The Issue of Free College in a Graphic

The image below is my creation of what goes in my mind when I think of free college:

I made a graphical representation the fight between Democrats and Republicans about free college and the economy. The elephant and the donkey are on top of the university, arguing over the benefits and cons of free college as well as what each party has said about free college. I also attempted to highlight harsh or main arguments of both parties, but it was difficult to find colors that would stand out the most in blue and red so I just combined a whole bunch of bright colors. I then copied the same exact text and pasted it to the background with them overlapping each other, so show how the two parties never really listen to each other and just talk over each other which in turn leads to getting nothing done.

Below the two arguing animals, I placed an image of a university building and attempted to make an effect that the university is crumbling and being distorted as the two parties are arguing. This was to show how because nothing gets done in Congress, the universities are suffering because the backbone of universities, the students, are crumbling as well from the indecisiveness of Congress on issues such as debt and loans. I painted over a dirt effect to illustrate this and changed the colors of the once bright university building to brown.

Below the university are different arguments made for and against free college. Although they do not reflect the party ideals themselves, I did still use a blue vs. red because the Democrats are for and the Republicans are against. For the blue side, I attempted to use more cursive, educational type of fonts to show the educational benefits of free college. Also, because they reflect the benefits, these fonts emphasize that fact. Meanwhile, on the red side, I tried to use more rough fonts to emphasize the negative effects of free college. I also used a liquidizing effect to show that the words were drooping and crumbling just like the university.

Finally, I chose a black background because it’s an issue that is in the dark. Yes, the Democrats have discussed the possibility of free college, but it’s not something that is heavily discussed about like other topics. This is something that needs to be brought to light to be able to discuss the future of this country.

Critical Thinking and Writing Classes at Santa Clara Unversity

As stated in my About page, this blog was created for my English class at Santa Clara University to be able to type out our research process and thoughts as we moved through the quarter and kept building onto our research project. After looking back at the class, I realized that I have learned so many lessons and methods to improve on my writing and as the title says, think critically about my own writing. Although my title is broad across all CTW classes at Santa Clara, I will only be focusing on the one I took for the past two quarters.

In the beginning of year, I carried a fear of writing and “Englishing” since in high school, I never seemed to produce the work that my English teacher in junior and senior year expected from us. Yes, I ended up with an A-/B in the classes, but I never seemed to fully meet her expectations, not to mention that she would reiterate over and over again how we should be producing college freshman writing, but for some reason, I could not. So going into this class, I was unsure of my abilities as a writer and critical thinker, but it all worked out in the end.

This is honestly due to my professor’s, Amy Lueck’s, excellent methods of teaching. Compared to my high school teacher, Professor Lueck clearly laid out what was expected from us and how we could improve on our writing. With emphasis on metacommentary and quote hamburgers, I was able to expand on my ideas in ways I never thought possible. Also, I’m not sure if it’s because I already learned it once in junior year, but when the class was required to do a rhetorical analysis on an ad, it came to me so much easier to me than it did in my junior year. Whether it was Professor Lueck’s amazing teaching or expansion of my previous knowledge, through this class, my ability to write papers improved exponentially. Through these two quarters, my journey as a writer was a life-changing one (in my ability “to English”).

 

An Actual Positive Note for Free College (and Liberal Policies Overall)

http://static.c-span.org/assets/swf/CSPANPlayer.1434395986.swf?clipid=4558279

This is a clip of President Barack Obama speaking at a New York City fundraiser in 2015 that has gone quite viral because of his comedic remarks against the Republicans. He ridicules the opposing party, using examples of when their resistance against the democrats’ were just plain dumb. Although I identify as a Democrat myself, I am still unsure of the real benefits that the Democrats have made as I am also uneducated on how the nation’s economy really works and if the numbers that Obama gave on the economy are really on a better scale than when he first entered the White House. Yes unemployment went down and we are slightly out of the recession, but our national debt keeps piling and piling when there were plans that were made to reduce debt. However, that did not happen. I hear and read many views that are both from the Democrat and Republican side, which are both extremely contradictory. That make it difficult for someone in the the moderate side, or any side at all, to really know the facts unless they are directly part of the system and/or part of influencing the system.

Relating this to my free college research, many of the articles I read were against free college mostly because America does not have the economic capability to do so. Taxes would rise, colleges have to renovate, not only their facilities to fit the number of students, but also their system to be able to accommodate all the students while maintaining quality. Also, there are many sociocultural factors that come into play which provide the major differences between why European countries are able to so and not America as laid out in this article.

However, what if in the long run, this is actually a really great investment and again, Republicans are doing their utmost best to reject a free college proposal like with any proposal about a liberal, progressive idea like climate change and immigration? I am sure that climate change is real and we should take care of the environment instead of supporting big corporations that pollute the earth, especially when we have all the technology there to produce cleaner energy and all. As for immigration, there has to be some easier way for these people to gain citizenship, while keeping the run away criminals out of the country. (Side note: these criminals ruin it for everyone because they’re such a small percentage out of a large group of people, yet we stereotype everyone into those negativities). So what if making college more affordable leads to more students in college, which would then lead to a more educated work force, putting America thriving and ahead? We would never know unless we try, but we would have to be willing to the take the risks that come with it (as any business-like/entrepreneurial decision).

“Six Responses to Bernie Skeptics” by Robert B. Reich Pt. 2

Continuing from my last post, the fourth point that Reich makes is that with the healthcare plan we have now, we spend the most on healthcare than countries with what Sanders proposes, a single-payer plan. Now, I have no idea how the healthcare system works and how we pay for it as consumers or taxpayers, but even though we spend the most on healthcare, we certainly do not have the best or anywhere close to the best. According to this article on Business Insider, U.S. is 37th on the list its a little above average healthcare quality and extremely high spending. So if a single-payer plan for healthcare could bring us up the list (because high spending is mostly what brought us down), then I am all for it.

Reich’s fifth point relates to my research. There are many criticisms against free college, but the on Reich argues against is one that I did not see anywhere in my research, that free college would lead to colleges being run by government rules. I am not exactly sure what they mean by government rules if that is supposed to mean something like common core or standardized testing. I am pretty sure if there was free college, the government would not be dumb enough to implement something like common core into the system. If they also mean that colleges are heavily regulated by what is taught (such as the Republicans reforming what is taught in U.S. History), then I also highly doubt that will happen. College is a place of adults who have a brain to fully exercise their freedom of expression (debatable), and if the government were to pull a 1984 Big Brother on us with the activeness of this generation in issues, it would never happen (but let’s not jinx it).

The last point that Reich brings up is completely idiotic. Age should not matter as Bernie Sanders is in good health and promotes amazing ideals that much of the American population cares for. I have absolutely nothing to say to this because it is such a ridiculous criticism.

Reich brings up many arguments that effectively refute the criticisms that Bernie Sanders receives. Although there are parts where the criticism are partially correct, they are still not fully correct to the point where Sanders is not a viable candidate.

“Six Responses to Bernie Skeptics” by Robert B. Reich Pt. 1

This video reflects upon the many criticisms that Senator Bernie Sanders received and is still receiving throughout the duration of his candidacy. Robert B. Reich effectively dispels each criticism with a reasonable explanation that however, also carries fallacies.

The first point Reich brings up is that Bernie Sanders has a higher approval rate over Donald Trump and Ted Cruz and has a bigger gap between him and the other two candidates than Hillary Clinton has. I don’t see a fallacy in this since the statistics show that he indeed is winning by a larger gap than Clinton. As a Sanders fan myself, I am happy to see that he has a higher chance of winning than Hillary and the other Republican candidates.

The second point of the Republican-controlled Congress is also very true. It will be a struggle for Sanders to pass any of his socialist proposals because the Republicans will completely obliterate anything Sanders tries to pass through. Yes, he can implement executive orders and regulations, but it ruins the balance of power in the government. Like Obama, I’m not sure this is very conservative biased, but Obama has been passing many laws through executive orders and I feel like even though Congress is very slow and is very good at getting nothing done, the president should not always overstep Congress’ power which is something I feel like Sanders will need to do many times with a Republican-controlled Congress.

Also, as much as I agree with Sanders’ policies, I do not understand how he will be able to fund for everything. The government is already struggling to pay for other social benefits, and Congress is the one who sets the budget and debt ceiling. If Congress is not able to get more funding then how will Sanders’ programs ever work out?

Reich’s third point is that the American people would never elect a socialist. However, not only looking at his point of how many of our social benefits are socialist programs, many of the younger generation view his socialist policies as a must. Since the millennial are making up a huge portion of the votes this year, Sanders’ chance of getting elected increases by a lot. Sanders is one of the only candidates that actually keep the younger generation and marginalized groups active and informed on the presidential race. This also reiterates the political revolution that Reich brings up about Bernie Sanders versus Congress.

This will be the end of part one of my analysis.

The VlogBrothers

For my English class’s next project, we have to turn our research paper into a multimodal research project. When I first heard the assignment, I immediately thought of the vlogbrothers on YouTube. This channel is run by two brothers, Hank and John Green, both famous for their crash course videos and one for this books. The way their channel is run on vlogbrothers is by uploading videos every Tuesday and Friday, starting the video with a “Hi John” or “Hi Hank” as if they are talking to each other, but in reality, they are speaking to the audience and entertaining them through their comedic yet informational videos.

This YouTube channel has a series called “Hank and John EXPLAIN!” which consists of videos that explain various events and issues such as Benghazi, the refugee crisis, and net neutrality. The ones I took particular interest in were the videos on the debt crisis in America as it sort of relates to my topic. Here is one of the videos:

Through cleverly placed humor, John Green explains the issues America faces with national debt and budget deficit and also how they work. He does a very effective job in teaching the topic while keeping the audience entertained and engaged throughout the video. Hank Green also does a very good job doing this.

It looked really easy to do to me, but turns out, it’s not as easy as I had hoped. I figured that if I just ranted while adding lame jokes here and there, the final product would be as comedic and informational as the vlogbrother’s videos. I now have a new found respect for videos like these.

After rewatching my video, I found it awkward and slightly embarrassing with the way I talked and the way I attempted to be funny. Of course, there are many reasons why my video did not turn out as great as theirs.

1. I am nowhere close to a professional vlogger.
2. I have little experience in rambling effectively in videos or in real life for that matter.
3. I filmed in the awkward silence of my home, so my voice also did not come out confidently enough.
4. I am not as funny as the vlogbrothers.

To be able to create something as effective as the vlogbrother’s explain videos, I would have to film many, many times to perfect the jump cuts, the enunciation, the humor, and the rambling. Unfortunately, this is time I do not have, but through this I was able to experience the possible struggles of vlogging and filming informational videos such as the ones that John and Hank Green upload.

Research Process part 2

For English, we were assigned a 10-page research paper and I chose to research the issue of free college (if you haven’t read my past posts). At first, I thought I knew how I would approach this project. However, after having a class on how to navigate databases through our school library and after trying to find my topic through the databases, I felt lost. There weren’t many journals with articles that varied in their discussion on free college nor were there many journals with articles about free college in the databases.

And so I ventured out into the popular side of the interwebs. There I was able to find everything and anything I possibly needed and wanted for my topic. However, I had to make sure that the information I was reading was accurate and had to keep in mind of the huge biases behind each article since this is a topic that cannot be written about without having a bias towards one side whether that bias is extreme or not. Since I was looking for arguments on both sides of the spectrum though, it was good that I found very biases articles, but I just had to fact check their words in case something was exaggerated or purposely false for the sake of the argument.

There was also the problem with changing perspectives as I read each article. It’s really easy to keep one mindset as you read each article, but that leaves you close-minded and unable to truly comprehend the writer’s argument. After seeing all the articles that were against free college and had lost lists of why it was economically possible and while I’m also currently taking microeconomics in college, I ended up reading every article with a very economic-biased perspective, rejecting many of the benefits of free college and finding myself agreeing with most of the negative consequences.

However, in the end, I was able to gather sources and opinions while suppressing the urge to throw out some because they disagreed with my beliefs.

From all this, there is one thing that bothers me a lot with researching. There are so many tabs open and so little screen that I cannot function properly because I can’t navigate my way around my research properly. I evidently need a bigger screen or more screens put together to be able to do this without struggling so much.

The Economic Perspective on Free College

When we think of “free college”, the first idea we have in our heads is usually the “tuition-free” aspect of free college. However, there is another way to approach this, which is the “debt-free” perspective. While tuition-free subsidizes college for all students, debt-free helps those who are suffering from paying back loans, which is better targeted toward the lower income families who need it.

When looking at the presidential candidates, only the Democrats have discussed strategies on tackling the issue of higher education, its costs, and the crippling student debt. Most of the Republicans have little to say about this. Bernie Sanders wants tuition-free college, while Hillary Clinton and, although he is no longer part of the race but was also a huge advocate for higher education, Martin O’Malley want debt-free college.

I was going to go in depth about the pros and cons of the two, but when one thinks about economically, none of it actually matters.

The reason why tuition costs have been increasing by so much is because of financial aid and loans and such. Because much of students’ tuition is being paid by government, the school tries to maximize on the amount of money they can get to be able to provide other benefits such as a gym, funding for sports, better facilities and other such things.  As the students’ ability to pay for college goes up, the tuition raises. One could associate this with simple supply and demand to meet the equilibrium, so there wouldn’t be a shortage. There isn’t a shortage of colleges in comparison to the amount of students, but to be able to provide the best quality education and facilities, colleges must raise the price to keep some students away and to maintain or upgrade the quality of their colleges.

In a way, students are treated consumers of higher education. Colleges spiffy up their campus and standards and values to attract students to be willing and able to pay for their education.

Honestly, in America, we do not have the mindset to have free college tuition. We are so accustomed to pay for college and carry a capitalist, individualistic perspective on matters. To be able to have a debt-free or tuition-free college would be to kind of start a higher education revolution and a huge economic sacrifice.

I wish I could be all for free college because everyone deserves a chance at higher education and finances should not inhibit anyone from trying to attain that goal. In a perfect world, we would all be able to aim for higher education without any external problems and all enter the middle class with a stable job. However, we sadly do not live in this perfect world of little suffering and little poverty. We can only hope for the best and whatever plan comes out for higher education will hopefully benefit everyone in and out of poverty.

Democrats v. Republicans on Free College

Free college is a prevalent issue that one would think the candidates would debate a lot about because the candidates are trying so hard to gain millennial vote as they will make up a huge portion of the votes in this year’s election.

 

However, when you take a look at how much is actually discussed about this issue, you see that it is hardly ever brought up. Of course, all of the issues that are debated about are extremely important and should have the amount of screen time that they do. But ignoring higher education is like ignoring our generation’s future. If many of us don’t have access to quality education because financials inhibit us from doing so, then what will happen to our generation?

If we look at Democrats versus Republicans, we see that Democrats were more likely to address this issue than Republicans. Also, in debates, Democrats were more likely to be asked a question near this than Republicans. Democrats are also more vocal about this than Republicans.

But if we ignore all this, comparing what the Republicans have said with what the Democrats have said, we see that Democrats are all for free college, while Republicans had different methods of subsidizing college.

• Bernie Sanders wants to tax Wall Street speculators and expand financial aid through that funding as well as lower student loan rates.
• Hillary Clinton has some $350 billion plan that requires the student to work for at least 10 hours a week to qualify, but she did not go anymore in depth into what the rest of the plan was.
• Marco Rubio wanted people to invest into students’ futures, and when the students graduate, they must pay the investors 4% of their income for  10 years.
• Ted Cruz wants to get rid of the Board of Education.
• Donald Trump agrees that the government should no profit off students, but did not go in depth as to how he plans to reform the system.
• .Ben Carson said he would do something about student loans, but does not have an exact plan on how he plans to reform the system.
• John Kasich wanted to base funds on state-performance: the better your state does in school, the more funding you get.

As we can see, there are only a couple candidates who actually have plans that pertain to this issue, while the rest kind of just push it aside and mention that they are for things, but have no plan.

As important as immigration, terrorism, unemployment and all are all important, we are also important because we are the future. The country will be in our hands some day and higher education is something that is very valuable for the benefit of our futures. When will we, the millennials, be taken seriously and be looked at as people who will and can keep this country “great”?

Source Findings

All the articles that argued about free college had a greater amount of negatives to the issue than positives.

The two articles I found that were for free public college were Fran Cubberley’s “The Reality of Free Community College Tuition” and Tressie Cottom’s “Why Free College is Necessary.” Both listed one to a couple of problems of free college, but both still insisted on the proposal. Cubberley realizes that maintaining quality and staff will be difficult without planning ahead financially, but still believes that it is a benefit because students who find it more worth their time to work will be able to attain an education with no cost, abling them to expand and to explore different career paths. Cottom, after listing downsides to free college, still also advocates for this proposal because even if it is not completely possible in her perspective, it at least encourages people to discuss the worth and value of higher education.

The rest of the articles I read were quite negative towards free college. When looking at the European example of free college, much of the burden is laid on taxpayers to help fund for free college, which, as an American, taxes are one of the greatest things Americans hate. In both the articles I read on European free college, both held in their titles that college isn’t actually free. Christopher Denhart uses the example of Germany and shows that Germany has not only one of the highest taxes, but also one of the lower on-time graduation rates. Abby Jackson agrees with these statistics in her article “‘Free’ College in Europe Isn’t Really Free”. This shows how “free” is not actually free because the costs just get distributed elsewhere to fund for “free” entities. The burden is laid on someone else and in this case, the taxpayer.

(source)

Adding onto the list of problems, Cubberley mentions that community colleges must effectively manage their finances to maintain quality and hire more staff. Anya Kamenetz in her article “Fact-Check: Bernie Sanders Promises Free College. Will It Work?” argues that having more people go to college does not necessarily mean that America will have a more educated work force. Kamenez pulls out statistics to show that America is in the middle of most educated work force and there are countries that have and don’t have free college above and below it. This proves that having free college does not directly correlate with a more educated work force. Also, one could disregard all this is say that money isn’t the main problem as to why people aren’t going to college. Cottom argues that it’s the college standards of grades and scores that keep students from attending college. This especially affects low income families when they do not value higher education as much, so the children are not brought up in an environment where school is important. This leads to lower grades and scores and result in low college admission. Money is evidently not the only problem, but one could argue for whether it is the most prominent problem or not.

Works Cited

Cottom, Tressie Mcmillan. “Why Free College is Necessary”. Dissent 62.4 (2015): 115-117. Print.

Cubberley, Fran. “The Reality of Free Community College Tuition”. Journal of College Admission Issue 277 (2015): 21-23. Print.