Cranial Soup

[Blog Action Day] The American Spaghetti Crisis: Part 2 (Our Nation's Starving Students)

2008-10-15T12:45:00.010-04:00

I touched on this issue before in a previous article about out of control food prices and how it is affecting the poor of this country, but one group that I did not take into consideration when I wrote it, was college students.

This is why I felt the need to write a Part 2. (Blog Action Day was the reason why I delayed publishing it till today.)

Due to the rise in student poverty, you may now add them to both the group of kids sufferring from malnutrition, unable to concentrate in school due to their growling stomachs, and also to the group that is struggling with unemployment and the lack of available jobs.

College students are a group of people that are traditionally strapped for cash and live on tight budgets, with ramen being a staple of many of their diets. (It's not just a joke...it's real!)

It is difficult to make ends meet when you have to go to school all day, spend a substantial amount of time studying, and make sure you get enough rest in order to perform well in school the next day.

It doesn't leave that much free time for employment, and if students are employed, it's usually only part time for minimum wage. And with many businesses currently feeling the crunch and cutting their workforce, those jobs are becoming more scarce and the competition for them rising.

In many communities, students are competing with low income families that have kids to feed, for those fewer available low paying jobs. And during the summer, they may even be competing with their temporarily unemployed teachers, who also need more money to make ends meet and survive through the summer, till they return to work again in September.

Forget the stereotypes of the typical college student wasting all their money on booze and partying it up all the time. It just isn't true, any more (if it ever even was). The vast majority are working themselves to death and rarely have the time, money, or energy for booze and parties.

And forget the stereotypes of students being able to just hit mom & dad up for more cash. Most parents have set a strict budget for their kids in college, if they are even willing or able to give them any help at all with personal expenses. And the parents that are willing to help, are feeling the squeeze themselves, with the rising food and gasoline prices eating into their extra cash they might normally have and be willing to contribute to support their children away at college.

The truth is, most students are more or less on their own for providing for their personal needs above and beyond their tuition, books, and housing; with many living well below the poverty line, and drowning in debt. The rising cost of fuel is eating away at whatever extra cash they may have on hand to feed themselves. The cost of gasoline is also affecting their ability to hold a job and earn anything at all, to cover their cost of living.

And because their parents can still claim most of them as dependants, statistics are based upon the income of the parents and not the actual cash the students have available at their disposal, so most of these poverty stricken young adults are not even included in the statistics that refer to students living below the poverty line. They are this nation's hidden poor.

The rise in food prices isn't helping things, and are driving students to drain the already scarce supplies of the local food pantries that are already struggling to keep up with the burden of demands from poor and out of work families, while donations dwindle, as the middle class cuts back on "unnecessary" spending.

This is adversely affecting the already poor, the ones that were relying on food pantries long before the students started showing up. There is only so much food available, and it's not enough to go around. The rising number of students in need, is making the problem much worse.

The current economic crisis is going to seriously aggravate the problem further this winter, and it is likely that contributions will dip even lower, and need will increase even more, as the unemployment rate rises even higher.

Your local food pantry will need your help, more than ever, during this time of economic crisis. If you can spare anything at all, please consider making regular donations of food or cash to the one closest to you. A little bit can go a long way and help a lot of people get by this winter, and beyond.

Cash contributions would be best, because food pantries can buy in bulk and get more for your money than you can, and it will ensure that they have enough of the items they need most, and cut down on the surplus of unsuitable items. It will also help cover the cost of transporting the stuff they buy, to the food pantry. (this cost has increased drastically, due to rising fuel prices)

If you feel the need to contribute food instead of cash, these are the kinds of items they would always be in need of:

spaghetti and other pasta products
spaghetti sauce (preferably with vegetables or meat)
canned meats (like tuna or chicken)
shelf stable milk that doesn't need refridgeration (something like Parmalat)
canned and dried beans
peanut butter & jelly
hot & cold cereals
pancake mix & syrup (get the "complete" kind that doesn't require eggs)
rice
canned fruits and vegetables
soups and stews (stuff with lots of meat & vegetables)

Just think healthy & nutritious, and don't give anything that you wouldn't eat. This is not an invitation to clean out your pantry of all your unwanted crap. They don't want your dust covered cans of gourmet liver paté and jars of pickled baby corn, that neither you nor your dog would eat.

If you are giving anything that requires something else to make it a complete meal, be sure to buy the other item to go with it, such as is the case with stuff like pasta & sauce, pancake mix & syrup, peanut butter & jelly, and cereal & milk.

When in doubt, contact your local food pantry and ask what they need most, or if they are willing to accept an item you may want to provide, before you make your purchase.

Probably about the easiest way you could do this, is to just pick up at least one extra non-perishable meal each week, when you do your shopping for your family. Then at the checkout, buy one of those contribution tags that donates to something like Feeding America/Second Harvest. Then drop off the food you bought at your local pantry, on your way home.

If you are having trouble locating a local food pantry near your home, pick up your phone and call churches in your neighborhood. Many of them serve their community by running a food pantry.

Most do not require the people they serve to be a member of their church or even hold any religious beliefs, at all. And they don't use it as an opportunity to preach their flavor of religion to the people they serve, either. So if you are an athiest/agnostic, this shouldn't be an issue for you. Don't let it stand in the way. (Who cares why churches help, as long as they help and do it fairly.)

Read More:
American Spaghetti Crisis: Part 1
Other articles, news, and information resources

Thank you, Chris Lang, for reminding me that I forgot the college students.

The American Spaghetti Crisis: Part 2 (Our Nation's Starving Students)

2008-07-27T01:10:00.007-04:00

I touched on this issue before in a previous rant about out of control food prices and how it is affecting the poor of this country, but one group that I did not take into consideration when I wrote it, was college students. This is why I felt the need to write a Part 2.

Due to the rise in student poverty, you may now add them to both the group of kids sufferring from malnutrition, unable to concentrate in school due to their growling stomachs, and also to the group that is struggling with unemployment and the lack of available jobs.

College students are a group of people that are traditionally strapped for cash and live on tight budgets, with ramen being a staple of many of their diets. (It's not just a joke...it's real!)

It is difficult to make ends meet when you have to go to school all day, spend a substantial amount of time studying, and make sure you get enough rest in order to perform well in school the next day.

It doesn't leave that much free time for employment, and if students are employed, it's usually only part time for minimum wage. And with many businesses currently feeling the crunch and cutting their workforce, those jobs are becoming more scarce and the competition for them rising.

In many communities, students are competing with families that have kids to feed, for those fewer available low paying jobs. And during the summer, they may even be competing with their temporarily unemployed teachers, who also need more money to make ends meet and survive through the summer, till they return to work again in September.

Forget the stereotypes of the typical college student wasting all their money on booze and partying it up all the time. It just isn't true, any more (if it ever even was true). The vast majority are working themselves to death and rarely have the time, money, or energy for booze and parties.

And forget the stereotypes of students being able to just hit mom & dad up for more cash. Most parents have set a strict budget for their kids in college, if they are even willing or able to give them any help at all with personal expenses. And the parents that are willing to help, are feeling the squeeze themselves, with the rising food and gasoline prices eating into their extra cash they might normally have and be willing to contribute to support their children away at college.

The truth is, most students are more or less on their own for providing for their personal needs above and beyond their tuition, books, and housing; with many living well below the poverty line, and drowning in debt.

And because their parents can still claim most of them as dependants, statistics are based upon the income of the parents and not the actual cash the students have available at their disposal, so most of these poverty stricken young adults are not even included in the statistics that refer to students living below the poverty line. They are this nation's hidden poor.

The rise in food prices isn't helping things, and are driving students to drain the already scarce supplies of the local food pantries that are already struggling to keep up with the burden of demands from poorer families, while donations dwindle, as the middle class cuts back on "unnecessary" spending.

This has got to be affecting the poor, that were relying on food pantries long before the students started showing up. There is only so much food available, and it's not enough to go around. The rising number of students in need, is making the problem much worse.

An even scarier part of all of this is how more than half of the states in the US will run out of available funds to pay unemployment insurance claims within the next year, and some will run out within the next 6 months. Most states still had not fully recovered from the last two recessions, from the 80's and 90's, when this one hit. And the federal government recently extended the length of time in which the unemployed can collect by 12 weeks, which will further drain the available funds that states have left.

Any state that runs out of funds must, by law, borrow the money to pay unemployment insurance claims. They can't just not pay them. Since you can't just borrow without ever paying back, this money must come from somewhere, eventually. Guess who will end up paying for it.

You, your parents, and your children, in the form of higher taxes and less services, as the states try to make up the money that they had to borrow from other programs, to cover the cost of supplying benefits to the unemployed. And the higher the unemployment rate rises, the more they will have to raise taxes, borrow money, cut budgets, and cut spending in other areas, like services to the elderly and educating our children.

So students will be hit, yet again, with rising education costs at public universities, as they raise the price of tuition in order to make up for lost funding from the states.

And at the lower grade levels, as well, as states cut spending on programs that benefit down to the youngest of our nation's students, setting off a domino effect of rising property taxes at the local level, decreases in the quality of education provided, increases in the cost of supplying remedial help to those students that need it, an increase in the number of students that will need remedial help, and less opportunities for high school students to obtain scholarships to help pay for college; as art, music, athletic, and other extra-curricular program budgets are cut or even eliminated.

Parents will not only be expected to pay the higher taxes, they will have to voluntarily contribute more to cover the costs of supplying the extra-curricular activities that enrich and give their children any sort of advantages in college and beyond.

And it is not just the parents that will have to pay the higher taxes. Elderly home owners will have to, as well. They are not exempt from paying local property taxes just because their children are all grown up, moved out, and on their own. And I am sure they didn't plan for this mess when they were planning for their retirement. And services they rely upon will also be cut, such as transportation, social services, senior housing, and other programs normally provided and paid for by local communities.

And since part of the problems we are facing today, are the result of a recession that happened around 20 years ago, can anyone say with all honesty and confidence that things will improve and fix themselves within the next 20 years? What will the child that is born today have to face, when they are old enough to go to college? How many will even be able to afford it, if their parents have to save even more for retirement because if the issues that plague Social Security? If they can't go to college, how will the US be able to compete in the global marketplace?

Read More:
American Spaghetti Crisis: Part 1
Other articles, news, and information resources

A Vision of Students Today

2007-11-23T17:41:00.002-05:00

Here's something to think about: These kids will be running the country in the near future. How prepared are they?

After watching this, I have some really mixed feelings about a lot of things...the internet, in particular.