Perspectives
Daily Wildcat
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Perspectives Editor: Michelle A. Monroe • 520.621.7581 • letters@wildcat.arizona.edu
K-12 loans set poor example for youth Kelly Hultgren Daily Wildcat
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ollege students who are forced to wave the white flag in the tuition battle and resort to student loans are not alone. Kindergartners across the nation are fighting the same fight. The Wall Street Journal’s personal finance magazine, Smart Money, reported a rise in parents asking for money to fund their children’s education, some holding out their hands as early as their son’s or daughter’s kindergarten days. The article draws its research from prominent loan lender Your Tuition Solution, which works with many high-income parents who don’t qualify for financial aid. In March, the amount of requested money from Your Tuition Solution increased by 10 percent from the same time last year. Next year, the company expects to fund roughly $20 million in loans, according to the article. If there’s not caviar at snack time, Tempur-Pedic mattresses for nap time and weekly appearances by Bill Nye the Science Guy, then these parents are wasting their money. To be clear, spending money on higher education is not a waste of money. A college education should be considered an invaluable expense that will ideally pay for itself in the long run. However, completely disregarding the public school system and paying up to $40,000 per year for private schooling from kindergarten through 12th grade is a waste of money, especially if parents need loans to fuel it. They’re asking for money they don’t have, when there is already an education system available for free. Some parents think “private” is synonymous with superior, so the higher the price, the richer the educational experience. It’s an expensive assumption to make. To put it in perspective, the yearly tuition for the World Class Learning Academy of New York is $31,900 for kindergarten through fifth grade. When a student graduates from this World Class Learning Academy, parents will be left with a $191,400 bill, not including other fees. And if parents took out loans, this sum doesn’t even include the varying interest rates. The yearly tuition for a UA resident undergraduate is approximately $10,035. If tuition stays the same, then a student can receive a degree that will ideally get them though the rest of their lives for approximately $40,140. No, this doesn’t include extraneous fees for attending college, but the figure is still $87,460 less than four years of tuition at World Class Learning Academy, and $151,260 less than the entire six-year program. Interestingly enough, it’s the rich parents who are asking for money. In 2010-11, 20 percent of the families who applied for K-12 loans had incomes of $150,000 or more, according to the latest data from the National Association of Independent Schools, referenced in the Smart Money article. The median American household income is $49,445, according to the 2010 Census — that’s barely more than one year’s tuition for private schooling. The rule everyone knows, but not everyone follows, is: If you don’t have the money, don’t spend it. But considering today’s economic climate, maybe the rule should be, “If you have the money, save it.” Education is a worthwhile expense, but shouldn’t require loans until college or even graduate school. What children will learn from their parents seeking loans is that you can spend money that you don’t have. Just think of the fun they’ll have with credit cards. — Kelly Hultgren is a junior studying journalism and communication. She can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu on Twitter via @WildcatOpinions.
Pet’s death deserves equal grief as a family member’s T
he death of a loved one can be one of the hardest things to overcome, and the grief and remorse attached to this loss is something that most people are not strangers to. The loss of a pet can be equally painful. This grief, even if only for an animal, should not be surprising or shunned, especially when pet owners have spent 10 or more years caring for their animals. Joe Yonan, a writer for the Washington Post, recently wrote an article where he compared the loss of his Doberman, Red, to the loss of his father and sister. “Somehow, much to my distress, the death of my dog seems even harder,” Yonan said. “I haven’t felt grief quite like this since the death of my previous dog five years ago.” Nearly all of the comments listed under Yonan’s article were
every day, it’s hard not to see why this wouldn’t be the case. “The difference is the pet gave them constant companionship, and there was total dependency, then they start to realize that’s Rebecca Miller why they’re grieving so intensely,” Daily Wildcat Sandra Barker, the director of the Center for Humansympathetic, but there were some Animal Interaction at Virginia who felt that grieving more for the Commonwealth University, told the death of a pet than for a family Washington Post. member was despicable, and Because of the amount of time insulted Yonan for having these and care spent in raising an animal, feelings. the human-animal bond becomes At first it may sound terrible to increasingly stronger. In a 1988 think that anyone could have cried study in the Journal of Mental more over the death of their dog Health Counseling, dog owners than the death of an immediate were asked to place a symbol for family member, but is it really that immediate family members as well hard to believe? as their pets in a circle around them “I don’t think that it means that at varying distances. The closer you love your animal more than the symbol for the person or dog your family member, it’s just that was to the subject represented the when a family member dies it’s closeness of the relationship to the more of a shock, whereas when a subject. pet dies it’s easy for the grief to settle In most of the cases, the dog was in quickly,” said Quang Tran, an placed as close to the owner as the engineering freshman. most immediate family member. In After picking out a puppy and 38 percent of the cases, the dog was raising and caring for it in return for the closest. unconditional love and affection “The bond that we have with
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People suffering from the death of an animal should be given time to recover instead of simply having to brush it off their shoulders.
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animals is so different than with people because we are their caretakers,” said Rebecca Hamlin, a graduate student studying 3D studies. “We see grandparents and even siblings as individual people and animals are almost like children, so when they die, it’s like a part of us dies.” A pet’s death should not go unnoticed, and people suffering from the death of an animal should be given time to recover instead of simply having to brush it off their shoulders.
— Rebecca Miller is a junior studying photography and journalism. She can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu on Twitter via @WildcatOpinions.
Be thankful Arizona holstered its guns on campus legislation brain function, and may be linked to increased violence. The disinhibition hypothesis states that “alcohol weakens brain mechanisms that normally Ashley T. restrain impulsive behaviors, Powell including inappropriate Daily Wildcat aggression,” according to a medical article titled “Alcohol, regardless of current gun laws. he Arizona legislation Violence, and Aggression” on But allowing guns into the hands athealth.com, a provider of that would have allowed of virtually anyone over 21 won’t mental health information and concealed weapons onto stop them either, and it isn’t the college and university campuses services. right fix. is officially dead. It’s a relief to A 2002 study by the Harvard There is no easy solution to know for sure now that anyone School of Public Health found who passes by on the UA campus this, but legislation like Arizona’s that students who have a firearm was far from viable. Sure, it is not carrying a concealed at college are more likely to binge may help students feel safer if weapon. drink, drive after binge drinking a shooting were to happen on A man opened fire on campus and use illegal drugs. Combine campus, but there are more at Oikos University in Oakland, the influence of alcohol with a negatives that outweigh that one firearm, and there will be chaos. Calif., around midmorning on positive. Monday. He killed at least seven Furthermore, the Arizona Second, college students are people and wounded three more, Board of Regents released a fiscal according to the Associated Press. notorious for partying and getting impact study that examined how drunk on the weekends, or even This shooting is just one much the legislation would have as early in the week as “thirsty of many cases — including cost Arizona universities. Thursday.” Columbine, UA’s 2002 shooting According to the study, it The UA is considered a “wet” and Virginia Tech — that still would cost all three in-state campus, which means alcohol is haunt the nation’s memory. universities a one-time payment It is true that if someone wants allowed on campus if you are of of $13.3 million, plus an annual the legal drinking age. to go on campus with a gun and cost of $3.1 million. Much of this Alcohol changes normal start shooting, they will do so, money would have gone toward
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installing gun storage lockers in 732 public buildings across the three university campuses. The legislation would not have required the lockers, and therefore would not provide state funding for them. The financial strains of such renovations may have meant an increase in various costs that students already complain about. But the intangible costs and harm that could have come from this bill outweigh the one benefit of feeling safer. Danger is everywhere, regardless of the place. College campuses are filled with young adults who are still maturing, and putting a gun in their hands may cause more harm than good. Putting an end to this was the smartest decision Arizona lawmakers have made in a long time. Altogether, putting this bill to rest will put the minds of those on campus to rest. — Ashley T. Powell is a journalism sophomore. She can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu or on Twitter via @WildcatOpinions.
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