Desktop or laptop?

So it's time to upgrade my home computer again, and I'm dithering about whether to get another desktop or whether to switch to a laptop. Anybody have a strong argument either way? I don't have any powerful urge to have a computer with me at all times, but I *am* thinking of buying a smartphone when the new Samsung Galaxy is released here. I'm not sure I need anything more in a mobile computer than the ability to connect to the internet (which the smartphone would give me), although it might be nice to be able to watch movies when I'm traveling (and I'm not keen to watch movies on a tiny screen). I want to be able to burn CDs/DVDs. I want a lot of hard drive space. It seems as though most of my friends have switched to laptops, yet I just don't feel compelled in that direction.

The privatization of the University of Washington

On Sunday the Seattle Times published a story with the provocative headline, "Why straight-A's may not get you into UW this year". I haven't read the story, but the gist of it, as far as I can tell, is that the UW is cutting the number of freshman slots reserved for in-state students by 150 this year. They admitted 4017 in-state freshmen last year and have a goal of 3850 this year, increasing the out-of-state/international students from 1480 to 1800. The UW says they will cut the number of in-state freshman slots by 500 next year. The reason is the budget crisis. Non-resident students pay around $25,000 in tuition as compared to around $9,000 for resident students plus a state subsidy of $7,000. More out-of-state and international students means more money for the budget.

In today's Seattle Times Danny Westneat has a good response to those folks who are understandably angry that it has gotten even tougher for their children to get into the UW: "UW gives us what we asked for". The nut of the argument is that 25 years ago the state subsidized in-state students by 85%. Today the state subsidy is only 45%. Less state support is leading directly to fewer state students. It's really that simple. The UW is in the process of becoming a private school with no responsibility to cater to local students.

I think it's a crying shame that tax-payers aren't willing to subsidize higher education to a greater degree, but that's the way it is. I haven't been able to find the article since I read it, but the Seattle Times also published a story in the past year about local business leaders becoming concerned about the budget-cuts being imposed on the UW and looking at ways to create a trust fund or some other funding source outside the state-funding structure. This seems utterly bass-ackwards to me (why not fight to increase the state-subsidy?), but if that's the way we're really going, then it really is another sign of impending privatization.

I'm not clear on what's going on at the other state schools. A co-worker who went to WSU said they are increasing the number of in-state students to compensate for the budget cuts, but that doesn't make sense to me, since the state caps the number of slots it will subsidize at each school.

In any event, the privatization of the UW long predates the current budget crisis. It's been an ongoing trend since at least the '90s and Tim Eyman's first initiatives to reduce taxes. It's simply being accelerated now.