“Higher education loans are meant to subsidize the cost of higher education, not profit from them, especially at a time when students are facing record debt,” said Ethan Senack, the higher education advocate at the United States Public Interest Research Group, which is issuing the brief with the United States Student Association and Young Invincibles, an organization for people 18 to 34. “The revenue from student loans should be used to keep education affordable, and should never be used to pay down the deficit or for other federal programs,” Mr. Senack said.”
—Student Loan Rate Set to Rise, Despite Lack of Support - NYTimes.com
Your independence is adorable, but let's be logical
My friend and I moved to a new city at the same time and we both had trouble qualifying for an apartment. His problem was that he had bad credit. My problem was that I did not have a job yet. He suggested we move in together to make it easier to qualify, and I said that was out of the question.
Suddenly mansplaining mode kicked in.
“Now listen,” he said, “I know you want to be an INDEPENDENT WOMAN. But sometimes you just have to do what you have to do.”
Last time I checked, this move-in-together situation he was proposing would have been *equally* beneficial for us—certainly not a case of me “needing” him and becoming dependent on him while the reverse was not true. I somehow doubt he would have seen this situation as him giving up being an “INDEPENDENT MAN” if he’d leaned on my credit to qualify for a place.
Clue-phone, guys: If your phrasing would sound ridiculous describing a man, you probably shouldn’t say it to a woman. It’s pretty ignorant to insinuate that a woman claiming she can take care of herself is awfully noble but ultimately impractical.
(We ended up qualifying separately with special contracts. I got a job within a month and qualified for a better place the next year. Throughout our friendship he continued to bring up wanting to live together and tried to tell me it would be good for me to quit my job and work on my writing. No thanks.)
“It’s ludicrous for groups like Crossroads GPS—which spent at least $70 million during the last election—to claim that its primary purpose is not political activity. Only the likes of Karl Rove would believe that running attack ads against President Obama qualifies as social welfare.”
—Ari Berman, IRS Fallout: “The Real Scandal Is Secret Money Influencing US Elections”“The English Professional Footballers’ Association estimates that 10 to 20 per cent of ex-players go bankrupt. Many more run into big financial problems.”
—The Financial Times just published an article detailing the financial ruin that many former players face after retirement. Here’s how it typically breaks down: start as the sole breadwinner for a large extended family, add in a number of close associates, mix in expensive tastes, and finally, throw in corrupt financial planners, and you’ve got a dangerous cocktail once the paychecks stop rolling in. If anything, it’s a wonder that the percentage isn’t higher.
While it might be customary to groan about the exorbitant salaries footballers bring in, the reality is that very few have any sort of practical financial sense. Bred from a young age to be athletes, many young footballers live sheltered lives. So when that first large paycheck arrives in their late teens or early twenties, there’s no inclination to set anything aside for later. The PFA rate doesn’t come close to reaching those of American sports, which linger at about 78% of former players for the NFL, and 60% for the NBA, but still underlines the importance of educating young athletes.
As the ancient proverb goes, “mo money, mo problems.” [Posted by Maxi]
“...24-25% of young German people interviewed by journalists answered the question 'what do you want to do when you're an adult' by stating that they wanted to be artists. What are they picturing? What do they think being an artist means, exactly? Are they thinking about the rich possibilities that the art market offers? Well, maybe, but I don't think so. I think that they are saying that they want to be artists because they feel that being an artist means to escape a future of sadness, to escape a future of precariousness as sadness. They at thinking, well, precariousness and sadness can become something different, some thing not so sad, not so precarious, if they withdraw their faith, if they withdraw from any expectations a capitalist future can offer. I don't want to expect anything from the future, so I start my future as an artist.”
—Franco “Bifo” Berardi, The Uprising: On Finance and Poetry
“Nigeria’s commercial nerve center, Lagos is set to become the continent’s 13th biggest economy, similar to the size of West African nation, Ghana, investment research and advisory firm, Renaissance Capital has revealed. In its latest report titled, “Nigeria Unveiled: Thirty Six Shades of Nigeria,” the company stated that with a per capita income of about $2,900 which is currently double amount of the national average of $1,700, Lagos is at par with countries such as Morocco and Sri Lanka. Lagos’ economy is significant to that of Ghana and is the heart of Nigeria’s $284 billion GDP economy. “We base our analysis on states’ internally generated revenue, which make up 15 per cent of state government revenue, and consumption data, as proxies for state income. “Lagos State produces about 12 per cent of Nigeria’s GDP, which is equivalent to $32 billion by 2013 ending. Post rebasing, which we now expect in early 2014, we estimate a 40 per cent upward revision in the country’s national income. “By our estimates, the Lagos State economy will become Africa’s 13th biggest economy in 2014 at approximately $45 billion – equivalent to that of Ghana,” said RenCap.”
—You know it’s serious when they start comparing a city to countries. And we manage all this without stable electricity, easy access to basic resources, and the necessary infrastructure to accommodate life in a commercial urban landscape.
Just think about what Lagos would be if all the above-mentioned factors were appropriately set up and maintained.
Damn.
Please validate my actions.
I am an executive member of the course union for my program at my university. I love my course and I love being a part of the union. Unfortunately, one member of the executive board drives me up the wall. It might just be because he’s a pompous ass, but it comes off as mansplaining a lot of the time.
This year, I organised the majority of events on my own, simply because it was faster and more efficient to get things done and then bring everyone else up to speed. This, apparently, was not enough for me to earn This Guy’s trust, or respect.
I’ve started planning an event for next year as I’m the elected Events Coordinator. I contacted someone who is instrumental in getting this event off the ground and then sent a mass email to the other executive members letting them know what I had said, what my plans were and reassuring them that I would keep them in the loop with any further communications.
In this email, I also asked our treasurers to provide me with an approximation of how much money we have, for the dual purpose of beginning to plan, as well as having a number to show the other organisation in case they are planning to contribute money and would like to figure out how much to give.
Almost immediately, I received an email response from This Guy first of all, giving me an estimate of how much money we have (which was completely incorrect since he has never handled any of the finances, nor has he asked for numbers) and then chastising me for even asking for one.
He then proceeded to explain to me that it was insulting and unprofessional to have to inform the other organisation who will be partnering with us how much money we’re willing to spend on the event. He told me that if they ask, I am “required” to back out immediately and cancel the event.
I responded, as calmly as I could and explained my reasons for wanting to know a number and how I didn’t think it was ridiculous to have a number to share with our affiliates as they most likely will be kicking in money as well.
He responded by brushing off all of my responses and informing me that I “wasn’t allowed” to spend more than a certain amount of money on this event, and that he realised this would be “exceptionally difficult” for me. Irritated, I informed him that I wouldn’t spend that much, being inherently frugal, mostly just to placate him.
His responded, requesting that I forward him everyone else’s responses to my email because he “was unsure” that I was “taking the right approach” and wanted to see the others’ opinions. When I informed him that no one else had disagreed with me and that the only emails I had received had been positive, and forwarded them to him, he responded with a reluctant, “Well then, it seems like you’re on the right track.”
Thanks. I really needed that validation.
Our treasurers emailed me back, gave me the correct number (which was much higher than the number he had given me) and reaffirmed what I had initially thought, which was that all of the money was at my disposal as it was all surplus profit from an event I had organised.
Coursera begins to make money
insidehighered.comCoursera, the increasingly popular provider of free online courses, is beginning to make money.
The Silicon Valley-based company brought in $220,000 in the first quarter after it started charging for verified completion certificates, its co-founders said. The company also receives revenue from an Amazon.com affiliates program if users buy books suggested by professors.
“It’s the beginning of revenue,” said a Coursera co-founder, Daphne Koller.
» via Inside Higher Ed
