The Education situation in AMerica..and why it pisses me off

[devilmunchkin]

i didn't get into a grad school. Not due to low grades (i've got high ones). Not due to lw GRE scores (mine are also high). I'm graduation with honors. I'm a decent writer. But i'm graduating in a year where our counry has apparently developed quite the deficit and slid into a recession. My fate has been screwed because politics. So NOW i might be a little pissed about us having a war since we have to pay for it and our education suffers. Let me rant.

Because of the deficit something has to be cut. We can't cut fundings in the health program...can't cut on social security....so the government cuts funding on education. My brother and sisters' middle school can't afford to provide them with books even though the school district is middle class..not poor or rich.

And universities, both public and private, have had their budgets mutilated. this means that professors are getting fired because universities can't afford to keep them on, grad student TA positions are being recinded and no new ones granted, fellowships and scholarships have taken a nose dive, and enrollment for both undergrad and grad students has been hacked into.

The University of TExas has 7000 applicants to their writing department. They usually take 10 to 12. This year they took three and those who do go must pay for it by themselves because there is no money to give them.

THe Graduate English department at Baylor accepted three applicants this year and cut all TA positions, even for returning graduate students. In the english/writing undergraduate department at Baylor, none of the graduating seniors got into a school for graduate study.

San Diego State University (where is REALLY wanted to go) dropped their acceptance from 30 students down to 10. Aid is unavailable.

This situation is expected to last for years. Which means I'm ****ed for years and terrified that i'm not going to find a job. Perhaps i should feel lucky since unlike the English, history, classics etc people, i have a skill: i can writer. they prolly can to, however, i'll have a degree that makes me qualified and not them. Apparently magazines and corporations always need techical writers...but now i must scramble to try and find a place to work in san diego (anyone know a place in SD that needs technical writers??)...and this also means that in 6 months (after may) i begin paying back my loans..years before i was supposed to...

i don't blame Bush. He's one guy. I'll go ahead and blame our whole bloody government. Those old middle aged and elderly ****s who have decent jobs and a good income...it's because of them that the next ruling generation has gotten anally ****ed and then some. I just hope the next administration that comes along can fish us out of this mess so i can get an education.

I'm NOT HAPPY!

[Maniac]

Next elections vote on a leftish party. Oh wait, you don't have one.

[yavoon]

hrrm in our state they are only screwing the middle class.

they are increasing the # of scholarships and increasing the tuition. which by logic leads to a screwed middle class.

and since u claim to be in the upper echelon academically I dont know why u can't get a scholarship somewhere.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Maniac: so the Communist Party, the Socialist Workers Party, the Green Party are all right wing?

[GePap]

Well, ican sympathize about the not getting a job after graduating bit....

Because of the deficit something has to be cut. We can't cut fundings in the health program...can't cut on social security....so the government cuts funding on education. My brother and sisters' middle school can't afford to provide them with books even though the school district is middle class..not poor or rich.

Yeah, lovely how every candidate states education is thier main goal, and then gut the school budgets?

I do think though that many schools would do better to change how they spend the money they have. I consider myself liberal,. but I do not support the notion of teacher unions having total control over who gets hired or fired. Education is a vital public good, in which performance should be the sole criteria.

As for private universities, they just got hammered by the stock market and lost lots of investments. Also, any time the economy tanks people decide to rush back to school.

[Nubclear]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
Maniac: so the Communist Party, the Socialist Workers Party, the Green Party are all right wing?

I think he means major US parties

[Maniac]

Imran S: Only Democrats and Republicans have any real power, and due to the nature of your election system, there isn't much chance there will ever be a multi-party coalitions in the near or far future. New parties don't have a realistic chance.
By European standards the most left of two, the Democrats, could at most be considered centrist, not leftish.

[Imran Siddiqui]

I think he means major US parties

The only thing preventing them from being 'major' is a lack of support.

He said we don't have leftish parties to vote for. We undoubtably do. By saying it isn't worth to vote for them because they don't have power is self-defeating circular reasoning.

[devilmunchkin]

yavoon: getting a scholarship is irrelvant in my case since i can't get IN anywhere.
and i can't get in because of all the crap above.....they arn't accepting people....so well qualified people are getting sodomized
even my rejection letters said i'm qualified but because of this crap, they can't accept me.

[GePap]

On the loans issue: it is rather easy to deffer your loans. The thing is not to ask for a defferment based on unemployment, since they ask you for records from your states unemployment office, but to claim it on the basis of economic hardship, like not having and income. If you take that route, getting a 12 month defferment is relatively simple.

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
He said we don't have leftish parties to vote for. We undoubtably do. By saying it isn't worth to vote for them because they don't have power is self-defeating circular reasoning.

It is however how things work. Most voters like to have their votes accounted, so they won't vote for a sure defeat, especially when they have no runoff after.

I'm sure many Nader voters regret not having voted Gore, despite their deep disagreements with Gore. Simply because Gore is the lesser of two evils.

[devilmunchkin]

what is deferrment?
and i'm still angry!
frustrated actually. i dislike setbacks...i dislike not being able to realize my dreams despite hard work and success in my undergrad stuff....it sucks. it's like life just won't let you get ahead. you'd think that it would make more sense to promote education since we're the up and coming generation that is gonna run things. it makes me wanna send all those politicians to lack luster abusive nursing homes when they're old

[Imran Siddiqui]

Most voters like to have their votes accounted, so they won't vote for a sure defeat, especially when they have no runoff after.

They only have themselves to blame. 'Don't waste your view' is a motto to ensure a two party dominence.

[Guynemer]

Give Imran some credit; at the very least, unlike many other Republicans, he recognizes that the Democrats are not leftists.

[Maniac]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui The only thing preventing them from being 'major' is a lack of support.

There are also structural issues. I don't know much about the way senators & governors are elected in the US, and how the federal and state governments are formed, but isn't it often with the principle "The winner gets all." instead of representation according to your percentage of votes? Such a structure encourages the evolution towards a two-party system, which IMHO cannot decently represent all social groups and defend their interests.