K-Mart has this journalism kit. Just as useful as any "journalism school."
Posted on 11/09/2005 10:43:17 AM PST by texassizednightcrawler
Higher education is slowly becoming a catalyst for a class system in America and Congress is fueling the problem.
Congress is proposing to cut financial aid funding to students. Any student whose family is classified under the level of "lower-middle" class is going to have a difficult time finding finances to receive a higher education. I once heard someone say, "The world needs ditch diggers too." Well, that is fine and dandy, but digging ditches barely keeps pay above the poverty level.
The class system is slowly emerging, driven by America's higher education system. Rich kids will get to go to college, while the poor ones will not be able to afford it. The same privileged few running our country will continue to rule. The poor will continue to struggle to live, thanks to less government assistance.
I know, less government assistance raises red flags and allegations of "just live on welfare your whole life," but what does the government expect people to do? They wonder why people pump out five kids to receive more benefits. Granted, there are some citizens who plot and scheme so they do not have to work, but not everyone thinks and operates that way. Some just do not have the resources and the ones they do have are limited.
Which brings me to the point of my column: Is a higher education worth it under America's capitalist system? Think about it. Students are financing their lives away for a degree. Getting a degree does not guarantee a student a job when they graduate. Do you know how many people I know who are waiting tables to pay off their loans because they cannot find a job in their fields? It is not a trend just occurring in West Virginia, but across the country, in cities large and small.
The further I go in my college career, I realize I should have attended a two-year trade school. I could have been making money by now, rather than adding to my debt acquired while in school. Think about it. In a capitalist society, going to trade school is your best bet. No taking classes not related to your major and racking up loans. No getting caught in the "well-rounded" education trap emphasized at four-year institutions. What better way to fade into oblivion and join the "capitalist machine?" At least then, citizens can make some money sooner to survive.
As students, our backs are against the wall. If you do not go to college, you do not make enough money to provide for yourself. Go to trade school, you might luck into a job that pays more than $25,000 a year, but chances are, you will end up working a service job until you die, because there is no such thing as retirement in the service industry. They just do not have credible two-year journalism schools in the "system's" eyes.
I once had a respected, tenured professor tell us in class, "A well rounded education means you can recite poetry at the dinner table." Learn from this proverb. Tell your Congressmen that cutting financial aid is not the answer if they want to save money. Revamp and evaluate the school system itself. If you want qualified workers to fuel capitalism, then make it worth it for a student to go to a two-year institution, not a penalty. Cut out the unnecessary courses provided in four-year colleges and help students save money, while getting the training we need to be productive pawns of American society.
I've been saying this for years. Plumbing students don't need to take electives in literature, so why should chemistry students?
Not only can I not think of what a degree in Women's Studies would qualify someone for other than more education, I would not hire someone with that degree because I would see only one word: Trouble.
My point was that he, like others of his "class" already had the advantage to go to a "better" school. So, I tend to agree with the writer of the article here. Money breeds money. I am not discounting my own skills, but just realizing that some people already get to start off at a much higher standard of living (thanks to parents w/ money mostly) that the rest of us have to work for to even get to that point. I don't begrudge any honest working person who has money. What upsets me, though, is the plethora of kids who party and goof off in college but still end up getting great jobs with good pay...all thanks to their well off parents subsidizing them the whole way.
"For that matter, are there any credible J-schools anywhere? I think Columbia's is supposed to be the best and they are just a bunch of commies."
Washington and Lee.
My father went to college during the depression. His parents were dirt poor. His mother never attended college, but managed to get what was then the equivalent of a high school "ged" and eventually a teacher's certificate that allowed her to teach in one room schools out in the boondocks. His father found abandoned, falling down farm houses that he could fix up and repair as rent. My dad left home at 13 and between basketball and work paid his own way through both high school and college. Not an intellectual giant, but smarter than the average, my dad made up for his economic weaknesses with plain old hard work and determination. He didn't need help from the government. Neither did Abe Lincoln; what makes you think anybody else does?
LOL. Was he a plumber with an MBA, a company owner but not a plumber, or just an MBA who needed guaranteed access to a plumber?
True, but saidly Mr. Hupp is a graduate student!
I went through it some time ago. I feel your pain :-)
K-Mart has this journalism kit. Just as useful as any "journalism school."
"but rather "needships" where those famlies that exhibited the most irresponsible fiscal behavior were rewarded with grants and no interest loans,"
After leaving the Army, I had $10K in the bank for school. Due to that savings, I qualified for zippo. Within a year I had to spend the whole thing. They guy across the hall from me was also older. After graduating HS, he started working full time as a bank teller in Chicago. He had a nice apt. as well as many "toys." He was in hock up to his eyebrows. Then his bank was bought out and they kicked him to the curb.
He then filed for bankruptcy, which resulted in a full ride.
"She is lucky."
Yes, she is very happy to have the job offer in her back pocket while she finishes her senior year. It takes a lot of the pressure off. Now she can just enjoy her classes.
The only thing he is correct about is trade school. Not everybody is made for college; And plumbers and carpenters can earn d@mn good livings, too.
If anything, colleges need to be more exclusive, and we need more and better trade schools.
Hopefully, our children will be that much better off, and then generations from now, our great grandchildren will have those connections too.
I dropped out of high school, got a GED, paid my dues as a file clerk and worked my way up to becoming a Industrial insurance account manager. 16 years in the field and I make more than most college grads because I learned from experience.
I will encourage (as a matter of fact my kids think it's a law you can't have children until you get a college degree, lol) my children to attend school. But in this world, people think they can walk out of college and make $100,000 a year. Not gonna happen.
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