Friday, December 16, 2011

Student Debt Continues to Rise

When students are growing up and going to school, the possibilities in life seem endless. Students are encouraged to work hard and go to college if they want to lead a successful and productive life. The problem with this scenario, however, is that it is becoming increasingly difficult for young adults to afford college. Couple that with the fact that the national unemployment rate stands at 8.6 percent (11.7 percent in California), and the prospects for graduating students does not look so great.

According to the a national survey conducted by the institute for college access and success, adults ages 18-34 believe a college education is more important than it was for their parents' generation, but that it has become less affordable in the last five years, in addition to leaving school with too much debt.

A recent student-loan debt relief plan issued by President Obama aims to ease the burden on millions of students. It allows 1.6 million students to cap their loan payments at 10 percent of their discretionary income starting in 2012. It also forgives the balance of student loans after 20 years of payments. Current law allows students to limit loan payments to 15 percent of income, forgiving debt after 25 years of payments.

In a related move, US Department of Education, which now administers all federal education loans, is giving borrowers the option of consolidating federal and private loans at reduced rates.

Maria Soto, a 26-year-old law student at the University of La Verne, plans to do just that. Facing the prospect of $130 thousand in student loans, she estimates that it will take her ten years to pay off her debt if she consolidates her loans.

“I know it’s a lot of money, but I can’t let that stop me from doing what I want to do,” she said. “Ten years isn’t a long time, but I definitely think it’s possible.”

Kristan Venegas, associate professor of Clinical Education and an expert in financial aid at the University of Southern California, agrees with Soto’s outlook.

“The ability to consolidate and reduce interest rates is a policy that will have immediate impact and can affect up to 6 million borrowers--but they have to do the follow up and go through the consolidation process,” she said. “I think that's one of the keys to making these different parts of the plan work--meaning that borrowers have to make the phone calls, fill out the forms, and do the follow up to be able to participate in these programs.”

While Obama’s plan is ambitious, it is nonetheless flawed.

Students who have already graduated are ineligible,” said Mark Kantrowitz, financial aid expert and publisher of finaid.org. “You must have at least one loan in 2012 or a later year to qualify.”

For those who have already graduated, Kantrowitz offers a few suggestions.

“If you encounter financial difficulty, use an economic hardship deferment if the problem is short-term, otherwise use an alternate repayment plan like extended repayment or income-based repayment to get more affordable payments,” he said. “Talk to the lender before you default, because you lose options if you default first.”

According to the U.S. Department of Education, 8.8 percent of student loan borrowers who entered repayment in 2009 had defaulted by the end of 2010.

Although students now have a lot more options to ease the load of debt repayment, some continue to worry.

Daniel Glorae, a 25-year-old Stanford graduate who currently owes $80 thousand in student loans, sometimes thinks twice about his decision to attend a private school.

“I knew it was expensive, but I had no concept of what debt like that meant,” he said. “Everybody just told me not to worry about it and not to pass up the opportunity because of money. If I knew then what I know now, I would have applied for way more scholarships, and if I knew I was going to go into forensics I may not have attended Stanford at all.”

Others, like Soto, look at things differently.

“I knew what I was getting myself into when I decided to go to private school and have no regrets,” she said. “If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn’t change a thing. At LMU (Loyola Marymount University) I met professors and attorneys who gave me experience in the field of law, which allowed me to get an academic scholarship to La Verne that pays for 50 percent of my tuition.”

As of June 2010, students owed nearly $833 billion in unpaid loans, with the average graduating student carrying $27 thousand in debt.

Dave Dowell, expert in higher education at California State University, Long Beach, says that students who are thinking about going to college should think very carefully and consider a few things before borrowing money.

“Completing the degree is essential in order to see return on your investment of money and time; the absolute worst case is to run up debt and then drop out,” he said.  “Attending a community college may not be cheaper because it will reduce the chances of completing your degree in addition to delaying the time it takes.”
He adds that return on investment may be greater by attending a less expensive four-year school than either a more expensive four-year or even a community college.
As it stands, the amount owed on student loans exceeds the nation’s credit card debt, and unlike mortgage or credit-card debt, student loans can’t be eliminated through bankruptcy proceedings.

“The government has strong powers to compel repayment, so you won’t be able to get away from the debt,” Kantrowitz said. “If you default, the government can garnish up to 15% of your take-home pay administratively, intercept federal and state income tax refunds, and block renewal of a professional license, among other things.”

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Instructor Engages Students, Shatters Perception


The world of teaching can often be one that is overworked and underpaid. Many of those who venture into it learn that it is not the cakewalk they may have originally thought it would be. Countless hours are spent grading papers and formulating lesson plans, and that alone is enough to steer many prospective instructors in another direction.
There are a select few, however, that seem to so thoroughly enjoy what they do that it makes the students they teach rise to an unexpected level of academic success. Joseph Futtner is one of those instructors.
A veteran of the Pasadena City College community, Futtner has been enlightening students in art history since 1994. “I’ve been here 17 years, both part and full time,” he said.
The University of Hartford graduate has become one of the most respected professors on the PCC campus, due largely in part to his comprehension of art history and his ability to make a subject that a lot of people consider ‘boring’ interesting.
Taking all of this into account, it is peculiar that, as an undergraduate, Futtner had absolutely no idea what he wanted to do, but art was certainly not a field of endeavor that appealed to him initially.
“I had been in a museum two times before, and both times my girlfriend made me go,” he said. “I was interested in history, philosophy, and English literature, and then I took an art class in January 1974.”
“It was there that I realized art history was a medium that integrated not only those subjects, but also religion and political science. I thought that any subject as encompassing in terms of its intellectual range was one that definitely interested me,” he said.
A lighthearted mood accompanies almost every one of Futtner’s lectures, his constant analogies between subjects in the paintings he is analyzing and contemporary characters making the lecture hall constantly burst out in laughter.
At times, it can be difficult to discern whether what is taking place is a lecture or improvised stand up; either way, the students are better for it.
Jonathan Soto, a 21-year-old business major who took Futtner’s art history class as part of his general education requirements, came in with low expectations. “The only reason I took the class was because it was part of my GE requirements,” he said. “I never thought I would actually enjoy the class. I mean, it’s art history.”
His unconventional teaching methods, in which he incorporates his children as part of the lecture, have also drawn praise from both former and current students.
“I think you have to find some starting point where art becomes a personal matter for you,” he said. “Everyone is familiar with family situations, with how those dynamics might play out into the larger world, and so I do kind of include my children in the lectures.”
He adds that his two kids have “been exposed to more art then they want to talk about.”
In 2010, Futtner traveled to Florence, Italy as part of PCC’s study abroad program. Interestingly, he was the first art professor to make the trip to a city that is awash in art history.
Until recently, Futtner’s children were too young for him to commit to a semester abroad.
“I was at a point in my life when I could exercise that opportunity, so I decided to go for it,” he said.
He noted that, initially, many of the students felt somewhat uncomfortable adjusting to an entirely new environment. After taking the time to fully immerse themselves in Italian culture, however, most changed their mind.
 "[At] the end of the stay, students, who to be sure at the beginning felt very 'foreign' in Italy, have begun to call Florence their city," he said.
Moving to the west coast was also something Futtner thought he would never do.
“I swore I would never come out to California,” he said. “I had seen a NOVA (PBS special) on the ‘big one,’ and I thought no way was I going to move to a place that was guaranteed to have an earthquake.”
As luck would have it, he did move, and the golden state had a little something in store for him.
“I actually lived in the San Fernando Valley and our place was condemned after the (1994) Northridge earthquake,” he recalled, a trace of amusement crossing his face. “However, I don’t know if I could get up and leave my home in southern California anymore.”
The 51-year-old, who lists the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Wadsworth Athenaeum in Hartford among his favorites, enjoys running and playing bass guitar in his free time. “It’s a lot of fun for me (playing) and it’s a way for me to address the other side of my brain, both creatively and recreationally,” he said.
Running is also a way of keeping his head intact, he says, and it also serves as his psychiatric couch. “Every time I go back to New York, I make a point of running Central Park.”

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Cole Gives Insight Into Middle East Affairs

Juan Cole, prominent history professor and creator of the award winning blog Informed Comment, shared his thoughts on the current situations in the Middle East and North Africa with the CSULB community Thursday inside the Beach Auditorium.
Cole, who teaches history at the University of Michigan, gave those in attendance insight into what has come to be known as the “Arab Spring,” a wave of protests, demonstrations, and revolutions that has swept across much of the Arab world, including Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya.
Having spent much time in that part of the world, Cole noted that the transitions in power have been largely peaceful, at least on the part of the protestors.
“The transition has gone remarkably well (in Tunisia),” he said. “I remember a lot of people wondering ‘will there be chaos in the streets?’ but actually, I was in Tunisia this summer and nothing in particular was going on.”
The Administration of long time president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was forced from power on January 14, 2011. The demonstrations were set into motion after Mohamed Bouazizi, a street vendor, set himself on fire after having his goods confiscated and being subjected to harassment by municipal officers.
“You have to say that this transition in Tunisia went just about as well as you could possibly imagine,” he said.
Cole also put much of the blame for what has transpired in the Middle East on the United States.
“The American government was complicit in all that’s happened in the Middle East, and not just one government, all of them,” he said. “Jimmy Carter was complicit, and (Ronald) Reagan was complicit, Bush Sr., Clinton, Bush Jr., and Obama. They were all complicit.”
He noted that the Arab Spring has put the Obama administration in a “really tough spot,” particularly since the U.S. was very invested in the Hosni Mubarak regime of Egypt.
“The Obama administration is trying to manage this transition in the same way as the countries of the Middle East,” he said. “They all want to manage these transitions out of the authoritarian regimes and towards a new order.”
According to the New York Times, Cole, who was a harsh critic of the George W. Bush administration and the Iraq War, was targeted by the C.I.A. after the White House told them to find damaging personal information in an effort to discredit him. Spying on American citizens inside the U.S. is against the law. “They must have been dismayed at what a boring life I lead,” he told the Times.
Overall, Cole believes the Arab Spring has been good for all involved. “A move to parliamentary democracy is the way to make everybody happy in the new situation,” he said. “The western countries are happy about it, and the middle classes in Tunisia and Libya are happy about it.”
Cole, who earned his doctorate from UCLA in 1984, is also a noted author and has published a number of books, most recently Engaging the Muslim World. He has appeared on a number of talk shows, including ABC Nightly News, Nightline, and the Colbert Report.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Open Ended Digital Books: The Wave of the Future?


As technology continues to improve, instructors at all levels look for ways to integrate that technology into their lessons.
Recently, California State University, Long Beach professors Oliver Wang and Scott Wilson had the opportunity work with a new platform being developed by the USC Institute for Multimedia Literacy.
Known as Scalar, this program allows authors to engage readers by using different types of visual media, which is incorporated into different elements in the text.
“There are two ways of telling stories, and Scalar falls more along the path of a non-linear narrative,” said Wilson. “It is a platform that will appeal to and engage digital natives.”
Wilson is currently working on a ‘book’ about the Century Villages at Cabrillo, which is a residential community established in 1997 to aid the homeless.
Wilson, who works in the department of Anthropology, chose the CVC because they are an organization that provide a number of services to help get homeless people and their families back on their feet, including life skills training, substance abuse counseling, and a homeless education program.
“This is something that is taking place right in our backyard and a lot of people are unaware that it even exists,” he said.
Wang, on the other hand, has always been fascinated with music, particularly Filipino American mobile DJ crews in the San Francisco Bay Area. His ‘book’ acts as an interactive history of this sub culture, complete with pop up maps, and both visual and audio archives.
“I wanted to figure out a way to share my research,” Wang said. “My main motivation in compiling this work is sharing it with the people who are the subjects.”
Wang adds that Scalar is very user friendly and merges different types of media well.
“You as the author create the world,” he said. “The chapters, which are called narrative stands, allow everything to stay organized and work really well together.”
Wang, whose book, “Legions of Boom: Filipino American Mobile Disc Jockeys Crews of the San Francisco Bay Area” is scheduled to be released next year, uses Scalar to compliment the book.
“What I really enjoy about the platform is that it allows me to share parts of my book before it’s done,” he said. “It lets readers see and hear what I am writing about in a digital setting.”
Scalar will also let authors like Wang continue to add content to their project, even after his book is published.
Although there are many things that you can do with Scalar, the platform is still in its infancy stages and not yet available to the public.
Still, Wilson sees the possibilities. “This has the potential to be a game-changer.”

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

CCPE Offers Many Advancement Opportunities

Tucked away inside the CSULB Foundation, the College of Continuing and Professional Education (CCPE) provides students, working professionals, and the rest of the CSULB community the opportunity to experience everything that the university has to offer without being actually enrolled in an undergraduate program.
Formerly known as University Extension Services and University College and Extension Services, the CCPE serves as the academic outreach arm for the entire university.
“We serve non traditional student populations,” associate dean Eric Bullard said. “In addition to degree programs, we offer certificates and non credit seminars.”
Bullard is new to the CSULB family, having previously served as associate dean of Extended Learning at California State University, San Marcos.
Although it is one of the eight colleges on campus, the CCPE is unique in that it is fully self supported and receives no money from the state of California.
“We’re really leveraging the resources of the campus, which is why the pricing structure is different,” Bullard said. “There’s no state subsidy coming in to offset the cost the educational activity.”
The CCPE’s corporate education and training unit goes out to businesses and works with both the business industry and government to help them with whatever training needs they may have.
“We conduct an assessment on-site to see what they (the company) need,” Bullard said. “It could be supervisor skills training, or they may need a full degree program for senior level administrators.”
For students who have been academically disqualified, the college offers the opportunity to boost their grade point average and earn credit toward their degree through Open University.
 “It (Open University) gives academically disqualified students a mechanism to demonstrate that they can bring their g.p.a. back up to a level that would reinstate them” Bullard said.
            Although it would be less expensive to take some of those classes off campus at a community college, Bullard believes there’s value in staying within the Beach community.
“It helps students focus in on their ultimate goal,” he said. “If you’re on campus with the colleagues that you started attending this college with, I think that there’s a higher likelihood that you’re going to finish.”
Open University is a system wide (CSU) program that was originally intended to provide access to community members that wanted to take classes.
“Often times what we find is that this is a good point of entry for students that may be thinking of starting a degree program at the university,” Bullard said.
He estimates that 75 percent of students who take classes through Open University will end up matriculating at CSULB.
The CCPE continues to look for ways to extend its reach and offer the most amount of students access to the university’s programs.
“This year, we launched engineering degree programs in Antelope Valley in partnership with the college of engineering,” Bullard said. “We’re taking the resources of the institution and serving underserved populations in remote areas.”
Bullard believes there are a number of ways to serve those populations, including via online and distance learning, which the CCPE is trying to do more of.