreme Court's 2022 Kennedy v. Bremerton School District decision, which is regarding a football coach's quiet, private prayers while acting in his personal capacity. It does not give public schools license to organize and promote religious exercises -- and it certainly doesn't establish coercion as a requirement to find school action in violation of the Establishment Clause. Unlike the private prayer at issue in Kennedy, Muskogee's prayer walk was organized, promoted and hosted by the school itself. The Supreme Court has continued to reaffirm that government must remain neutral between religion and nonreligion.
"The attorney general is trying to turn Kennedy into a blank check for government-sponsored religion that the Supreme Court never wrote," says FFRF Staff Attorney Sammi Lawrence. "There is an obvious constitutional difference between protecting an individual's private prayer and allowing a public school to organize a prayer event of its own."
Drummond additionally falsely suggests that FFRF's position would prevent religious organizations from renting public school facilities on the same terms as secular organizations. However, public schools may make their facilities available to religious and secular third-party organizations on an equal basis under neutral policies. The Supreme Court has long protected such equal access. But that isn't what happened in Muskogee.
FFRF is urging Muskogee Public Schools to continue honoring its commitment not to organize or promote religious activities. Muskogee Public Schools got it right the first time. The attorney general should help Oklahoma school districts obey the Constitution, not encourage them to violate long-established principles of neutrality toward religion and protection of student rights to freedom of conscience.
FFRF appreciates the district's prompt action in canceling the prayer walk and protecting the rights of all Muskogee students and families -- regardless of their religious or nonreligious beliefs.
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The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with about 41,000 members nationwide, including hundreds of members in Oklahoma. FFRF's purposes are to defend the constitutional principle of separation between church and state, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.
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Original text here: https://ffrf.org/news/releases/ffrf-rebuts-oklahoma-ags-defense-of-school-sponsored-prayer/
[Category: Religion]
