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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 3, 1997)
. EDITOR ' Paula Lavigne OPINION EDITOR Matthew Waite EDITORIAL BOARD Erin Gibson Joshua Gillin Jeff Randall Julie Sobczyk V.y‘: :r-‘-yy aI: - ———?-—— Guest VIEW Dollars and sense College costs match success with debt From the staff at The New Hampshire at the University of New Hampshire. DURHAM, N.H. (U-WIRE) — Soon, most of you will be up to your ears in debt. A national survey released last week said the average student’s debt has morg than dou bled in the past six years, mostly because of higher tuition and a switch in financial aid from grants to loans. nra • • in ii n t *n ims lsii i guuu iui uiusc ui yuu wuu wm watch much of your hard-earned paycheck get used, not for food and clothes and the necessities, but to pay off the bills you accu mulated during the four (or more) years you spent in college. Of course, the ramifications of this devel opment are numerous. Students will put off buying a house or a new car. But students won’t be the only ones to feel the heat Parents will be forced to make some changes while their children have to fork over thousands after they graduate. Graduates will look for jobs closer to home so they can live with Ma and Pa for a couple of years. Back in 1991, the average student debt was $8,200. Now, it’s $18,800. Fifteen years ago, 41.4 percent of financial aid came from federal loans, 54.6 percent from federal grants. Now, federal loans make up 58.9 per cent, while federal grants make up 39.7 per cent of financial aid. (The remaining 1.4 per cent comes from other sources.) Times are changing. And while the ridiculous rise in tuition is part of the problem, federal support is also responsible. Of course, we go to school in a state that pays so little attention to the prob : tesnof money for education that it is almost embarrassing. And while the situation is changing, it s not going to help the people who are going to school right now. Gov. Jeanne Shaheen is try ing to push things in the right direction, but a lot needs to be done. Over the summer, the University System of New Hampshire Board of Trustees passed a 14 percent in-state tuition increase, the largest in about a decade. Now, every full time, in-state UNH student pays $580 a year more in tuition than he or she did last year, even though even the most fervent UNH sup porter will admit the education we’re receiv ing this year is not $580 better than the educa tion we received last year. Inflation is one thing, but it just doesn’t add up. High tuition is a great way for the rich to get richer, while the poor get poorer. A lot of poor, hard-working 18-year-olds can’t go to college because they know they’ll never be able to pay off all the debt that would accu mulate. Meanwhile, there are some lazy rich kids who float through high school, then have Ma and Pa foot the bill for college- Sure, the chain can be broken, but the odds are stacked against it. - The most ironic thing is that it’s society that demands us to get an education in order to be successful. At the same time, it’s also demanding us to put ourselves in debt Is this $e way it Should be in the freest counfly in the world? Well, that’s the way it is right now. Editorial Policy Unsigned editorials are the opinions of the Fall 1997 Daily Nebraskan. They do not necessarily reflect the views of toe - University of Nebraska-Lincoln, its employees, its student body or the University of Nebraska Board of Regents. Acoiumn is solely the opinion of its author. The Board of Regents serves as pubisher of the Daily Nebraskan; policy is set by the Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board. The UNL Publications Board, established by the regents, supervises the production of the paper. According to policy set by the regents, responsibility for toe editorial content of the newspaper lies solely in the hands of its student employees. . 'v4 * i J :>'v Y .V Latter Mlcy The Daily Nebraskan welcomes brief letters to the editor and guest columns, but does not guarantee their pubfcation. The Daily Nebraskan retains the right to edit or reject any material submitted. Submitted matenatbecomee property of the Daily Nebraskan and cannot be returned. Anonymous submissions will not be published. Those who submit lettere must identify themselves by name, year in school, major and/or group affiliation, if anv. Submit material to: Daily Nebraskan, 34' Nebraska Union, 1400 R St Lincoln, NE. 68588-0448. E-mail: lettpis@unlinfo.unl.edu. For sale: cheap I read of the exclusive marketing contract between the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and PepsiCo in the “Reporter,” the newsletter of the University of Nebraska Foundation. Corporate sponsors should sup port universities for what they do, not for what they promise not to do. Raising funds through restriction of choice runs counter to what universi ties are about, that of being forums for free and open exchange of infor mation and ideas. In the “Reporter” article, Brenda Barnes, president and chief executive officer of Pepsi-Cola North America, is quoiea as saying uinl is cieariy a crown jewel among the nation’s state university systems.” UNL is a good university, maybe a great university, but it is not a crown jewel. The money flows, and the hyperbole begins. The fact that the editors of the “Reporter” chose to print Barnes’ quote indicates that respect for truth is already an early victim of the PepsiCo deal. What is UNL providing PepsiCo for about $2 million a year for the next 12 years? The opportunity to imprint on the buying habits of stu dents for the rest of their lives. Imprinting is what universities are about, but historically this serious business has been entrusted to profes sors, not soft drink distributors. At $2 million a year, this sacred trust has been sold cheap. Ron Struss Eau Claire, Wis. I would like to express my severe disdain for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in its decision to I .... ' Matt Haney/DN cancel the Halloween midnight show ing of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” at the Culture Center for no apparent reason whatsoever. Like many others, I spent plenty of time getting ready and all dressed up to go have a good and sober time. I was quite angered to find that cancel lation notice posted on the door. Granted, “Rocky Horror” is a lit tle risque (transvestites, bisexuals, Meatloaf) to these good ol’ Midwestern folk, but with all the many posters about down with homo phobia and discrimination round campus, isn’t it blatantly hypocritical of die university to cancel “Rocky” on die basis that it’s “not suitable for UNL students?” And isn’t the university devoted to promoting healthy, sober alterna tives to the frat parties and all the drinking involved? So why cancel an event that would kill two birds with one stone? I spoke to many people who, when they learned the show was can celed, went immediately to some one’s house to get drunk, for lack of anything better to do on a Friday night. That doesn’t reflect back well onto the university either, does it? Kelly Romanski freshman news-editorial Due credit? - In the latest edition of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln staff newsletter, “The Scarlet,” Chancellor Moeser praises the university land scaping staff for its hard work in clearing off the campus after the tern Die storm we just witnessed. What I would like to know is if the chancellor has any intention of hon oring the many fraternity brothers who banded together and helped out so many people on and off campus who were in trouble because of downed trees and other weather-relat ed maladies. It is unfortunate the public must rely on local news coverage of these heroes because the head of the uni versity refuses to notice them. Could it be because they are supposed to be a bunch of drunk, stupid, woman degrading punks? It’s sad that with all the good fraternities do for this com munity and communities arouhd the world they only get press when stake politically important tragedystrikes them internally. • ^ ■'Siil v«n Jason Fredi fcgill UNL film/video producer/director Haney’s VIEW (ikiL,Stilt Smtrn DN VIEW ...—*“---.. I
