The President is back.
by Shamiere Tuss
President Obama was re-elected in
the White House with an electoral
vote of 303:206. Long hours of
traveling, and thousands spent on
campaigning have paid off for the
first African American President
in US history as he accepts his
second term.
What does having Obama in the
white house for 4 more year’s
mean for college students? Presi
dent Barack Obama is a big sup
porter of education and believes
that it is the stepping-stone to
rebuilding the economy. Besides
increasing the Pell grant, President
Obama has initiated several policies to
help take financial stress off of college stu
dents: the student loan repayment system,
the pay by income system, and the loan
forgiveness plan.
Established to help students manage debt
by limiting payments to a certain percent
age and time, the student loan repayment
has recently taken effect according to
Huffington Post. In 2010 Obama asked
Congress to change the program by lower
ing the repayment percentage to 10 instead
of 15 percent, a tremendous difference for
the struggling post-graduate.
Obama’s pay by income system was cre
ated for students who have loans that are
substantially larger than their income. This
plan helps to lower the amount paid each
month on loans, but the student must prove
financial hardship nearing the time of pay
ment.
Last but not least is the loan forgiveness
plan, a policy that was created to assure
students of exemption on loans in special
circumstances. The policy is for students
who have made consistent payments on
their loans and will run for a minimum of
20 years according to Simpletuition.com
but as of right now the policy only applies
to Federal loans. With these policies in
effect students should be optimistic about
accepting loans to pay for school.
“The Rebirth” by Marc SBX Benjamin
sbxnext@gmail.com
Affirm or Apprehend?
I realize fhaf opponents of Affirmafivc Action are saying that
“Barack Obama’s ascendancy to the presidency shows bluntly
and abundantly that Martin Luther King’s dream has been
realized”. Mot only can little white and black boys both eat iunch
together, they can now run the government together. Therefore,
it is about time for Obama to say “ending Affirmative Action
is the change we can all believe in”. However, these people are
relying on us to have either forgotten MLKs dream, or to be
ignorant of it aitogther. (challenge them to show any evidence
whatsoever that MLK’s dream was predicated on having a
“Black” president. If white and black boys can eat lunch to
gether and run the country together, and if indeed a black man
can become president it is only because of Affirmative Action!
Ask yourself #i(s question; Gould a little black boy grow up to
be a Congressman, Senator, Supreme Court justice, President,
Government, or Mayor before Affirmative Action? Of Course
not/
MLK’s dream was a vision of a world of “Enlightenment” in
which all people had the revelation that all people are created
equal and endowed with certain unalienable rights. When a cul
ture or a civilization evolves to a level like that of King s dream
it does not abolish or put an end to the stepping stones that got
them there. The old and antiquated statues simply gather dust
until #teir need to be cited as precedent for rulings or laws have
yet to be decided. This is my response to ^ose who masouer-
ade behind the arguement that things have gotten so good that
Affirmative Action is no longer needed, “Uihen no longer needed
there will be no need to abolish or put an end to Affirmative
Action”
Another vital reason not to end Affirmative Action is because
racism and discrimination are still very much alive and at work
in this country. The very elements that Affirmative Action was
put in place to quell have only been suppressed and subdued, but
not defended, or eradicated. Therefore the need for Affirmative
Action is still very prevalent and viable. Affirmative Action has
only been in place for about 50 years and yet the contrbutions
of minorities and women have been astronomical during this
short period. Although some might claim that now seems like a
good time to end Affirmative Action; can you imagine where
we [blacks] would have been today without all of the innovations
and improvements and greatness of all of those people? People
who would have been locked out of every conceivable area of
human endeavor had it not been for Affirmative Action, mak
ing it possible for to get a foot in the door. In this present
highly technological world do you think that we can actually
afford to go back to restricting such gifted individuals from
pursing their fields of choice because of gender, or the color
of their skin? Wot if America is qoino to stau competitive in
today’s world.
^Richard L. Trower
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POLITICS AND OPINION