The Beacon - Nov. 3 - Issue 9

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Junior Sam Bridgman refuses to let Friedreich’s Ataxia hold him back

The

Living, page 6

Rip City Classic brings NBA talent to campus Sports, page 16

BEACON

Vol. 113, Issue 9

THE UNIVERSITY OF PORTLAND’S STUDENT NEWSPAPER

Thursday November 3, 2011 www.upbeacon.net

Student debt surpasses credit card debt A federal law to go into effect next year will ease federal loan payment policies Kate Peifer Staff Writer peifer14@up.edu The total loan amount of students attending a college or university this year exceeded $1 trillion, making student loan debt greater than credit card debt for the first time. This is up from last year, when total loans exceeded $100 billion. According to Janet Turner, head of financial aid at the University of Portland, the average amount of undergraduate debt for the 2010-2011 graduation class was $20,310 per student. The total parent loan debt for undergraduate students for the 2010-2011 academic year was $10,769,045. The devastating combination of high student loan debt and job unavailability is an economic detriment for students and families across the U.S. “There’s a lot of outcry on student debt because nationwide the economy has made finding a job difficult,” Turner said. On Oct. 26, President Barack Obama announced his plan to enact a law to ease the burden of student loan debt starting next year. The law was originally planned to go into effect in 2014 through Congress. See Debt, page 4

Photos by Jackie Jeffers | THE BEACON

Fr. Bill sits down for Fireside Chat President answers questions about The Commons prices, ASUP consitutional changes and a growing student body Natalie Wheeler Staff Writer wheelern12@up.edu “Where’s the fire?” joked President Fr. Bill Beauchamp, C.S.C., as he sat down, gelato in hand, for his biannual Fireside Chat with students in The Anchor on Tuesday. Communication studies students tweeted updates during the hour-long fireside chat, which included hot topics such as campus food prices, Capital Improvement Fund changes and a growing student population. “I was wondering when food was going to come up,” Beauchamp said when asked about prices at The Commons.

Beauchamp said he has received many complaints about rising prices and is taking the issue very seriously. “It’s definitely caught my attention,” Beauchamp said. “I was very concerned when I saw the last Beacon,” a reference to a series of articles and student commentary on Bon Appétit prices in the Oct. 27 edition. According to Beauchamp, the administration will take action in response to the complaints but has yet to decide what that entails. He said UP has a close relationship with Bon Appétit and does not have Kayla Wong | THE BEACON

See Chat, page 5

President Fr. Bill Beauchamp, C.S.C., answered students’ questions at the Fireside Chat last Tuesday, Nov. 1. Beauchamp said that the prices in The Commons caught his attention and the administration will respond to students’ complaints.


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