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Politics "Under democracy, one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule -and both commonly succeed, and are right." -H.L. Menken

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Old 09-26-2012, 10:47 AM   #151
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@Versus - I can totally understand your apprehension.

The way that the higher education system is here (well, when I was young..), you went straight to Uni after finishing high-school, which meant that everyone there was about 18 years old and most were still living with their parents. I was 22 when I started my first degree (BA - theatre major), and just those couple of years made a huge difference to the way that I could(n't) relate to the people around me.

When I went back to start my second degree (BNursing), I was in my mid-30's and had already been a nurse for most of my life.. the system has changed slightly, so that people have to take a gap ear after high-school and that means that most Uni students are now 19 and have worked in retail and flatted with friends for a year. Again.. huge gap between my experience and theirs.. and even my experience having worked on the wards and the experience of my lecturers who had spent their years teaching about nursing and not actually wiping bums and holding hands. It got SO annoyingly frustrating that I ended up giving up.

I am 38 now, and am back at Uni again to do a BSocSc - I started off with a double major in psychology and justice studies but just can not hack the psychology side of it all - for the same reasons again... I am in a class of 19 year olds who just have no concept of the reality of the ideas that they are regurgitating.. and it makes me too sad to listen to them.

If you go back to school you *will* be out of your element.. but oh, the places you'll go!
Get out of my head, Charles. That's part of the reason I'm scared of these types of courses. From the people Saya has told me about in her classes, I don't know how I'd be able to handle it. I'd rather be in a setting where these types of discussions aren't the critical point of orientation and I can quietly live the rest of my life. Maybe tell people I was in prison for 6 years.

Also, I assumed you were my age.
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Old 09-26-2012, 10:52 AM   #152
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I've found bringing a separate journal to post random angry rantings directed directly at the idiots in question helps. Thing is, in my school you're not penalized for calling someone a fucking idiot as long as it's a fellow classmate.
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Old 09-26-2012, 11:10 AM   #153
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That sounds about right.
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Old 09-26-2012, 05:45 PM   #154
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Get out of my head, Charles. That's part of the reason I'm scared of these types of courses. From the people Saya has told me about in her classes, I don't know how I'd be able to handle it. I'd rather be in a setting where these types of discussions aren't the critical point of orientation and I can quietly live the rest of my life. Maybe tell people I was in prison for 6 years.
This is where the US system really bites.. I pay about $800 per subject that I do, and I can pay that back through a higher tax rate once I've finished my degree as long as I'm earning over a certain amount.. while I'm earning under that threshold then I won't have to pay the debt back.

This means that people have more lee-way when it comes to how they want to proceed with their education.

Personally, I only take one subject a semester.. because of my mental status - if I did any more I would be a mess. It also gives me the space to pick subjects in a way that means that I get to stay away from specific students who have really had a negative effect on me in past classes. The US system doesn't give that sort of flexibility.

It does help to remind myself that I'm at Uni to learn, and that I am not obligated to educate the people who are around me. Although, in saying that there have been a number of times where I have quite literally taken over a lecture theatre because the lecturer didn't address bullshit that had been spouted and I couldn't watch their passivity result in the perpetuation of certain ideas, and honestly at times silence equates to the idea that something is acceptable.

I have learnt to be more strategic about picking my battles, though.


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Also, I assumed you were my age.
I think I'm now in love with you. Just a little bit.
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Old 09-26-2012, 05:46 PM   #155
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@BB - that is a sterling idea.. I'm going to have to try that.
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Old 09-26-2012, 05:54 PM   #156
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This is why I'm trying to convince him to come here, although it would be bitchin if I could pay back my debt the tax way. In Canada you can defer it for like six years but after that, they come for your thumbs.
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Old 09-26-2012, 06:06 PM   #157
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The student debt thing in the US is insane. My ex-gf is from the US and she has a $200K student debt from doing her law degree. This is more than we will ever ever be able to pay back.. especially seeing as once she finished she started working with advocacy groups and was getting paid less than I was as a nurse.

She did her LLM here on a student visa, so she had to pay full tuition fees up front (there is no tax debt thingy for people on student visas) and it cost us about $1500.

She's now a citizen and is doing her MPubHealth and is just paying her costs back through tax.

Governments need to realise that if you want an educated population (which is a good thing to have) then there are costs involved with that.. and they need to be prepared to pay those costs. The same as having a healthy population - pay for medical care.
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Old 09-26-2012, 06:27 PM   #158
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Overview

The Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008 improves educational benefits for certain individuals serving on active duty in the Armed Forces on or after September 11, 2001.

The main benefits include:

Four academic years (36 months) of educational tuition benefits for an approved program up to the cost of the most expensive in-state undergraduate public tuition in the state the Veteran enrolls, currently, ranging from approximately $3,500 in Wyoming to over $13,000 in Montana. The amount received depends on the number of months the veteran served on active-duty service on or after September 11, 2001. The minimum requirement is service of at least 90 days, which entitles the veteran to 40% of the educational benefit.

Additional tuition at more expensive private schools under the "Yellow Ribbon" program allows participating institutions to share the cost (as of 2008, one to one) with the federal government up to 100% of the expense.[2]

A monthly living stipend based on housing costs of a service member of pay grade E-5 with dependents, based on zip code of learning institution. This rate varies greatly nationwide; the current rate for New York City is $2,744, while the same rate for El Paso, TX is $917. Veterans attending schools online or through correspondence will not receive this benefit if their entire enrollment is in distance or online learning. The veteran will be entitled to the stipend if at least one course is classified as "in-residence".[3][4]

A benefit eligibility period of 15 years after leaving active duty (compared to 10 years in the current Montgomery G.I. Bill).

International education programs outside the US are eligible. (US national computation for institutions without a US Campus)

Elimination of the $1,200 program enrollment fee paid by the veteran at the beginning of military service currently required by the Montgomery G.I. Bill. There is also a one-time payment of additional assistance, paid concurrently with the disbursement of the final month of benefits, which refunds either all or portions of the original $1,200 enrollment fee; the refund amount depends both on the amount contributed, up to $1,200, multiplied by the percentile balance of remaining benefits when electing to convert to Chapter 33.
An annual stipend to cover other education costs (e.g., books, supplies, fees) of up to $1,000.

Up to $2,000 towards one-time licensing or certification test, not charged against the 36-month entitlement
Go ahead. Somebody call me out on having it easy.

I DIED FOR YOUR SINS.
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Couldn't rest, nah nigga I was stressed
Had me creepin' 'round corners, homie sleepin' in my vest.


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Old 09-26-2012, 07:00 PM   #159
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Not me V. It's funny you posted this because I had a similar situation with family members regarding my 9/11 Bill. I kept hearing, "You have the means! Why aren't you in school?"

My answer was simple, "Yeah, I have the means, but that doesn't mean I want to waste it pursuing a degree I could come to regret receiving."
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Old 09-26-2012, 07:01 PM   #160
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You're leeching off the system!

See.. THIS is why there is no such thing as racism! I'm white and I don't get free money for University!

I'm a victim of the racism that I claim doesn't exist!
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Old 09-26-2012, 11:19 PM   #161
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Just want to extend good wishes, I hope you get a chance to take advantage of whatever opportunity or partial opportunity this represents, if you can make it work. No sarcasm, no hyperbole, no double-entendres, nothing political or otherwise, just putting it out there.
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Old 10-04-2012, 01:28 PM   #162
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I think Obama won the debate. I don't get how folk are saying Mr. Willard won!
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Old 10-04-2012, 05:03 PM   #163
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I thought he was debating Romney?
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Old 10-05-2012, 10:07 AM   #164
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Yeah Mitten's first name is Willard! I like to call politicians and rappers by their 'government' names.
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Old 10-05-2012, 10:17 AM   #165
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OK let me say things longer than a sentence now.

I can't wait for the split of the republican party. i think it is fractured along two sides...the social conservative/evangelical side and the fiscal conservative side. I figure the fiscal conservatives would join up with the libertarians? What do you guys think? And what ever became of Ron Paul making his stand at the convention?

Yes Barry O looked a lil worn out in the debates but his arguments were better. He was trying really hard to not sound like an asshole while challenging Romney on what he was saying. I hope he'll go harder in the next one, and I hope my mans Joe Biden can bright in the vice prez debate.
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Old 10-05-2012, 02:32 PM   #166
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It was also Obama's anniversary so I really don't blame the man for wanting to be somewhere else and not really digging it. Romney has no prayer on the foreign policy debate or the social issues debate, either he plays moderate like he did this time and loses the religious right, or he plays it like the party wants him to and loses the moderates.

I'm kinda curious about whether the right will fracture over this. The primaries were pretty nasty for them and it really feels like they just settled for Romney because there wasn't anyone any better, they're far more divided than they have been in years. Which would be awesome, I think if the right has any advantage over the center and the left its that they're more united than we are.
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Old 10-11-2012, 11:08 PM   #167
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I watched the vp debates and I think Joe Biden won. His answer on abortion was key. They both agreed that their faiths say that life begins at conception but Biden said he didn't want to dictate his personal beliefs on people with other ideas. Mmmmmm debates.
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Old 10-11-2012, 11:18 PM   #168
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I was working so I'll need to find the highlights somewhere.
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Couldn't rest, nah nigga I was stressed
Had me creepin' 'round corners, homie sleepin' in my vest.


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Old 10-12-2012, 07:12 AM   #169
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Whatever you do, don't read the comments on the yahoo page or watch the fox news discussions, my bloods still boiling
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