Texas, New York, and Universities

Compare the financial devastation Wall Street has visited upon America in September, 2008, and the entire world for that matter, to the financial damage Al-Qaeda visited upon America on 9/11/01. There is no comparison: New York has hurt America's finances far more than Al-Qaeda.

If Texas is to free America from the New York City oligarchy, we need a city in Texas that can compete with New York City. We do not have one, so we need to start working on this.

The DFW Metroplex is a good candidate to compete with New York City. Universities are an important part of a city's culture and intellectual infrastructure. New York City has Columbia University, the New School (formerly the New School for Social Research), City College of New York, Barnard College, Cooper Union, and others. There is also the Julliard School.

We have some good colleges in DFW, but even the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M fail to compare with Columbia University.

The University of Chicago (founded 1891) is higher ranked than UT Austin (founded 1883). DFW needs a university on par with Columbia University and the University of Chicago. UT is older than the University of Chicago, so we could have developed UT into a better university, but we failed to do so.

Texas needs to lift the standards for UT Austin, Texas A&M, and develop a first tier university in DFW. U.T. Dallas is probably the best candidate to become a DFW tier one university and the effort to uplift U.T. Dallas could be called the DFW University Project.

The oligarchy in New York City is out of control; it is a threat to the liberty and prosperity of all Americans. Texas must wrestle political and financial power away from the New York oligarchy for the good of the nation. Improving our universities is an important part of this effort, and developing a first tier university in DFW has to be a part of the plan.

Robert Canright