Student Protests

[smokingman]

Last night for around 2 hours this was all over the news.There where hundreds of arrests.I-80 and I-190 where shut down for over an hour with students walking down the interstate(I was watching it live on tv).Now here is the part I do not understand.Why is it not on the news? Even online there is next to nothing now.
I found this local channel article WBIR.com | Knoxville, TN | College students across the nation protest tuition hikes
This article about how the protests slowed internet connections City Brights: Zennie Abraham : Student protests nationwide brings Internet traffic to a crawl
and an I-report on cnn (not an article but a person posting a video).
I did find this Youtube video [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGij8qVotjw"]YouTube - Students vs State: US budget too cool for school?[/ame]
This article yesterday afternoon on MSNBC Students rally on college campuses for funding - Education- msnbc.com
.Just curious if anyone else noticed the main stream media seems to not be reporting this at all?Yesterday they where saying it was the largest protest since the civil rights movement...today it is not even back page news?



*edit found an article on cnn Protests over education cutbacks snarl traffic, lead to arrests - CNN.com the video of the reporter being arrested is still there as well.

 

[redneckmedic]

More anti-capitalism and Bush Hating propaganda

 

[smokingman]

More anti-capitalism and Bush Hating propaganda

I agree with you in part.There is an anti-capitalism feel to it.But at the same time 182% increase in tuition over a 4 year period?I am not looking forward to the bill when my daughter goes in a few years.

 

[FSquareSKS]

I dont get it.. how did it slow the internet down? did the stop outside AL Gore's house? I mean seriously thats alot of kids walking down roads instead of watching porn of stupid videos on youtube... If anything the internet should have sped up

 

[level.eleven]

Capitalism is a loaded term used to invoke emotion. I prefer the term Free Markets, much harder to attack because of its disconnect from government. Corporatism, I feel, is a much better descriptor of how the US runs. With the exception of the two sound bites from I like to call "Che shirts", the students seem to be upset with massive government spending and corporate bailouts. The first 3/4 of that video could have been mistaken for a Tea Party.

Of course, none of this would be an issue if government didn't hold a near monopoly on education service. As governments are so fond of doing, the situation now pits citizens against one another in the battle over their wallets.

 

[dukeboy_318]

I agree with you in part.There is an anti-capitalism feel to it.But at the same time 182% increase in tuition over a 4 year period?I am not looking forward to the bill when my daughter goes in a few years.

no kidding It rose almost 2 grand from august of 09 to Jan of 2010 and the school supposedly cut funding to classes with less then 25 students enrolled and I am a student and having to work full time to pay my way through school because uncle sam says im not eligible for finacial aid cause my parents make too much and they say I still have to list my parents on my FASFA because I wasnt 23 by the 1st of the year despite the fact that my parents arent and wont help me pay for school, which is perfectly fine with me, i cant fault them for that and that Ive been supporting myself and living on my own since I was 18. If that doesnt make you a non dependant, what does? I just find it irrating that the IRS says Im no longer a dependant but the Finaicail Aid people say I am, what the heck?

I say we protest the tution increases and the building of stupid scupltures and pointless structure and parking garages that are staff and instructor only parking.

 

[irishfan]

I thought all the new dorms and beautifying at Ball State was a good reason to increase tuition.

 

[Designer99]

I've seen this first hand.

From the time I started at IU, till the time I left the costs went up drastically. You can see the effects everywhere...

IU recruits students heavily from the the east coast. The NY & NJ crowd are all over the campus now. Most of them rolling in BMW's & Mercedes.

The old mom & pop shops around campus are being bought up, torn down and replaced with buildings that have a trendy chain restaurant at the bottom and posh town houses on top. The majority of in-state students can't afford one of these fancy places near campus. They have to live farther away than the rich folk from out of state.

Even at my favorite hangout, the crowd used to be majority hoosiers, now it's majority wealthy out-of-state kids.

The price of education is going up and is only helping to further the gap between the wealthy and the middle class. Kinda seems like a controlled demolition to me.

 

[T-rav]

Beck is talking about that on his show right now. The SDS along with other radical groups sponsored these "Protect your education" protests.

 

[hornadylnl]

As long as these idiots keep paying this tuition, nothing will change. If all the students stayed home for a year, it would correct itself. How much do they charge for walking classes? Gotta fund the sports somehow.

 

[Indy317]

As long as these idiots keep paying this tuition, nothing will change. If all the students stayed home for a year, it would correct itself. How much do they charge for walking classes? Gotta fund the sports somehow.

Yup. The administrative and faculty jobs are where the waste is. Too much pay, not enough work to justify those wages. The only ones that really work, and sometimes work seven days a week, are those whose jobs are tied to research and various donations/funds. You basic teaching positions are a cake walk. Not only that, the full-time prof that is supposed to teach gets to use a grad student to teach the class. I know at one university, the support staff and others won't be happy if the university continues to give no raise/cost-of-living adjustment if they continue to see the following:
#1: Increases in tuition costs.
#2: Increases in on campus housing costs.
#3: All the vacations, I mean work trip,s to places like China, Europe, etc.. for the profs and upper admin.

They claim they are cutting, but I know they have added at least five other positions that will likely pay $80K to $100K/year. They have cut some jobs, but the jobs they are cutting pay much lower. I have yet to see anyone making over say $60K/year lose their job due to the budget.

What really makes me sick is the justification for these out-of-control wages for upper administration. If I were governors in the states with state supported schools, I would do the following:
No university employee can make any more than the governor of that state. Any university employee that feels they need to pay more, needs to reimburse the state that amount over from the public funds they got. So if they want to pay coaches and presidents a half million a year, they write a check for about $400K for each position back to the state of Indiana. There could be exceptions for those who bring money to the university (ie: A researcher to leaves on university for another, bringing their funds they got donated for their research, etc..). Another exception could be a reduction in tuition, etc.. My main feeling is that if public universities want to keep paying out large amounts of wages to the upper 25% of the workers, raise tuition, and keep about a billion in their foundations, maybe it is time to cut the state funding?

If college students nationwide want to send a message, how about WORK for a year. Save for college, then go back? If college students just stopped going, things _would_ change. They would be forced to change.

 

[hornadylnl]

One thing that would help tremendously is to quit building these lavish buildings. It seems Ivy Tech is building some brick monstrosity on every corner. There is a new building going up near Walmart in Lafayette that's 2-3 miles from the Ivy Tech campus. I also believe they built some massive building near Logansport. Why is it that when the government needs a garage, they spend millions to put up a brick building when they could put a pole barn for thousands? I'm spending $80k to put up a 50x80 steel building. You know government would spend at least $250k on a building.

One of the other problems with these lavish buildings they put up is that some alumni will spend big bucks to put their name on it so it can be built but us taxpayers are stuck with the operating and maintenance costs for decades. I understand brick buildings are more aestetically pleasing. But I'm also smart enough to know that a fancy store room just adds to the cost overhead and gets passed on to me when I buy something from that store. I'd love to take a dump on a solid 24k gold toilet at McD's but I don't want to pay $100 for a hamburger. Government doesn't have to deal with overhead. They just take the money needed with a gun and we get stuck paying for it. Our kids can learn in an f'in pole building.

 

[rightwingmilitia]

I bet alot of these angry former students and soon to graduate students are the ones who stood on the fence the whole time through college.. Now it seems that they should have actually had a real major as opposed to liberal arts degree and anything involving experimental theory... There is just no room in the job market anymore for students who have a very limited understanding of ever field or students who are so over educated they can build a rocket like macguyver but cant do simple things like write sentences or budget their utilities.....

 

[smokingman]

I'd love to take a dump on a solid 24k gold toilet at McD's but I don't want to pay $100 for a hamburger.[/quote]

I can not believe you said that! You would take a dump a McD's?!!
And I see a tag line in your future lol

 

[JR50]

RT, Russia Today, routinely has stories slanted against the US or or freedoms. A sterady diet of RT is NOT a good thing!