Even More on Student Loans

Feds shouldscrap/reduceinterest onstudent loans - Columns - The Guardian


I really think America should, along with Canada, take a serious look at forgiveness in regard to student loan interest. The article makes some great points. The main one would be insuring for the future. People forgiven of loan interest, or at least people with highly reduced interest, have one less thing to worry about. Spirits are pretty low because of a slow healing economy and job market. These are a heavy load to bare, adding student loans to that load doesn't help to lift spirits at all. These spirits are the spirits of people investing in their futures and subsequently the future of our country. Relieving borrowers--relieving us--of the mounting interests takes the heft out of a heavy load and brightens borrowers toward the future. It makes what's ahead feel a little bit more manageable. So I agree hardily with Wayne Young, but in regards to America as well.

More On Student Loans

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The rising problem of student loan debt has been in the news a bit lately. Not enough I believe, but that's more owing to the number of problems (and trivialities) being addressed in the news and the fact that the problem isn't at a DEFCON1 threat level yet. It's also a catch-22 situation, before the bubble pops (student debt bubble, housing bubble, what have you...) everything that's spoken, no matter how sure we are of the potential looming disaster, is speculation. That's why we can easily fall back on pondering on what needs to be done rather than taking action.

I realize there are people in congress trying to get bills passed* based on this issue and that it's hard to come up with a viable solution that we all can agree on, but all this doesn't defeat the fact that many people, like myself, need some kind of help now. 

* Like Richard Durbin, who seems to highlight my point well with the many things he's fumbling on his plate. (Contrast here, here and here.)

"Knowing then what I know now,[...]"

When reading about the student debt crisis I see that we have at least four culprits being mentioned regularly. 

• The first is colleges. This is due to the rising tuition costs and a mediocre offering of financial counseling. 

• The second is the lenders themselves, especially private lenders. Lenders are said to have a similar failures in financial counseling as colleges and universities. They're too quick to lend money to less than knowledgeable applicants and hard on providing flexible repayment options. Not only that but private student loans can't be discharged in bankruptcy since 2005, says the Huffpo article linked above.

• The third offender is congress. Based on the same Huffpo article congress passed the 2005 reform bill that disabled the student borrower's ability to discharge student loans in bankruptcy. 

• The last, and you probably guessed this from the article quote headlining this section, is the borrowers ourselves. Knowledge is power and without it, it is easy to end up looking helpless. Plus sometimes you can't count on the institutions, like the ones mentioned above, to do what you thought they were suppose to do. You are your own back up plan, just in case they do fail you.  

So I urge those college bound students, parents of college bound students, and people going back to school to better themselves to research thoroughly all aspects of higher education before making any one decision on anything. Understand, not just the college you plan to attend, but loans if you're getting them, and/or financial aid in general. Everything. Try to have as few blind-spots as possible.

 If I knew back then what I know now, that's one of the things I would have done better. 

Note to Self: Skeletons Don't Fit in Closets

Yesterday Anderson Cooper came out of what some are calling the "Glass Closet"*.

If I'm allowed to have an opinion on this, personally I think Anderson Cooper, if there is a right way to come out, came out the right way. There was detachment from the situation--it was done in an email posted on the Daily Beast, yet it was thoughtful and personal. Kudos to Cooper. I've thought of him as awesome ever since he and Colbert had a mini "feud" late last year--I realize, even before that, Anderson Cooper had been a serious and respected journalist, therefore awesome without the "Colbert bump".

When he talks about journalism it's easy to tell he has established some strong and honest principles that he sticks by. Not only that, in reading the email at The Daily Beast you can see that he's a person who's not afraid to analyse those principles, weigh the pros and cons, and reevaluate them in situations where they may need to change. In short, he seems to be a man of integrity.

All this is why it upsets me that opinions like this from proponents of gay rights exist. It's pretty disheartening that someone who is a homosexual would talk and feel almost antagonistic toward someone else that's a homosexual. To me there's a problem in pleading, and falling a mite into the realm of demanding, that some else comes out of the closet, glass or otherwise. And to add ridiculousness to injury, the person actually uses the Edna Lovejoy argument, "Can't someone please think of the children!" Really!? Isn't that like the same tagline many of us Christians across America are using to detract from the "gay lifestyle"?

First of all, Anderson Cooper is not a role-model to many children. And you'd have to largely assume the two kids in America that come home after school and beg there mommy to, "Please, turn on CNN? 360 is coming on and I don't want to miss a second of the 'Silver Fox'," are homosexual or in need of a role-model because they live in a conservative household that frowns upon the "gay lifestyle" (but somehow don't mind CNN or their children calling Andy Coop the 'Silver Fox'). Anderson Cooper's demographic are moderate/liberal adults, college educated, ages 25-54. By the time people are watching Anderson Cooper they're at the age where they don't give a F what anybody says**.

I hope Cooper's coming out does help some young people struggling with their sexuality, but I don't believe there's a need for people to come out because it supposedly helps young people deal with their trying ordeals at home*** and in school. I don't believe that for a second. I believe It helps society at large though. The more gay people come out the more boring it is when they do. America doesn't need another role-model. I'm pretty sure overproduction of role-models is one of the problems of consumerism. 


I agree with the Guardian's Emma Keller. People shouldn't bully others into coming out of the closet. Bullying is bullying whether it's well-meaning, misguided, or purposeful. Bullying is never courageous, only fearful. It's disrespectful and thoughtless. Not at all something anyone should be proud of doing. 


Good for Anderson Cooper though. What he did was something one day people won't "have to" do. 


*It's offensive.
** I do realize there's no such age, for some reason we can't shake being shaped by those around us, but based on the principles of the It Gets Better campaign, let's just roll wit it.
***I think the role-model think would work better for kids being bullied at school than for the children who probably also have a difficult home situation.

No Note, Just More on Student Loans

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I talked about the student loan situation before and today I still wanted to address it a bit further. Let's see where to start...

Like Infomercials 

Most reports about student loans and the problems there in is chucked-full of examples of students and former students wrestling with expensive student load debt for too long. There usually is one super debtor, a person that works an expansive amount of jobs to pay off unexpectedly high student loan debt. It's a teacher in this PBS report. It's a great report, covering myriad problematic aspects to the growing student loan crisis in America: from the starry-eyed high school graduate signing promissory notes without reading to the college graduate years obtaining that degree (and racking up debt), applying for a third job to finally start paying off that debt, wondering all the while if higher education was really worth it. There's got to be a better way, is the exclamation at the end of the report. The responding question is, is there...

A Care Call

I personally don't know. If I did, I wouldn't be just another statistic right now, but I did find a few articles that seem to suggest some solutions to this problem. Did you know that there are ways ARM can help? Well, there are and I have to say I do believe Mr. Rudd has some great suggestions. In particular, the first two suggestions:

1. Student loan specialists: This would definitely help with some of the other bullet points, especially the second.

2. Treat them with respect (self-explanatory)

Help! He's Homeless.

Keith's story is about where the "worst that can happen" lie. He's homeless and in debt. This is the worst situation, the ultimate nightmare of a person in debt. The article says Keith believes Congress should, "return the "Truth in Lending" policies and procedures to all student loans," and allow, "the ability to discharge student loan debt through bankruptcy."

I don't even know what "Truth in Lending" policies are or how bankruptcy could help me with my loan. If these options should, or could, be on the table they should actually be discussed more fully at colleges and in homes. Though it's not a key issue in this election yet I'm glad some people care about education and more light is being shed on the issue by those people.

You're Suing Me, Mommy? 

No, she's not. Thank goodness according to Dr. Don from Fox Business, it might be a little harder to get sued by your parents if they co-sign on a loan. Damned if that doesn't fill me with mixed feelings though. Parents shouldn't have to carry a burden so heavy when all they're trying to do is help better their children's future. It's kind of horrible and makes that bankruptcy thing Keith was talking about, if what it does is wipe the slate clean, sound like a downright euphoric prospect to elevating a lot of people's debt troubles. The mom in the Dear Abby is disabled and her daughter is a lazy good-for-nothin' (kinda like me) without a job. Again, that's a horrible situation and too much overlooked.

Kinda Like AllState, Right? 

I'm going to leave you with these two thoughts because writing takes a lot out of you, even if you're not doing it very well (probably, especially if...). 1. This situation isn't very simple, as stated in the ARM article above, not even from the perspective of the borrower. There's barely anything put in place to help ordinary loan accumulation, so what happens to our people out there with bloated debt and Asperger's? 2. And maybe a combination of the National Service Corps and the Student Loan Forgiveness Act--If done right. (Anybody ever try to get hardship deferment? The joke is, it's hard.)--could help get this runaway debt train on the right track.

Note to Self: When You Go to College, Double Down

"Can't Do Nothin' Thout No College"

I've been holding on to Adam Davidson's New York Times article, The Dwindling Power of a College Degree, for a while now. It's a subject that's important to me because I've been in a very dangerous limbo stage pertaining to higher education, for too long. The article basically says, this is fast becoming an economy driven by specialization. (That particular type of economy may already be here, hence the U.S.'s possibly forthcoming financial troubles, "the next debt bomb," as they say.)

The point of the article is that it's becoming harder to skate by in life on simple credenttials, with an unimpressive degree. Our cultural attitude is becoming what Rick Santorum would probably call snobbish. I'm apt to agree, though I'm agreeing in a far different tone. I would be elated at the prospect of a country full of hoity-toities, if only it wasn't to our detriment. We're moving entirely too fast. In the long run, let's say a hundred years from now, the speed might not matter so much, but the problem is we're operating right now. How can we affect a change, that doesn't topple our economy, right now?

My story goes, the kid (me) gets to the university, with stars in his eyes, prepared to live the college life, but unprepared for what that entails. New singer, old song. There's no overt blame to place on the way the system is run, most of my problems were personal. I'm pretty sure if everyone went to college and followed a strict plan they'd be 'in and out' in no time. I didn't follow that plan, went in and prematurely came right back out. Now I'm facing many more problems than before: I'm buried up to my neck in student loans, it's more than difficult for me to get a job, and it's not any easier for me to get back in school to get my degree. Life's hard and the sad part about it is, at least right now, all I can do is live through it.

"I Thought The Cold War Was Over"

This student loan "debt bomb" thing is outrageous, The Real Meaning of $1 Trillion in Student Loans. I agree with Jordan Weissman, one trillion dollars in student loans very well may be "a sign, partly, that more students are going to college," but I believe there should a big emphasis on the word partly. There might be more important factors going into the boom in student loan debt.

One of these factors is the rising cost in tuition: Mississippi, California.

Students have to do more to pay for tuition. Hold down a couple of jobs while studying. Things I was told about consistently while I was in school. " So-and-So is a mother and she works part-time at a pharmacy while going to school", "Whatsit-Whosit works full-time at Wal-Mart, took a year off, and still went back to school--two years, then four years--for a degree in psychology" etc. etc. There are a number of them, mostly the lady folk--as if they have anything to prove*, but they're only a few of the nearly 2 million graduates a year (2,350,000 enrollees). What's the story after they graduate? Or the story of the ones that don't graduate? Mine is above.

Second the cutting off of aid to college goers: Is HOPE on or off? Not without mentioning, the difficulty involved in attaining aid if it's out there.

Then after we get through with that we can consider the good news of more students attending post secondary school, which I'm sure is caused by the culture change Adam Davidson talks about in his New York Times article.

The very fact that the culture is changing and more importantly how it's changing, is a big problem. The reason more high school graduates are making the decision to go to college is most likely because of our over arching cultural conditioning. Davidson talks about the increase in productivity at jobs with a dwindling need for workers.  The fact that there are fewer total jobs out there isn't helpful. It doesn't take as many employees as it use to to create and run a billion dollar business. Specialization moves us toward this. We saw it through the Industrial Revolution and continue to talk about it today regarding the billion dollar, consumer supported tech companies.

Specialization, by it's very nature means there won't be as many positions out there to supply the growing need for jobs, and/or, there at least won't be enough people to fill the positions. If our economy is supported by these types of jobs, shouldn't it be obvious why the recession hit so hard? Also, specialization entails a difficulty in obtaining the credentials. Now, of course, anyone who sets their minds to it, can accomplish anything, but that doesn't mean everyone will. This new cultural evolution, as well meaning as it may be, values quality while preaching a quantitative message. We feel college education is the pinnacle of success, but the problem with that is we send our kids through this academic bottle-neck all willy-nilly because of these values/ideals. We seem to be all dreams with no substance. Not good at all.

"Ultimately,..."

I believe this thing is a little bigger than facts and figures. Sometimes, when we overload on numbers and forget to add nuance to the information, we render data useless. Just a bunch of numbers on a screen.

But if I ever get another shot at a college education, I gotta remember to double down.


*Women are historically smarter than men. I'd write more, but you know, nuff said.

[Edit/add: Another article on student loan debt--Student Loans Weighing Down a Generation With Heavy Debt - NYTimes.com, and 5 important fact from said article--5 mindblowing facts about student debt. | ThinkProgress.]

Note to Self: Learn the Difference Between a Child, a Young Man, and a Youth *

I was reading this short exposition on the Atlantic from Ta-Nehsi Coates, On The Age and Innocence of Trayvon Martin and the discussion of Trayvon Martin's age obviously, even after Coates's post, went on into the comments. 

The discussion at least for a moment moved from the issue people have with Trayvon Martin's age as depicted by pictures, as Coates addresses, to a questioning of the use of the word "child" to describe a 17-year-old male. The person that started the conversation in the comments argued that at sixteen Trayvon Martin would commonly be referred to as a "Young Man" instead of calling him the "child" the media and others are trying to claim him to be. (I found this and would like to expound on this some other time.)  

A couple of quick points because it's late, but I would like to explore this later:

• I, in personal experience, rarely was called a "young man" at the age of 16, or even older, unless by an older gentlemen affecting some strange species of formality or someone in a suite. 
• It was pointed out that 18 is the legal cut off age for childhood. At this age you can still be a ward of the state in America, I think, or at least some places in America. That is, if I'm not completely off with what little information I have about my country's social service's system. 
• My last point is a point that's probably being often repeated in this case and that's probably because it's important for us not to forget what's important in this situation amid the brouhaha. That is it doesn't matter what we refer to this kid as. A man shot this baby, as my mother would call him and any other child she sees as much younger than her, and he's not been arrested based on a bogus law. That isn't okay. Frankly, the whole ordeal is a whole lotta sad, mixed in a bowlful of scary. 

* I know these are more trivial matters than the true issue at hand, and I do have opinions on those issues, despite this I'm going to take the road less traveled on this one because there are more eloquent and adept people speaking on this issue. Besides, we should know better by now. This is the year 20 and 12 of our lord, why are we operating as if a half century ago isn't a world away? We're operating, in 2012, under laws that seem more of a fit for the middle ages. Nonsense. Somebody needs to do something about that find away to throw out what works without toppling civilization and keep the rest. Simple, at least when said. I love Jon Stewart's take on the "Stand your ground" law. (3:40 sec-4:00 in the long video)

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Note To Self: Listen To This Kid

Sometimes it's as simple as this HuffPost: Teen article by Lauren Tai. Worrying at a problem usually only makes the problem worse.