Homeless and hungry at college

[Donnachaidh]

http://socialistworker.org/2010/08/16/homeless-and-hungry-at-college

Adam Turl looks at the growing numbers of homeless and hungry college students trying desperately to make ends meet--and those who are willing to exploit them.

AS THE mainstream press frets that the much-touted "economic-recovery" appears to have lost steam, the economic crisis continues to escalate for ordinary people.

With official unemployment holding steady at 9.5 percent (real unemployment is much higher), and with the state budget cuts producing yet more tuition increases, a growing phenomenon is sweeping the nation: homeless and hungry college students.

National Public Radio (NPR) reported in late July: "For many college students and their families, rising tuition costs and a tough economy are presenting new challenges as college bills come in. This has led to a little-known but growing population of financially stressed students, who are facing hunger and sometimes even homelessness."

While no exact figures are available, the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth reports a large increase in homeless students.

"We're hearing from the college presidents and leadership that more and more students are struggling," Michelle Asha Cooper of the Institute for Higher Education told reporters. "Some are taking out pretty large amounts of student loans to finance their education as well as their living costs. Some are enrolling part time, some are even dropping out."

More at the link --

[OneGrassRoot]

1. .....

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

This is unacceptable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I go between crying and being enraged at all the unnecessary suffering by so many.

Thank you for posting. I'm spreading far and wide.

[OneGrassRoot]

2. wow, the things people unrecommend are astounding...

:shrug:

[FBaggins]

8. I think that it's because there's no substance to the article.

If you read an article that said that the National Association for Ending Bad Hair Days said that they had no statistics but were "hearing" that bad hair days were on the rise... there just wouldn't be any news there.

It may be true... it may be false... but without any real data you have no way of knowing. And you know that the NAEBHD wouldn't exist if bad hair days were disappearing, so they have every incentive to claim otherwise.

I'd bet that the source of the article (socialistworker) is another part of it. Plenty of democrats are trying to avoid the association with full-blown socialism. The article's conclusion is that everyone should have college and living expenses paid for by the taxpayer

[OneGrassRoot]

10. Thanks for your thoughts about it ...

Much appreciated. :hi:

[QC]

14. Any acknowledgement that the world is less than perfect is an attack on Obama,

in the minds of many here.

[area51]

32. +1 n/t

[nashville_brook]

42. well said.

[whistler162]

20. Then why did you unrec the thread?

[Donnachaidh]

3. These sort of posts are being attacked

so don't expect to see many of them much longer.

[OneGrassRoot]

5. Is it because of the referenced source?

I'm trying to understand the reason behind it.

And, sure, one's first response may be that tuition versus a roof over their heads isn't much of a choice.

But as a parent of a child soon going to college, and with friends already in college, I can ABSOLUTELY see a situation where, somehow, they get the grants and loans together for tuition, and the child goes off to college and is way too mortified to tell their parents they don't have money for food or their housing situation hasn't worked out because a job fell through or something.

Many are these kids are very sensitive to their parents' financial plight and would do their best to not make it worse on them and hide it from them.

[Donnachaidh]

7. because it makes our government *look bad*

can't point out the obvious problems happening at all levels in this country.

[FBaggins]

9. Nope... because this isn't SocialistUnderground

The opposition would like to paint it as such... but why should average DUers help them?

[marmar]

13. "because this isn't SocialistUnderground"

Did you come up with that one all on your own? How clever.

[QC]

15. This isn't "Reagan Underground," either,

despite the presence of complaints about those "welfare queens" who allegedly think "that everyone should have college and living expenses paid for by the taxpayer."

Nor is this McCarthy Underground, where brainless red-baiting passes for argument.

[FBaggins]

16. Reagan and McCarthy are not the next step to "anything short of socialism"

Democrats sit across the political center and then well to the left... but there are political positions that are even further left. They aren't represented by the Democratic Party... they have their own party. If you think you would be happier there, that's fine. Just don't expect DUers to follow.

despite the presence of newcomers who complain

just as common to see RWers jump on making hard-line socialist arguments so that Democrats can be painted with that broad brush. It's Hannity's standard schtick.

[TBF]

23. Because you may wish to be more inclusive of those of us on the left

as per Skinner's actual rules of this site.

I may be a leftist, but I campaigned for your guy too (donations, walked door to door & phone banked). I did so because even though I expected little change on economic issues (which has held true), I felt that he might possibly make better choices to the Supreme Court and he has. And I will likely do the same in 2012, although I must say you "ardent supporters" make it difficult some days.

[shanti]

28. thank you for that!

as a long time DU'er, it pains me to see what it has become :(

[FBaggins]

31. How was I not inclusive?

You seem to confuse acceptance with adoption. It's perfectly acceptable to bring a socialist position forward for others to discuss... it's just as acceptable for democrats to disagree with that position (and use a rating system to inform others re: whether they thought the post was of value). They don't have to adopt the position in order to be inclusive.

All I did was answer the question of why someone might unrec the thread. The primary reason had nothing to do with how far left anyone was. It was that there isn't much "there" there. It's an article by an advocacy group about a claim by another advocacy group that they have no ability to support except anecdotally. It may be true... It may be false... but you can't expect people to jump to action when they don't even really know that there's anything changing.

The second reason was that the source (and their desired solution) was outside of the mainstream of DUers. That doesn't mean that we don't accept them... or that you don't have the right to state such an opinion here. It just means that some people won't agree with the comments and proposed solution and may use the thread rating system to express that rather than bump the thread back to the top (which you'll note I have been happy to do). I'm not saying that it's my position... just that it exists. If you want to make a "leftist" (by which I assume that you mean farther left than the DU center) point in reply to another thread... all they can do is reply that they disagree. If you do it with a new thread, they have the option of telling others that the post is of little value (by unreccing it).

I must say you "ardent supporters" make it difficult some days.

You must have me confused with someone else. I have been a big critic of much that has gone on over the last year and a half (I've even speculated that he may draw a primary challenge). My support is likely quite similar to your own. I support the party as the best viable option and the President is who we have at the helm right now. Party in-fighting right now isn't healthy.

[TBF]

33. He's not going to draw a primary challenge

at least not a serious one. We're stuck with him.

It was your comments about "socialist underground" - I am referring to that post only and not anything else you may have written (frankly I don't keep track - there are only a few "cheerleader" types who really annoy me - for the most part I know that DU is good people who are doing their best in a tough situation).

I'd like to see less squabbling as well. We do have 2 different priorities I believe - some of us are more concerned about electoral politics and some more concerned about building a movement outside of those confines. But it's not like we can't work together in some respects.

[Raineyb]

46. It's not sycophantic underground either but that doesn't stop you

does it?

At least the article had something to say. You, not so much.

[Name removed]

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[ingac70]

4. Homeless? Mmmmm....

How about paying for a roof over your head instead of tuition?

Sorry, but this is just weird to me.

I did not unrec it, though.

[shanti]

29. why is it weird?

you have to have a place to live before you can attend classes...or do you expect students to attend college out of their car?

[ingac70]

48. According to this article....

people are attending college and living in the streets. THAT is weird.

[deutsey]

6. I struggled financially in the '80s to go to college

I come from a working-class family and had to find a way to pay for my own way, which wasn't easy under the Reagan cuts to student aid.

The Bursar's Office regularly threatened to sever my services due to non-payment. Fortunately, a friend of mine's dad was a lawyer and stepped in a few times with personal loans to help keep me solvent.

The worst I experienced beyond that was selling my plasma for $10 a pop so I could wash laundry and have some pocket change.

I graduated and got what I think is a good education (both in class and out), but I don't really have much nostalgia for those days.

[TBF]

26. I had that experience as well -

though I was able to keep afloat with scholarships, the GI Bill (my dad is a disabled war veteran), and part-time campus jobs. It's been the same going back many years no matter which party rules. It is not as easy to yank up those boot-straps as some in the upper classes might think.

[nashville_brook]

43. i sold more plasma and blood than i care to think about. also did a study on college-homeless

when i was in grad school. it was a problem in the 80s, and apparently it's not gotten any better.

[Nikia]

11. While I hope this is rare, my sister was hungry the semester before she dropped out

She didn't get financial aid, like the previously year, because she didn't get the forms signed by mother, who she wasn't speaking to at the time. She had already signed a lease for an apartment in the area where her college was. Even with working, she struggled to pay her rent and tuition. She didn't really have anything extra and the exra included food.
I knew someone where I worked whose daughter had returned to live with them after dropping out of college due to financial stress. From hearing about the situation, I thought that her parents should have helped out to allow her to stay in school and be healthy in the time before that. They were blue collar people who worked hard to acccumulate financial security who saw their daughters choice to go to college as something she had to do on her own. Their daughter ended up working two jobs, selling everything that she had, weighing less than 100 lbs, and very unhealthy. They ended up paying more money to get her healthy and back on her feet than they would have helping her out with tuition.
Many of these homeless and hungry college students could be having problems like the ones I described. On the otherhand, with the financial harships of many people and the fact that financial aid is being cut could make this more common.

[madmom]

12. My daughter finished a 2 year college and now wants to finnish her

degree at a 4 year. She has been accepted at all 3 that she applied to, but the financial aid is not there. She is an independent student who had to move back home because of this and there are no jobs for her. Right now she is in limbo looking for a job so she can save enough (hopefully) so she can make up the difference next year. We can't help with the money part because we are on a fixed income, the best we can do is a roof over her head and food in her stomach. How is a parent supposed to feel about that?

[shanti]

30. same here

one of my sons has been living with me for the past 3 months until he receives his financial aid so he can move out. i can't help out financially either besides the accommodations. it's difficult for both of us.

[Name removed]

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[MineralMan]

17. Whatever decade you look at, there have always been college

students who were living on the edge. An education has always seemed worthwhile to people, so they're willing to live in crappy surroundings and eat bad food to get one.

When I returned to college after four years in the USAF, way back in 1969, I had $256/mo. to cover everything, thanks to the GI Bill. It did, but it was very difficult. Still, the education was worthwhile enough to make it worthwhile to me.

So, this is not a new situation.

[slampoet]

19. $1500 in 2009 dollars sounds like a lot more than these kids are getting.

[JustAnotherGen]

18. No

Not a new situation – but it breaks my heart to think of a beautiful mind that wants to do more, know more, think, contribute – not being able to do so because the funds are not there.

And this is why on a poll yesterday asking ‘What kind of Dem Are You’ I checked the incorrectly named ‘Social’. I’ve spent too much time in European countries, and interact with those in Europe far too much to not recognize that there are countries that value education by providing post high school education to anyone who with a brilliant mind and a will to complete their course of study.


You know, I'm not a millionaire by anyone's standards . . . but I'm sooooo thankful for the charmed life I've lead. Did I work two jobs during the summer/do a co-op or internship? Yep - but at least it was there. Did I have to take out student loans? Yep - but I was fortunate to have had parents that still were able to assist me considerably with my tuition. Approx 10K per year. Did I purchase my own text books? Yep - but I was double major Poli Sci/Mass Comm - so when I was short on funds and needed film for my technology skill (Photography) my dad could boxes of it up to me.

I've lead a very charmed life . . .

[cbdo2007]

21. poor college students - that's nothing new or bad necessarily

Big deal, I had to take out loans to cover my whole 5 years in college and had to eat in the student union for cheap and didn't get to have cable tv. That's what college is supposed to be like, for everybody. It will be the same for my kids too. They'll take out loans and get a degree and pay them off.

[FBaggins]

22. "Nothing new" perhaps... but "not necessarily bad"???

They're not talking about people who merely had to borrow for their education and live without cable... they're talking about people who aren't "suffering" eating cafeteria food, but rather actually suffering.

Now... whether the frequency of such tragedies is increasing simply isn't established here. We have an article published by one group with an agenda about the unsubstantiated claims of another group with that agenda. Pretty far from reasonable standards of journalism...

...but yeah, it happens... and it IS "necessarily bad"

[Greyhound]

51. Standard authoritarian blow-off.

It makes it really easy to spot them.
:kick:

[TBF]

34. That's not what college is like for everybody -

that is what college is like for the working class. I knew plenty of folks who had their parents paying their rent and all expenses while they were in college (they were from the upper classes of course).

[QC]

55. I had a grad school friend whose daddy bought her a condo next to campus

so that she wouldn't have to deal with a landlord.

He was a Republican senator, by the way.

People like me? We lived in basement apartments and ate ramen noodles until our hair fell out.

[KansDem]

24. When I went to undergraduate school during the 1970s...

...there were a few students who lived out of their vans parked in the university parking lot. They ate at the school (meal cards were available) and showered in the PE building.

Generally, these were students who came from out of town.

I have no reason to believe this practice does not continue and every reason to suspect it has grown to involve even more students today...

[bobbolink]

25. Homelessness has been ignored for 30 years now. The chickens are coming home to roost.

What will it take to build a fire under all of you?

[laughingliberal]

36. Sadly, I think it will need to move further up the scale before we see the kind of outcries and

people in the streets we need to get their attention. I keep trying to hold out some hope but I honestly don't expect we'll see the change we need in my lifetime.

[maryf]

37. maybe when they have to build the fire themselves.

They'll understand. folks seem to find it hard to walk a mile in the shoes of the barefoot...

keep talking Bobbie...

[bobbolink]

39. "folks seem to find it hard to walk a mile in the shoes of the barefoot..."

Another bumpersticker!

really, that one is

GREAT!

[maryf]

40. glad you like it.

consider yourself the inspiration! :hi:

[shanti]

27. i believe this

and know MANY MANY people who are attending college ONLY for the money, as they cannot get a job now. the financial aid offices are going nuts. :(

[Greyhound]

35. When I was in college there were two homeless guys in my class.

One lived in his car and the other slept wherever he could beg a couch. Both graduated with a massive debt and no means of paying it back since neither could get a job after graduation (Thanks Bill). And guess what, sometimes they couldn't get a shower or afford to launder their clothes.

That was a long time ago and things are far worse now.
:grr:

[EFerrari]

38. I dropped out due to money before my dissertation was finished.

And can't afford to go back for a year to get a degree that would pay the rent. I will be the best educated person in a shelter one of these days. Things are much worse now. Tuition is insane.

[maryf]

41. Here's more on the unemployment figures...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9001597

[Heywood J]

44. Having paid my own way through university

and having had to work the whole time through at marginally above minimum wage, I can understand that this situation exists. I strongly believe that higher education should be accessible to people of ordinary means, that non-technical courses are worthwhile, and that part of going to university/college is for the experience. In the future, this sort of problem is something that can and should be fixed when the budget is under control.

But, that being said, the present real world is full of examples where pragmatism wins the day. If you don't have the money to eat or house yourself, perhaps it's not the best idea to be spending tens of thousands of dollars on college tuition until you're ready and have saved up some money for living expenses. There are alternatives to starving:

• start working in high school, as soon as you're able, and save at least half of your earnings
  
• applying to a school near home and living with your parents
  
• applying for many small scholarships, grants, or bursaries (<$2500) to increase your odds
  
• taking a semester or two off and working to save the money
  
• getting a co-op placement program (in places where your program rules allow you to get paid)
  
• taking the classes at night so you can work full-time during the day
  
• working four ten-hour days and paring down the class schedule to fit

No one strategy will work for all people and some people won't be able to do any of these, but reading the article, I kept getting shades of "Doctor, it hurts when I do this..." Employers really won't care if you graduate a year later than planned.

[wickerwoman]

54. The problem is

there aren't any high school jobs, entry-level jobs or part-time jobs out there.

So as long as you're unemployed, you might as well take out loans and take some classes. And if you can't get a job after... well, they can't get blood from a stone.

I have total respect for people who can work their way through college and graduate debt free and certainly people should try to minimize their debt... but in the current economy I think it's probably close to impossible to save up for college, find a part-time job while you study and/or graduate debt free. I certainly haven't been able to find anything that fits around my class schedule.

[Exultant Democracy]

45. I was homeless (living out of my car) for a while during college. I have to say its better then

being homeless and not in college. At least i felt like my life was going somewhere better (and I could shower for free at the student gym.)

[Odin2005]

47. K&R

[OhioChick]

49. K&R n/t

[Manifestor_of_Light]

50. The real tragedy is the lack of jobs for educated people.

Businesses won't invest in R&D. They said they needed scientists and engineers and math and science teachers.

I got a Bachelor's degree in biology from a fabulous pre-med school 30 years ago. Couldn't get a job teaching high school biology. Or even junior high biology.

Nada.

Earned a Juris Doctor 25 years ago, couldn't get a job, also was a court reporter for 15 years which drove me nuts. Same thing with a lot of engineers and techie types. No jobs except in the damn oil business.

And they wonder why a lot of people got sick of the roller coaster of layoffs.

This lack of willingness to pay educated people for good jobs has been going on for DECADES.