I will be editing a book of materials from the course, and we will all get together again at a "celebration event" in June. So this was not yet Good Bye! Still, a pleasant end to the Spring semester.
Friday, May 25, 2012
Final Seminar...Bayboro Harbor Beckons
I will be editing a book of materials from the course, and we will all get together again at a "celebration event" in June. So this was not yet Good Bye! Still, a pleasant end to the Spring semester.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Channel 10 News Story about Student Loan Rates, interview with RTWH student
As an example of the kind of activism and civic engagement that comes from participation in a citizen scholar course such as the Road to the White House, I share this interview (Channel 10 News) with a Road to the White House student (Melissa DePasquale) regarding the pending student loan rate increase.
Click here to watch the video of the television interview:
Channel 10 News Story about Student Loan Rates
Here is the transcript from the Channel 10 website:
http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=253330
ST. PETERSBURG, Florida -- The clock is ticking on Congress to come up with a plan to prevent student loan interest rates from doubling.
On July 1, the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, passed in 2007, is set to expire, raising rates on federal loans from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent.
For Melissa Depasquale, a student at the University of South Florida's St. Petersburg campus, it could be a huge setback to her goal of going to law school after graduation. "It would have a massive effect on me. I mean, I'm going to my grave with these loans," she explained.
Without an extension, college will get more expensive for seven million students.
Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL) held a press conference on Monday highlighting a 61-day countdown until the deadline, stressing the need to get a deal done.
"I urge all my colleagues in Washington to get a move on," Castor said.
Channel 10 News Story about Student Loans Yet on Friday, she voted against a bill that would have kept the interest rate from doubling. Castor says the problem with that Republican-backed proposal is it would have been paid for through Obamacare funds.
"There are a number of ways to get it done and folks need to set politics aside," she explained.
Most Republicans and Democrats seem to agree something needs to be done. What they can't find common ground on is how to pay for it.
A number of students fear they'll simply end up as the losers in the political game in Washington. "In my eyes it's always going to be political. There's nothing we can do about it," Depasquale said.
On Twitter, Rep. Dennis Ross (R-FL) has used the words "stupid" and "fiasco" to describe various parts of the student loan situation.
President Obama has also said he would veto the same House bill passed last week that Castor voted against.
Click here to watch the video of the television interview:
Channel 10 News Story about Student Loan Rates
Here is the transcript from the Channel 10 website:
http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=253330
ST. PETERSBURG, Florida -- The clock is ticking on Congress to come up with a plan to prevent student loan interest rates from doubling.
On July 1, the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, passed in 2007, is set to expire, raising rates on federal loans from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent.
For Melissa Depasquale, a student at the University of South Florida's St. Petersburg campus, it could be a huge setback to her goal of going to law school after graduation. "It would have a massive effect on me. I mean, I'm going to my grave with these loans," she explained.
Without an extension, college will get more expensive for seven million students.
Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL) held a press conference on Monday highlighting a 61-day countdown until the deadline, stressing the need to get a deal done.
"I urge all my colleagues in Washington to get a move on," Castor said.
Channel 10 News Story about Student Loans Yet on Friday, she voted against a bill that would have kept the interest rate from doubling. Castor says the problem with that Republican-backed proposal is it would have been paid for through Obamacare funds.
"There are a number of ways to get it done and folks need to set politics aside," she explained.
Most Republicans and Democrats seem to agree something needs to be done. What they can't find common ground on is how to pay for it.
A number of students fear they'll simply end up as the losers in the political game in Washington. "In my eyes it's always going to be political. There's nothing we can do about it," Depasquale said.
On Twitter, Rep. Dennis Ross (R-FL) has used the words "stupid" and "fiasco" to describe various parts of the student loan situation.
President Obama has also said he would veto the same House bill passed last week that Castor voted against.
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