Politics seem to be a very underrated topic at Niles West. My theory is that people don’t care about politics for two reasons. One: people don’t think they’re affected by it. Two: people don’t think they can make a difference in politics. Sure, you may not be able to vote yet (with the exception of a few seniors), but that doesn’t mean you can’t change the minds’ of people who can.
Before I continue, you should know that I am a liberal, progressive, left-winged democrat. I side democratically on 99% of all issues. My views are extremely biased, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t important, especially if you disagree with me. For example, student loans.
A key topic among Democrats and Republicans alike is how to handle student loans. If you plan on borrowing money to go to college you may be paying off student loans into your forties. This issue is getting ridiculous, but hopeful it can be stopped soon.
It used to be that student loans were made by the government. It loaned students money and students payed it back. This way of giving out loans worked out well, but somewhere along the line the public decided the government shouldn’t be involved in education. I don’t know who thought this, because if the government is taken out of the equation it results in varying levels of education all over the country.
The government stopped giving out loans and the banks started to. Suddenly interest rates skyrocketed. Students had to pay back way more money to the banks then they used to pay back to the government because the government had much lower interest rates. When Obama became president he helped to change the system back to the government giving out loans. The banks pushed to give out the loans and are still pushing today because they can charge ridiculous interest rates and get away with it. For example, lets say the bank loans someone $100,000 to go to school, but you have to pay $150,000 back to the banks.
Republican nominee (and certified cardboard cut-out), Mitt Romney, uses the fall back excuse. When the backs give out loads it increases government spending. In my opinion, that’s crap. The truth is this: whatever the government loans, the student pays back. Romney doesn’t want government and the educational system to associate anymore. If you are one of the millions of young people struggling to afford college, don’t worry! Good Ol’ Mitt has some advice for you: “shop around” or “ask your parents for money.”
Many Republicans don’t even want to have public schools. If these Republicans had their way, all schools would be private. You have to pay to go to a private school, which makes education a business that can make someone rich. There’s one problem: many families wouldn’t be able to afford to send their kids to private school. What do they plan to do with all those kids? Are they just going to grow up without an education?
In the same way, you and your parents paying more for college than they should have to because some Republicans want to make the rich richer.
The solution to this problem? Barack Obama. You getting this? Barack Obama wants all students to have the option to go to college. Mitt Romney wants only the elite to go. If you take anything from reading this, it right here.
Dan Poskus is the NWN’s political columnist. He will see you through this year’s presidential election.
Steven • Oct 1, 2012 at 10:50 PM
You make this statement concerning private schools,
“You have to pay to go to a private school, which makes education a business that can make someone rich. ”
I would just like to clarify the basic difference between a private and a public school for you, because it appears that you don’t quite understand. Public schools are paid for by taxes which are collected from the surrounding area of that school. A private institution is payed for directly (with a tuition) by the people who attend because they are not affiliated with the government and therefore do not receive money collected by taxes for education. A good example of this you might know would be Loyola Academy in Wilmette. It is a private institution (separate from the government) and therefore in order for it to sustain itself as an institution relies on the payment by the students attending through the form of a tuition. Loyola’s tuition is about 13,000 dollars. But, in no way shape or form is Loyola Academy, or any other private institution for that matter, a business that tries to earn a profit or has the goal of making someone rich, Both, private and public schools are paid for in order be able to function as a school, but the means by which it gets its money are different. Schools do not have CEOs that profit off of the money they receive. They use that money to run the institution. So to say that a private institution is a “business” that can “make someone rich” is inaccurate and is a substandard argument.
Michael • Oct 1, 2012 at 8:31 PM
You provide a lot of historical background that’s slanted in the direction of your argument without a single citation. It’s easy to create a convincing argument when you control the information that your readership is privy to. Aside from this, though, it is important to understand that tuition and education are essentially an economic exchange between the student and the school. The real reason that student loans are increasing in price is that it has become more and more popular in recent years to provide grants rather than loans. A grant is basically a discounted price of tuition. Since the schools are no longer receiving full payment from those who once would have paid them back in the future via loans, schools must now raise prices on the rest of the student body and force those who are taking out loans to pay at a higher interest rate to make up for the difference. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, more than half of college undergraduates receive grants (http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=31). Doing away with grants would make college more affordable for everyone, and loans can be discussed between only the student and the school–no need for third-party intervention. The monthly payment amount and length of the loan can always be adjusted according to the level of need of any student, and this unadulterated economic exchange would force colleges to not rip students off because they want to admit the strongest body of students that they can and would not want to risk losing a bright student to a competing institution by offering him a bad price.
Former Student • Sep 2, 2012 at 8:58 PM
This article/column is well-written but it lacks factual evidence that could fully enhance the main argument of the writer. It is more hearsay statements in which are supported very well by the writer’s personal experience and/or opinions. As the Informed Voter had said the “generalization about Republicans” are over-the-top because of the lack of evidentiary support to the topic rather than solely on “what I think the Republicans are doing.”
In my opinion, we need more of articles like this because this fuels a student’s desire to take part in the society they lived by formulating their own stance on these kinds of issues that clearly affects them 😛
Excellent Writing! I hope to see more of these.
NW GOP • Sep 2, 2012 at 10:14 AM
I am a Republican but I’m not too serious about it. However, this article offends me as one. 4 years ago I was looked down on because I would tell my fellow students the pessimistic side of Barack Obama, that my dad has been to the RNC that year, and I wore a hat shaped as an elephant on election day. I know I live in a Democratic state, and I’m starting to think my dad was right. Democrats ARE brainwashed! Barack Obama is a bad president but you’re just looking at the glass half full about him. I can’t even go to a chick flick without someone in the movie saying nice about Obama. He does a lot of bad things but you don’t bother noticing it. But when he shows his support for student loans and gay marriage, you automatically think he’s the greatest man on Earth. (On another note, I DO support gay marriage.)
You write, ” Many Republicans don’t even want to have public schools. If these Republicans had their way, all schools would be private.” This is absolutely false. What Republicans want is school choice. For instance, in Chicago, nearly half of the students in their public schools don’t graduate high school. While at charter high schools, which are free schools run by private foundations, over 90 percent of students graduate. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, a Democrat, wants more charter schools, which are non-union. But the Chicago Teachers Union, which almost always supports Democratic candidates by the way, not only opposes that expansion–they want to shut down the charter schools which do a much better job of educating Chicago students. Republicans also support a school voucher program which will allows parents and children to choose a public school–or a private school such as a parochial institution.
As for student loans, the easy availability of them has given colleges the belief that they don’t have to control costs. For decades the annual increases in tuition has been higher than the inflation rate. Because the loans have to be paid “later,” consumers–students and parents–aren’t as price resistant as they perhaps should be. And because the federal government makes good on student loans that default, colleges get their money anyway. Until the start of the Great Recession, universities had no incentive to keep tuition costs down. Before Occupy Wall Street turned ultra-radical, many of its protesters were students with advanced degrees with tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt. It’s common for college administrators, who don’t want to lose paying customers, to mislead students about the marketability of politically-charged degrees such as ethnic studies.
You call Mitt Romney “a certified cardboard cut-out.” After the shooting of Democratic congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, President Obama called for more civility in our political discourse.
In this case, I have to agree with Obama.
Voter • Sep 1, 2012 at 7:39 PM
That’s how banks make money. Through interest rates. If they didn’t charge interest rates, they wouldn’t have money to lend.
This article makes a lot of big statements,and the evidence is confusing. The spelling errors distract me from the meaning of the article.
This needs a bit of editing.
Informed Voter • Sep 1, 2012 at 3:58 PM
This article is column, so the author is entitled to his own opinion. However, the generalizations about Republicans, their agenda, etc. is over-the-top.
To fairly inform students, the NWN needs a Republican political contributor as well; students must be presented with both sides before they can make an informed decision. We are Americans, after all– advocates of accurate information and choice.
Editor • Sep 1, 2012 at 5:42 PM
Are you volunteering? We need someone.
jack • Sep 1, 2012 at 11:03 AM
more articles like this please… but maybe you could also let a romney supporter (if you can find one) write a guest column or something.
nw • Sep 2, 2012 at 2:00 AM
I agree. So many students are ignorant of politics and we need more articles like these.
Oscar • Sep 5, 2012 at 9:53 AM
Whats with the sarcasm?