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Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by Saint_Genet on Friday October 29, 2021 @10:01AM (#29038476)
"The idea was conceived by 97-year-old billionaire-investor turned amateur-architect Charles Munger, who donated $200 million toward the project with the condition that his blueprints be followed exactly."

Absolutely amazing

Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by praptak on Friday October 29, 2021 @10:06AM (#29038537)
We really need a way to protect ourselves against what the rich are doing to the rest of us.
Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by bob1029 on Friday October 29, 2021 @10:08AM (#29038563)
This is really difficult when a large part of the population is either apathetic or actively sympathetic to the policies of these insane people.
Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by gaze on Friday October 29, 2021 @10:14AM (#29038642)
I think people feel more powerless than apathetic.
Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by BiteCode_dev on Friday October 29, 2021 @10:31AM (#29038876)
- Your privacy is being invaded. Look at snowden, PRISM, facebook!

- Don't have anything to hide.

- At least use Firefox.

- Nah.

Sorry but no, it's definitly apathy.

Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by dantheman on Friday October 29, 2021 @10:14AM (#29038641)
Very simple, just turn down his money.
Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by api on Friday October 29, 2021 @10:23AM (#29038761)
The solution to this is for someone else to offer a more compelling vision of the future that is also practical and achievable.

Take Elon Musk for example. His vision of the future is more compelling than anything I hear any politician of any political party in the USA (or most other nations) putting forward. I find the standard issue right-wing vision of the future repugnant and the standard issue left-wing vision completely impractical and divorced from reality. (Aspects of it are repugnant too, but much less so than the right.)

What other non-billionaire visions of the future does humanity have? Xi Jinping's smile-or-die panopticon? Putin's theocratic mafia state?

The billionaires are leading humanity by default because they're on balance the only class of people offering practical workable visions of the future that are at least incrementally better than the present.

Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by phone8675309 on Friday October 29, 2021 @10:28AM (#29038841)
If he wasn't sucking at the US Government's teat for funding for SpaceX, tax breaks for Tesla, and evading income taxes then I might admire the guy, but as it is, he's the same corporate grifter in a new set of clothes.
Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by ceejayoz on Friday October 29, 2021 @10:41AM (#29039007)
I mean, compare SpaceX against, say, SLS, and it looks like a pretty cost-effective form of government spending.
Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by phone8675309 on Friday October 29, 2021 @10:55AM (#29039204)
There wasn’t the political will in Congress to make SLS a success because it’s not a voting issue for most of their constituents. This is the fate of any ambitious tech development unless that technology can be used to incinerate half of the world in nuclear-fueled hellfire (moon race), spy on the American people without a warrant, kill brown people in the third world, or be give secondhand to the police to fight the war on drugs.

However, never underestimate Congress's undying political will to give bucketloads of American taxpayer dollars and money the government borrowed to rich people with no accountability.

Really makes you think…

Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by ceejayoz on Friday October 29, 2021 @10:57AM (#29039216)
SpaceX seems to have quite a bit of accountability; I'm a big fan of how Commercial Crew and Commercial Cargo projects were run (fixed costs, especially, which is biting Boeing in the ass right now...), and hope NASA uses it as a baseline for future projects.
Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by api on Friday October 29, 2021 @12:14PM (#29040251)
A successful SLS would have been a failure. It costs far more per launch and is not reusable.

NASA could have built a reusable space launch system better than the shuttle, but they didn't. That's exactly my point about billionaires leading by default. It took a billionaire because nobody else did it.

Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by mehlmao on Friday October 29, 2021 @11:20AM (#29039515)
Elon's vision is being the king of Mars, where the only law is his own. I'm not sold.
Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by api on Friday October 29, 2021 @12:15PM (#29040261)
When did he say that?

Even if that is his vision, it won't work. You can't be king of a frontier for very long unless your rule is very competent, minimal, and low-cost. The tighter your grip, the more star systems will slip through your fingers.

Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by katmannthree on Friday October 29, 2021 @05:29PM (#29043764)
Everybody likes to imply that Elon is going to make some sort of shit new society in space. Perhaps they'll get as far as trying, but the odds of it working out are questionable on social grounds alone.

In general, people living in hostile environments develop higher levels of trust and social responsibility. When you live closely with people, where everyone's choices impact everyone else, when a single person intentionally screwing things up could doom the entire community, you get societies that are pretty much the polar opposite of the archetypal billionaire libertarian vision.

Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by api on Friday October 29, 2021 @06:16PM (#29044144)
You're right, and what if that's the point?

Elon hasn't talked a lot about the social aspects of a Mars settlement. Maybe he doesn't care and figures that's up to the people who go there and his mission is just to get people there. Maybe he would agree with you and that's the point. Who knows.

I highly doubt he's naive enough to think the social outcome of a Mars settlement would be some standard issue Earthly political outcome or one that would exclusively favor him. If he is that naive he will be disappointed.

Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by ep103 on Friday October 29, 2021 @10:10AM (#29038589)
There is power... in the union...
Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by sourthyme on Friday October 29, 2021 @10:14AM (#29038650)
It is scary how far this made it. All because of money, and the thought of losing it.
Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by macinjosh on Friday October 29, 2021 @10:24AM (#29038779)
Indeed, those greedy administrators that accepted money from Munger should be let go.
Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by BiteCode_dev on Friday October 29, 2021 @10:31AM (#29038887)
Let go? Sued.
Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by gbronner on Friday October 29, 2021 @10:45AM (#29039064)
Do you have any idea how criminally expensive housing is in SB??? This will provide low-cost accommodations nicer than any Ivy league dorm I've ever seen and enable 4500 people/year (or roughly 15% of Goleta CA) to live on campus. Good luck building that much housing off campus with CA Nimbys...
Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by TigeriusKirk on Friday October 29, 2021 @10:15AM (#29038663)
I blame the administration at least as much as the donor in this case.

It's their responsibility to say no, and they failed in that job.

Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by mschuster91 on Friday October 29, 2021 @10:16AM (#29038674)
The easiest way would be to do it like in most of Europe and fund universities properly with tax money so that they do not need to waste half their professors' time chasing grants and depend on wealthy donors to fund basic operations.
Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by VRay on Friday October 29, 2021 @10:49AM (#29039137)
How much funding are we giving our universities, and how much is Europe giving them?

I ask because in-state tuition in California and Washington is so high that you could afford a full time PhD student tutor with it.

Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by macinjosh on Friday October 29, 2021 @10:15AM (#29038661)
What are they doing? Giving money to public educational institutions? The horror! If a donor is as unreasonable as this one seems to be the university should not accept the money. Nothing is being forced on anyone here. Calm down.
Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by JackFr on Friday October 29, 2021 @11:42AM (#29039830)
Well, in this case (and frankly many others) simply saying "No" would be the best start.
Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by tclancy on Friday October 29, 2021 @11:09AM (#29039392)
It would require a system other than one designed around how the market clears.
Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by dec0dedab0de on Friday October 29, 2021 @10:22AM (#29038754)
In this case it's simple, just don't take the money.
Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by ctdonath on Friday October 29, 2021 @10:19AM (#29038717)
You have a way: freedom. You're free to not associate. You can choose alternatives to UCSB, Apple, Facebook, lousy jobs, high tuition, etc. Sure you won't get the benefits those offer, but nobody is compelling participation. That's why Americans (at least some of them) are so fiercely adamant about their rights, to a degree that puzzles many: the right to choose differently, however foolish it may seem to others, is the right to choose and is the right "to protect ourselves against what the rich are doing to the rest of us".
Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by ripe on Friday October 29, 2021 @10:34AM (#29038913)
Sorry, that's like saying that the people of Flint, MI were free to move somewhere else when their water was polluted.[1]

No, the university is responsible for providing safe housing for the students, and if they accepted this lunatic's plan, they would be breaching that trust.

When parents and students look for colleges, they assume a certain level of due diligence has been done for them, and they will be leaving their teenager in a minimally safe environment. You can't let people off the hook because of some right-wing idea of "freedom".

[1] In April 2014, during a budget crisis, Flint changed its water source from treated Detroit Water and Sewerage Department water (sourced from Lake Huron and the Detroit River) to the Flint River. Residents complained about the taste, smell, and appearance of the water. Officials failed to apply corrosion inhibitors to the water, which resulted in lead from aging pipes leaching into the water supply, exposing around 100,000 residents to elevated lead levels.

Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by ctdonath on Friday October 29, 2021 @11:51PM (#29045838)
They are. The alternative to “move” is toxic water. My area is developing its own problems, so I’m looking to get out. I certainly wouldn’t send my kids to live in an oppressive uberprison dorm.
Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by dantheman on Friday October 29, 2021 @12:18PM (#29040302)
Yep, incompetent bureaucrats instead of raising prices for water decided to try and save a buck without understanding anything.
Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by patycake on Friday October 29, 2021 @10:05AM (#29038532)
>with the condition that his blueprints be followed exactly.

How is this even allowed from an engineering perspective? Unless his design and blueprints are perfect, which I highly doubt, it’s insane that no changes could be made. Is this common practice in architecture? I’ve never seen anything like it.

Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by javagram on Friday October 29, 2021 @10:16AM (#29038679)
It’s probably shorthand and doesn’t mean literal blueprints accurate down to lowest level of detail, but rather adherence to the project plan as a whole (windowless rooms, size, etc).
Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by orbital223 on Friday October 29, 2021 @10:13AM (#29038629)
The worst part is: "The entire proposal ... is budgeted somewhere in the range of $1.5 billion.". So the guy is covering only 13% of the cost and gets complete control.
Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by time0ut on Friday October 29, 2021 @10:09AM (#29038569)
It looks like a prison. Maybe worse. I think prison cells still have a small window (at least what I have seen in media). Totally crazy.
Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by lozenge on Friday October 29, 2021 @10:04AM (#29038518)
And the university has to stump up the other $1,300 million.

And the investor will probably be dead before anybody can see the effect on students.

Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by 542458 on Friday October 29, 2021 @01:10PM (#29040973)
To be fair, his previous works at UM and Stanford (confusingly, both called "Munger Graduate Residence") have generally very good reviews.

Michigan: https://www.veryapt.com/ApartmentReview-a7222-munger-graduat...

Stanford: https://g.co/kgs/TbYAFH

Honestly, it sounds like he just "optimized" the heck out of a residence, and part of the tradeoffs is that on average people would rather have a small private room with a fake window and lower rent and than a shared room with a real window and higher rent. His Michigan building houses twice as many students in the same footprint as competing plans, and the competing plans used shared rooms. Admittedly, these aren't really ideal for COVID though.

As an aside, one of his other interesting architectural quirks is that any shared women's bathrooms are generally much larger than the men's, to deal with differences in how they're used.

Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by sireat on Friday October 29, 2021 @10:20AM (#29038725)
This is almost like a living will version of: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Stork_Derby which at least had some crazy/funny provisions.

This Munger monstrosity is positively distopian. What happened to Charlie's wisdom?

Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by nottorp on Friday October 29, 2021 @10:11AM (#29038608)
So... did this billionaire get rich by selling anti depressants?

I'd understand this as his cunning plan to get richer then.

Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by hangonhn on Friday October 29, 2021 @10:20AM (#29038731)
He’s the other half of Berkshire Hathaway —- Warren Buffet’s company.
Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by dejawu on Friday October 29, 2021 @12:02PM (#29040104)
I'm convinced that when you reach a certain level of wealth and the people around you stop saying "no" to you no matter how fucking disastrous your ideas are, your brain just turns into a soft foam
Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by YetAnotherNick on Friday October 29, 2021 @10:13AM (#29038627)
Squid game look less unrealistic after reading this.
Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by ep103 on Friday October 29, 2021 @10:12AM (#29038617)
1.68-million-square-foot structure that would house up to 4,500 students, 94 percent of whom would not have windows in their small, single-occupancy bedrooms.

Why am I not surprised that Charles "The-most-important-thing-is-getting-your-first-100000-dollars. Work-multiple-jobs-skip-meals-do-what-you-have-to-that's-the-investing-entry-fee-to-wealth" Munger architected a large prison for students?

Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by nojs on Friday October 29, 2021 @10:24AM (#29038781)
> "The-most-important-thing-is-getting-your-first-100000-dollars. Work-multiple-jobs-skip-meals-do-what-you-have-to-that's-the-investing-entry-fee-to-wealth"

Could you share the background for this?

Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by Avocadoe on Friday October 29, 2021 @10:45AM (#29039079)
I was curious about this as well but can't find any concrete sources.

A blog [1] says the argument goes something like this: “The first $100,000 is a b*tch, but you gotta do it [...] I don’t care what you have to do—if it means walking everywhere and not eating anything that wasn’t purchased with a coupon, find a way to get your hands on $100,000. After that, you can ease off the gas a little bit.”

[1] https://fourpillarfreedom.com/charlie-munger-the-first-10000...

Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by jeffbee on Friday October 29, 2021 @12:02PM (#29040097)
Is this 100k in 1950 dollars or what?
Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by lvspiff on Friday October 29, 2021 @12:36PM (#29040543)
1990 was when the quote was made so 100k in 1990 dollars - so $200K today
Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by vmception on Friday October 29, 2021 @10:15AM (#29038654)
Mungloon Wallet City
Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by altacc on Friday October 29, 2021 @10:09AM (#29038584)
Classic example of somebody becoming rich and thinking that makes them an expert on everything and the most qualified to solve any problem they cast their mind to. See also: just about every other billionaire on the planet.
Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by dang on Friday October 29, 2021 @02:20PM (#29041847)
Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by the_sleaze9 on Friday October 29, 2021 @10:42AM (#29039025)
Warren Buffet himself calls it the "Shoe Button Complex"

Apparently from his youth, his Dad had a friend that ran a shoe button factory and managed to corner the entire market of shoe buttons. Then in his personal life went on to be a know it all about everything else on the planet.

Munger and Buffet both are pretty transparent about being so didactic though. If you don't want the strings attached to the money, say no.

Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by pxc on Friday October 29, 2021 @11:24AM (#29039567)
I think this is a general problem that's common among people with specialized expertise. This kind of problem is common among engineers, lawyers, and doctors as well.
Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by canaus on Friday October 29, 2021 @12:37PM (#29040554)
Wait until you hear about programmers who frequent tech forums.
Re:Architect Resigns in Protest over UCSB Mega-Dorm by dang on Friday October 29, 2021 @02:20PM (#29041849)
Please don't take HN threads further into flamewar.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html