learning: February 2006 Archives
uExpress.com: Ted Rall by Ted Rall -- (02/11/2003) RALL 2/11/03
02/11/2003
The Fleecing of Our Young
NEW YORK--Five years ago, I wrote a story called "College Is For Suckers." I argued that the costs of tuition, dorms and fees had risen so high that the additional income you'd earn as a college graduate---compared to going straight to work after high school--wouldn't make up for the massive student loan debts you'd acquire.
The magazine that ran my piece is no more. Both books that published it are out of print. But the problem of crippling student loan debt has gotten worse.
The pre-bankrupting of America's best and brightest, the young men and women who attend private colleges and public universities, is one of our nation's enduring, quiet scandals. Momentarily breaking the silence was a Jan. 28 New York Times profile of young adults who, because of their student loans, are forced to choose jobs solely based on pay. Margot Miles, a legal secretary who borrowed $25,000 to attend UPenn, wants to go to law school but "just can't imagine taking out any more loans." Anisa Brophy, an aspiring cartoonist, ran up a $70,000 tab attending Wilson College in Pennsylvania. Even Connie Chavez, whose $10,000 student loan Hofstra bill doesn't seem so bad, "has virtually given up on her dream of going to business school."
These kids will not take low-paying jobs teaching in the inner cities. They won't join the Peace Corps. If they find themselves with a few extra hours here and there, they won't volunteer at a homeless shelter--they'll take a second job. When young people defer their dreams, when options vanish, America loses.
Runaway costs for a legal education are threatening to trample any optimism among law school graduates created by recent associate salary increases at the nation's top law firms.
Law school tuition is bounding far ahead of pay raises at firms of all sizes.
Whether new lawyers land jobs at giant international firms, where salaries recently hit $135,000 plus bonuses, or at small practices in the Midwest and elsewhere, they are paying up to 267% more for their education, compared to costs in 1990.
At the same time, new associates are earning on average just 60% more than what they were in the private sector in 1990, a figure that does not take into account decreased earning power due to inflation.
The result means that beginning lawyers-especially those in midsized and small firms-are shouldering proportionately much more debt at graduation than did their predecessors, a situation that some observers fear will lead to more loan defaults, attrition and job dissatisfaction.
t r u t h o u t - Al Gore | The Threat to American Democracy
Remarks by Al Gore | The Media Center
Wednesday 05 October 2005
Remarks delivered by Al Gore to a conference organized by "We Media" in New York.
I came here today because I believe that American democracy is in grave danger.
It is no longer possible to ignore the strangeness of our public discourse ...
I know that I am not the only one who feels that something has gone basically
and badly wrong in the way America's fabled "marketplace of ideas"
now functions.
How many of you, I wonder, have heard a friend or a family member in the last
few years remark that it's almost as if America has entered "an alternate
universe?"
I thought maybe it was an aberration when three-quarters of Americans said
they believed that Saddam Hussein was responsible for attacking us on September
11, 2001. But more than four years later, between a third and a half still believe
Saddam was personally responsible for planning and supporting the attack.
At first I thought the exhaustive, non-stop coverage of the O.J. trial was
just an unfortunate excess that marked an unwelcome departure from the normal
good sense and judgment of our television news media. But now we know that it
was merely an early example of a new pattern of serial obsessions that periodically
take over the airwaves for weeks at a time.
Are we still routinely torturing helpless prisoners, and if so, does it feel
right that we as American citizens are not outraged by the practice? And does
it feel right to have no ongoing discussion of whether or not this abhorrent,
medieval behavior is being carried out in the name of the American people? If
the gap between rich and poor is widening steadily and economic stress is mounting
for low-income families, why do we seem increasingly apathetic and lethargic
in our role as citizens?
On the eve of the nation's decision to invade Iraq, our longest serving senator,
Robert Byrd of West Virginia, stood on the Senate floor asked: "Why is
this chamber empty? Why are these halls silent?"
The decision that was then being considered by the Senate with virtually no
meaningful debate turned out to be a fateful one. A few days ago, the former
head of the National Security Agency, Retired Lt. General William Odom, said,
"The invasion of Iraq, I believe, will turn out to be the greatest strategic
disaster in US history."
But whether you agree with his assessment or not, Senator Byrd's question is
like the others that I have just posed here: he was saying, in effect, this
is strange, isn't it? Aren't we supposed to have full and vigorous debates about
questions as important as the choice between war and peace?
Those of us who have served in the Senate and watched it change over time,
could volunteer an answer to Senator Byrd's two questions: the Senate was silent
on the eve of war because Senators don't feel that what they say on the floor
of the Senate really matters that much any more. And the chamber was empty because
the Senators were somewhere else: they were in fundraisers collecting money
from special interests in order to buy 30-second TV commercials for their next
re-election campaign.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, there was - at least for a short time
- a quality of vividness and clarity of focus in our public discourse that
reminded some Americans - including some journalists - that vividness and
clarity used to be more common in the way we talk with one another about the
problems and choices that we face. But then, like a passing summer storm, the
moment faded.
In fact there was a time when America's public discourse was consistently much
more vivid, focused and clear. Our Founders, probably the most literate generation
in all of history, used words with astonishing precision and believed in the
Rule of Reason.
Their faith in the viability of Representative Democracy rested on their trust
in the wisdom of a well-informed citizenry. But they placed particular emphasis
on insuring that the public could be well-informed. And they took great care
to protect the openness of the marketplace of ideas in order to ensure the free-flow
of knowledge.
