Rising Tuition Essay Example for Free

Rising Tuition Essay Most people have heard an elder complain about rising prices saying, â€Å"When I was your age I could go to the store with a quarter and buy a bag of chips, a few pieces of candy, some cookies, a drink and still have change left over.† Although the prices from decades ago are ideal, the concept of inflation and the decrease in the value of money have been accepted. Inflation affects the price of everything like milk, clothing, medical care, gas, and especially college tuition. According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, college tuition prices have increased at the highest rate compared to any consumer item, medical care, or even gas. In fact, college tuition and fees, as of 2012, are 600% of the tuition and fees in 1985 (Rampell 4). This statistic poses the question of why the cost to obtain higher education is steadily rising. A simple explanation can be found in the key economic principle that demand drives prices up, but the issue goes much deeper than that. The structure of the financial aid system, additional accommodations offered by colleges, and most of all the decrease in government funding toward higher education are the causes directly correlated to the continuous rise in tuition. Firstly, the structure of the financial aid system is a contributing factor to the steady increase in college tuition. Dr. Joshua Robinson, an economics professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, explained that it is often argued that the increase in federal aid simply leads colleges to raise their tuition costs to reflect the financial aid in hopes that it will buffer the increase. This idea represents the Bennett Hypothesis, which was created by U.S. Secretary of Education, William J. Bennett (Robinson). There is much argument over this hypothesis, but there have been many credible findings that support this idea. Title IV deals with the federal student aid programs. According to an article by Judith Scott-Clayton, similar programs offered by non-Title IV â€Å"cost about 75 percent more when offered at Title IV institutions – with the difference in tuition roughly approximating the size of a Pell Grant (Scott-Clayton 8).† In addition, the amount of financi al aid given out to undergraduate students on a national level has sharply  increased over eight billion dollars since 2007, which means that more students are attending college and needing financial aid (Schworm 3). Referring back to the same information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it is especially interesting to note that from the year 2007, when financial aid increased, to present day the percentage increase in college tuition became exponentially higher than the rest of the increasing percentages (Rampell 4). This proves that the federal aid system has a significant connection to the increasing tuition rates. Another way that the structure of the financial aid system contributes to the rise in tuition is through the scholarships that colleges give out. In the academic article entitled â€Å"Why Tuition Costs are Rising So Quickly,† Robert Martin explains how the scholarships that colleges offer are a factor in the rising tuition crisis. He shares that when colleges offer scholarships they are really price discounts, so â€Å"the education and general expenses are overstated by the amount equal to scholarships.† Martin also shares that for colleges to ensure that their f unds balance out, they â€Å"record tuition revenue as if every student paid the posted price for tuition (Martin 93).† In other words, the amount of revenue that a college lacks once all tuition is paid is equal to the amount in scholarships given. As a result, the tuition goes up for the non- scholarship students as a whole to make up for the amount dispersed in scholarships. With this occurring at colleges all across the nation it is clear to see how financial aid is a causal factor in the increase in tuition. The rise in college tuition is also affected by the additional accommodations that these institutions have found to be â€Å"necessary† benefits. Just as the world evolves, institutions of higher learning evolve in the same way. This means colleges have become much more dynamic as far as the things they offer to their students and employees. For instance, many institutions have invested in having emergency alert systems. Most colleges did not have this feature many decades ago, so implementing this requires additional funding, which can explain a portion of the increasing tuition cost. For example, public universities spend 23% more on offering services like counseling compared to what they were spending in 1995 (Clark 6). This additional focus on accommodating the student is partly stemming from the rise in tuition, which means that colleges are trying to satisfy their consumer by bettering their services to sustain or increase  demand. Though the previous reasons are factors of the rising tuition, the primary factor of the continuous increase is due to the decrease in government funding toward higher education. Ronald Ehrenberg, the director of the Cornell Higher Education Research Institute and a trustee of the State University of New York System, explains that â€Å"If you’re a state legislator, you look at all your state’s programs and you say, ‘Well, we can’t make prisoners pay, but we can make college students pay (Rampell 10).’† This particular reasoning clarifies the thought process that led to the decrease in funding colleges receive from the government. The basis of the issue stems from the fact that these institutions of higher learning now have to come out of pocket on expenses that the government used to fund. In 2006, â€Å"the per-student subsidy state taxpayers sent colleges† was $1,270 less than the amount sent in 2002 (Clark 4). That is a significant decrease in funding that colleges had to find a way to make up for, which resulted in raising the tuition cost. When interviewing Dr. Robinson, he also explained that at one point professors salaries were paid completely by taxes, but because of cutbacks in government expenses tuition must cover their salaries now. If there was not a decrease in government funding for higher education, colleges would not have to raise tuition to offset financial aid or the implementation of accommodations, which is why it is regarded as the primary reason for the rising tuition. Inflation is a very relevant concept in today’s society because prices of all types are rising. As previously stated, college tuition costs are increasing at the highest rate compared to any consumer item, gas, and medical care. This is quite ironic because most people equate obtaining a college degree to financial stability. Even so, the explanation for this steady increase in tuition is a very popular topic. On a very simple scale the rise in tuition can be explained by the basic economic principle that explains demand increases prices. However, the explanation goes much deeper than this economic principle to include the structure of the financial aid system, additional accommodations offered by colleges, and most of all the decrease in government funding toward higher education. Nothing in life ever truly comes free, which shows to be true when observing how the structure of the financial aid system contributes to the rise in tuition. The same  concept proves to be true as colleges provide additional accommodations or benefits for their students and employees, but these too come at a cost. Even so, there is a large amount of money no longer available to these institutions of higher learning due to the lack of government funding. In order for these institutions to sustain, the money must come from somewhere, which results in the increase in tuition and fees for the students. It is important to understand these causes of the rising college tuition because this is the only way a solution will be reached. Works Cited Clark, Kim. â€Å"The Surprising Causes of Those College Tuition Hikes.† Usnews.com. U.S.News World Report, 15 Jan. 2009. Web. 28 Feb. 2013. Scott-Clayton, Judith. â€Å"The Hidden Majority of For-Profit Colleges.† New York Times. New York Times, 24 Feb. 2012. Web. 5 March 2013. Martin, Robert. â€Å"Why Tuition Costs Are Rising So Quickly.† Challenge 45.4 (2002):88- 108. Jstor. Web. 1 March 2013. Rampell, Catherine. â€Å"Why Tuition Has Skyrocketed at State Schools.† New York Times. New York Times, 2 March 2012. Web. 3 March 2013. Robinson, Joshua. Personal interview. 4 Feb. 2013. Schworm, Peter. â€Å"Colleges Boosting Financial Aid to Students.† Boston.com. The Boston Globe, 17 August 2012. Web. 5 March 2013.

Infidelity Essay -- Social Issues, Cheating, Mistress

Passionate instincts can overtake us, guilty feelings will wash over us, and paranoia will take control of us. Our body and mind propel us on a lustful, exciting, frightening bender as we take that one risk that could destroy everything. Since the beginning of man, humans have caved in to our polygamous nature through the act of infidelity, and men and woman have cheated on each other throughout history (Zur 2). However, different time periods and cultures have contrasting perceptions on adultery often depending on gender. Presently, when a socialite cheats on her partner, the news barely mentions the affair or focuses on her family life; in contrast, if an athlete partakes in extramarital activities with a mistress, the media will print it as the front page story. Yet, a person should learn life has not always been that way; as empires rise and fall, wars erupt, and civilizations die, society has changed their perceptions of social and cultural norms. A good way to see how cultu re changes over time is to read works from different eras since playwrights garner inspiration from their society and how people lived the bygone times. In ancient Greece, Medea, the sorceress, seeks revenge on her lover, Jason, who betrayed her when he married the princess of Corinth, Glauce; however, all the characters, excluding the chorus and Medea, behave nonchalantly about his infidelity because of their culture (Galens and Spampinato 180-181). Throughout his masterpiece, Medea, Euripides accurately depicts the ancient civilization's contrasting attitudes towards men's and women's adultery that differs from the present position of Western society. With their sexual endeavors, many Greek spouses destroyed the foundation of their marriages; y... ...ed the princess of Corinth; however, the characters, excluding the chorus, behave nonchalantly about his infidelity because they have been numbed by adultery in their culture. If Jason cheated on Medea in modern Manhattan with one of the richest socialites, modern society would respond very differently. Society would repeatedly chastise Jason much like they did with Tiger Woods and John Edwards, and Jason's heroic status would quickly diminish. Candidly, men and woman partaking in extramarital sexual rendezvous have never been a generational issues; the only change is the civilization’s view on adultery. Infidelity will constantly occur as humans pretend our species are supposed to be monogamous (Zur 2). We will have to fight our own natural instincts that attempt to take us on a shameful, exciting, frighting ride that could exterminate everything we own and love.

Free time Essay

Some people think that it is important to use leisure time for activities that develop the mind, such as reading and doing crossword puzzles. Others feel that it is important to give one’s mind a rest in leisure time. Discuss. Relaxing our mind has been a vital part of spending our free time for thousands of years. Most of the people find relaxing activities like reading a book while others love to stay in the park, just see a boring TV channel or discuss with friends in front of a cup of tea or coffee. Even if maybe some persons will not totally agree with me, I consider that two of the most important activities that should eat our free time are the reading of a book and outdoor activities with family or friends. Reading has always been one of the activities that fascinated the human mind and as long as we read books written in a language that we do not find difficult to understand, we should find reading a relaxing activity. Of course, as long as the books we are reading are not too technical to make us realize that we are not reading for fun but for study. For example I remember when my sister told me that by reading for relaxation she found God and that changed her life. She was reading mostly religious books. Another activity which I personally consider that can have an important effect in our life are outdoor activities with family members or friends. This activities will help us be in a good shape for a long period of time and in the same time will help us develop strong close relationships with the persons we are spending our time with. And strong and close relationships are vital to have with people we would like to have around us for longer periods of time. For example I remember that we when I was younger I was going a lot for fishing with my father and over the years this activity become very important for us and made us to have have a very special relation. In conclusion spending our time is very important and we should have a really clear idea between spending some time and loosing some time. I strongly believe that reading a book will help our mind and develop our vocabulary and when we have more time and weather is with us, spending some time outside with family or friends will help our relations. I just hope that less and less people will find important activities like playing computer games and watch television series.

How to Enable Java in Chrome and Other Browsers

The Java plugin is part of the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) and allows a browser to work with the Java platform to run Java applets to execute in the browser. The Java plugin is enabled in a large number of browsers around the world and this makes it a target for malicious hackers. Any popular third-party plugin is subjected to the same kind of unwanted attention. The team behind Java have always taken security seriously and they will endeavor to quickly release an update to patch any serious security vulnerabilities found. This means the best way to minimize problems with the Java plugin is to make sure it is up-to-date with the latest release. If you are really worried about the security of the Java plugin but still need to visit a popular website (e.g., online banking in some countries) that need the Java plugin enabled, then consider the two browser trick. You can use one browser (e.g., Internet Explorer) only when you want to use the websites using the Java plugin. For the rest of the time use another browser, (e.g., Firefox) with the Java plugin disabled. Alternatively, you might find that you dont go to websites that use Java very often. In this case, you may prefer the option of disabling and enabling the Java plugin as needed. The instructions below will help you to set up your browser to disable (or enable) the Java plugin. Firefox To turn on/turn off Java applets in the Firefox browser: Select Tools - Add-ons from the menu toolbar.The Add-ons Manager window appears. Click on Plugins on the left-hand side.In the list on the right select, the Java Plugin - the name of the plugin will vary depending on whether you are a Mac OS X or Windows user. On the Mac, it will be called Java Plug-in 2 for NPAPI Browsers or Java Applet Plug-in (depending on the operating system version). On Windows, it will be called Java (TM) Platform.The button to the right of the selected plugin can be used to enable or disable the plugin. Internet Explorer To enable/disable Java in the Internet Explorer browser: Select Tools - Internet Options from the menu toolbar.Click on the Security tab.Click on the Custom level.. button.In the Security Settings window scroll down the list until you see Scripting of Java applets.Java applets are Enabled or Disabled depending on which radio button is checked. Click on the option you want and then click OK to save the change. Safari To enable/disable Java in the Safari browser: Select Safari - Preferences from the menu toolbar.In the preferences, window click on the Security icon.Make sure the Enable Java checkbox is checked if you want Java enabled or unchecked if you want it disabled.Close the preferences window and the change will be saved. Chrome To turn on/turn off Java applets in the Chrome browser: Click on the wrench icon to the right of the address bar and choose Settings.At the bottom click the link called Show advanced settings...Under the Privacy, section click on Content settings...Scroll down to the Plug-ins section and click on Disable individual plug-ins.Look for the Java plugin and click on the Disable link to turn off or the Enable link to turn on. Opera To enable/disable the Java plugin in the Opera browser: In the address bar type in opera:plugins and hit enter. This will display all the installed plugins.Scroll down to the Java plugin and click on Disable to turn off the plugin or Enable to turn it on.