Student's Jeep Stolen Twice In Three Days

[matcom]

<snip>

NEW ORLEANS -- A Tulane University student's sport utility vehicle was stolen twice in three days, once while she waited for police officers to arrive so she could fill out a report.

"I was crying because my car was gone, but eventually I had to laugh because it was all so unbelievable," said Maggie Ardolino, a senior.

Ardolino and five friends left a restaurant on Jan. 17 and found that her 1998 Jeep Cherokee was gone. Ardolino called the New Orleans Police Department to report the theft, her parents filled out insurance paperwork, and she was resigned to believing the vehicle, her high school graduation gift, was history.

Three days later, a Tulane security officer called Ardolino and said her car had been found in the parking lot of a furniture store far from campus. The store's manager had notified Tulane after noticing the Jeep's parking sticker, Ardolino said.

http://www.boston.com/news/odd/articles/2004/01/28/students_jeep_stolen_twice_in_three_days/

[Maddy McCall]

1. I probably should just shut up...

but what is wrong with parents? Buying a single daughter a $30,000 SUV for graduating high school?

Is this where this sense of entitlement in some of my students originates?

Indulged at home by parents who lavish them with gifts for minor achievements, some students come to my college classroom believing that since their parents paid their tuition, and since they have taken the time out of their busy schedule to attend class, they automatically deserve As, the quality of their work be damned.

Have things changed so much since I was this girl's age? I actually WORKED for my car (a 1976 Chevy Monza hatchback - fire engine red--I bought it in 1981 for $1200--and I am still proud of this achievement. I certainly wouldn't have laughed if it had been stolen).

Ok--/rant