the school craft connection

8/2/2019 The School Craft Connection

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V 25 I 02 September 26, 201Serving the Schoolcraft Community for25 yearsConnectionSchoolcraftThe

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT PAGE 20DETAILS ON PAGE 9SPORTS PAGE 28

STUDENTS IN DEFAULTHarsh realities of a tough economy

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Hakuna Matata!The Lion King returns

Nothings worse than being a poorstudent unless youre a poor st udentin a bad economy. Student loan defaultsreached 4.5 percent in 2003, aftersteadily dropping during the 90s. In thecurrent financial crisis, student defaultsare following the same trends as otherforms of debt: they are on the rise.

At the end of 2009, loan default s hit$50.8 billion, a 30-percent jump fromthe previous year. The Chronicle ofHigher Education reports that onein every five government loans thatentered repayment in 1995 have gone

into default. The rate is higher for thosewho attend two-year institut ions but itis the for-profit schools that really fail.

These for-profit institutions are theepicenter of the loan debacle, whichaccounts for a only 26 percent of bor-rowers, but 43 percent of defaultersas reported by The New York Times.For-profit colleges, such as EverestInstitute, have been accused of charg-ing maximum expense. They do not,however, offer h ighly marketableskills necessary for the increasinglycompetitive job market, earning themthe moniker as a diploma mill. For-profits defend themselves by assertingmost of their s tudents are low-incomeminorities and are often the first intheir families to seek out higher educa-tion. Three-fourths of their studentsare employed full-time. These char-acteristics are often correlated withhigh dropout rates which, according toFAFSA, are the leading cause of s tudentdebt.

Although the numbers are not as dra-matic, the rise in community collegedefaults is also a cause for concern. TheChronicle of Higher Education says thatthe 15-year default rate for communitycollege students is 31 percent, whichis only 9-percent less than the 15-yeardefault rates at for-profit colleges. This

is especially concerning because only10 percent of community college stu-dents took out any loans. When askedto explain these numbers the Career

prevent the harsh penalties that may

fall upon those in default. The govern-ment has the right to garnish wages anddeplete bank accounts with little or nonotice. They can put liens on any prop-erty owned by students or their parentsif they co-signed on the loan. Failureto understand the terms of anagreement will not avertthese consequences.Figuring out how toprevent default is thebest course of action.

It is important tounderstand thatapplying for gov-ernment loans isthe easiest way to

go. Federal loaninterest ratesare capped at6.8 percent,whileprivateloans donot capinterestrates.

Althoughit is impor-tant to con-

sider futuresalaries, it alsopays to know aboutPublic Service LoanForgiveness. Thisprogram offers forgive-ness of debt to peoplewho work in low-paying but vital positionslike law enforcementand public health.

As with any loan,be sure to contact thelending institution if amonthly payment willbe missed. Most insti-tutions are willing towork with students.Deferment and forbear-ance are also popular

i b h

CONTACT [email protected]

734-462-4422

Default Rates as reportedby the NationalStudent LoanDataSystem

(NSLDS)

Verlander


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INS IDE

CONTACT [email protected]

734-462-4422

News .......................2Editorials ................6Campus Life ......... 10

A&E .......................20Sports ....................26Diversions .............32Photo Story ...........36

V 25 I 09 January 30, 20Serving the Schoolcraft Community for25 years

SchoolcraftThe

Connection

SEEPRO-LIFEPAGE 4

SEEPRO-CHOICEPAGE4

Why you should be pro-life

Whyyoushouldbepro-choice

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Thecaseofabortionisamultifacetedargumentoflaw,morality,philosophyandprac-ticality.Alltoooften,theurgetogrosslyoversimplifytheissueleadstoanincompleteviewofthetotalmoralargument.Ofcourse,thepopularopinionisthatuntilababyisbornandseparatedfromitsmother,itisnotaseparateperson.However,whetherornotafetuscanclaimpersonhoodisdifficulttoproveunderthebestofcircumstances.

Forthesakeofargument,letitbeassumedthatafetusisaperson.Doesthatfetussrighttolifetrumpeverythingelse?Inherpiece,ADefenseofAbortion,JudithJarvisThomson,amoralphilosopher,metaphysicianandprofessoratMIT,suggeststhatmakinglawsbasedonsuchblanketassumptionswouldbeagrossinjusticetowomen.Itcanbeagreeduponthattherighttolifeisthemostbasicofallrights,andthereforetrumpsanyotherpossibleright.Couldthisbethesameasassertingthatapersonhasarighttotheminimallyessentialresourcestheyneedtosustainlife?Ifso,Thomsonasks,Supposethatwhatisthebareminimumamanneedsforcontinuedlifeissomethinghehasnorightatalltobegiven?Imaginethataveryimportantpolicymakerneededabloodtransfusioninorderto live.Now,supposethatforsomereasononlyyourbloodcouldkeephimalive.Areyou

requiredtodropeverythingtogivethismanblood?Whatifthebloodhadtobepumpedfromyourheartintohisveins,causinganevengreaterinconveniencetoyou?Whatifittooktenhours?Whatifittookfortyweeks?Ifyoudonotagreetotheseterms,thenthisimportantpolicymakerwilldie.Ifyourefusetodothis,areyoukillinghim?

Whiletheseareextremeconditions,itclearlyshowsthatThis(righttolife)argumenttreatstherighttolifeasifitwereunproblematic,saidThomson.Noteveryonewouldopttodropeverythingtosavesomeone.Maybesomepeoplewould,butthatmakesthemuncommonlykindbecausetheyareundernomoralobligationto.Thisanalogyseemstoworkinextremecasesofabortionaswell,suchasconceptionthatoccursduringrape,andwhencarryingachildtotermwouldcertainlyendthemotherslife.

Butarethesetheonlyoccasionswhenabortionisnotunjust?Itisimportanttounder-

OnTuesday,Feb.14,

SchoolcraftCollege

andtheRighttoLifeof

Michiganwillbehostinga

Pro-Lifevs.Pro-Choice

PanelDiscussion.The

eventisbeingspon-

soredbytheSchoolcraft

CollegeStudentsforLife

andtheCatholicStudent

Association.Thepanel

willbecomprisedof

PastorChristopherBrooks,

author,talkshowhost

andmotivationalspeaker

TeresaTomeo,Dr.Lydia

BestandRabbitAmy Bigman.Theeventwill

beheldintheVisTaTech

Centerfromnoonto1p.m.

Forafulllistingofthe

RLMeventsduringBlack

HistoryMonth,goto:

http://www.rtl.org/

events/blackhistorymonth/

The case of abortion is a multifaceted argument of law, morality, philosophy andpracticality. Too often it depends solely on a persons religion. If a person accepts areligion that says abortion is wrong, then a person generally accepts that abortion iswrong, regardless of the objective moral argument. It is, however, just as easy to rejectthe religion and therefore reject its doctrine regarding abortion without consideringthe objective moral argument. Unfortunately, a belief cannot be refuted, and it is dif-ficult to gain support on an issue if the public does not generally accept the doctrine.

The typical moral argument claims that a fetus is a person, and causing harm to orkilling a fetus is morally equivalent to harming or killing a person, therefore it shouldalso be legally equivalent. However, this is a major problem in the abortion debate, asthe idea of personhood is not easily definable or provable. Don Marquise, a moral phi-losopher and professor of philosophy at the University of Kansas, tackles this problem

by arguing that the reason abortion is wrong has little to do with whether or not per-sonhood exists in a fetus. He is not saying that personhood does not exist in a fetus,but that regardless of its personhood, it is still immoral to kill it.

In Marquises piece, Why Abortion is Immoral, he argued that the problem withboth arguments is they argue the wrong issue. Morally, he says, the argument mustpoint to, or be based upon, the essence of the wrongness of killing, what it is thatmakes killing wrong. A person must understand, not just believe, that killing adulthuman beings is wrong.

It is illegal to take the life of an innocent adult human, no one refutes it. But why dowe all so readily agree? Is it wrong because it brutalizes the person doing the killing?Marquise points out that the brutalization only comes after it is decided that killingis immoral, which means that without the designation of immorality, brutalizationcannot exist. Neither does the argument that those who are left behind will be leftin intense grief, otherwise it would be morally acceptable to kill a person who has noliving friends or family.

What makes kil ling moral ly wrong, the worst of all things, is the loss of al l the


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2012 Michigan Community College Press Association Judging Form

Place of award: Incomplete - Nothing

Category: Front Page Design

Headline/title of entry: ????

Contestants name:StaffCollege name: Schoolcraft Community College (The Schoolcraft Connection)

Judges comments:Only one front page was submitted, making it ineligible forjudging per contest rules. That was unfortunate, as the one front page I did seelooked very strong and would have made this newspaper, I believe, a contender.

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