Interviewer Contact Information :
Daisy De Latorre
17089457926

Student Loans Spiraling out of Control

                Written by: Denis McAuliffe

Student loans have become a necessity for most families in America. And with student loan debt surpassing credit card debt, the problem doesn’t seem to be improving. More than two thirds of college students take out student loans, and the average student’s debt after graduating exceeds ten percent of their gross income. With the economy in the state that it is in it is extremely challenging to become a successful individual in the society after you receive a four year college degree. In 2011 the average cost to attend Illinois State University including tuition plus room and board is roughly 22,000 dollars annually. Most college freshman do not have a steady income, even if that is the case they most likely will not be able to afford even a public education these days. Private Universities have tuition surpassing 50,000 that is not including room and board. So we are stuck in a dilemma, today’s society requires a bachelor’s degree for a vast majority of careers. If you take out student loans and attend school you will graduate with a four year degree and a pile of debt after taking out student loans. If you do not take out student loans and aren’t able to afford higher education you will be under qualified. The decision that most qualified students seem to be making is taking out student loans.

The student loan debt in America has passed credit card debt, surpassing 1 trillion dollars in 2011. Another key contributor to the nation’s debt is the struggling economy. The economy has the highest unemployment rate dating back to the great depression nearing 8 percent. Currently a freshman at Illinois State University and set to graduate in the class of 2015, I am quite concerned. I asked Daisy De Letora, a freshman communications major at Illinois State, what she thought about our country’s student loan situation. She stated “ I think it’s right that they give you the opportunity to take out loans if you wish, My sister is enrolling in the University of Brown medical school next year. She will be paying off her medical debts for a good time to come “. President Obama spoke last October about his plan to improve the student loan crisis. The plan set to start in 2012 will improve the situation for nearly 2 million students who currently are suffering with making student loan payments. But this just isn’t enough, we  are in desperate need of a complete overhaul.

 The system set in place just isn’t working, and is a huge burden on Americans becoming successful members of society and quite frankly is just placing our economy in a deeper hole that it already is. Increased education funding from the state would potentially lower public university tuition, creating less of a burden for students who take out loans. Judging recent actions taken by the government, increased funding just does not seem like a pliable option as of now. It may be our job as college students to create a solution for the current loan situation, since there has not been much activity by the government to do so. I personally do not have the solution, which is why it is important that college students all across the country are aware of the increasing debt in America. Our country was founded by people who wanted to make a difference in their lives. It is much easier said than done but students like you are currently faced with this problem and need to take action if no one else is.

Denis McAuliffe

English 101

Nicole Osolin

Article Analysis

Analysis

·        All my articles begin with important facts that grab the reader’s attention. The tone of most articles are very professional, informative of current resolution plans and statistics pertaining to the current problem in the system

·        The middle of the articles consisted of mostly personal opinions or thoughts on the current system in place for student loans, and possible options to improve it.

·        The ending of the articles consisted of a personal statement that relates the article with you, and a statistic that usually is quite shocking.

·        All used professional style language, in an article format, consisted of paragraphs to separate speech. Some contained video to go along with the article.

Final Rubric

Story Impact on Audience

·         Being current college students, we are the ones who are taking out student loans.

·         Over 2/3 of college students currently have student loans taken out.

·         In 2011 our country surpassed 1 trillion dollars in student loans debt

·         Future debts accumulated due to student loans

New angle on Student loans

·         I believe that state funding for public schooling needs to be increased in order to fix our student loan crisis. The government needs to set up programs instructing students to take out loans in a more responsible and reasonable manner. The state needs to generate a greater amount of scholarships for high school seniors.

Content

·         To inform ISU students on the commitment they are making when taking out student loans. They should be knowledgeable on the current situation our government is in.

·         To list and express possible options to improve the student loan system in our country.

Interview

·         Survey and interviews on floor on views, opinions, or personal experiences dealing with student loans.

                                                                                                                                                        

Final Blog

            As unit one is coming to an end I feel that I am in the full swing of things in our English 101 class. At first I was unorganized, and disoriented to the foreign classroom criteria and methods.  I struggled with the learning blogs and wasn’t use to the sort of freedom in the writing process that you encouraged. Now we were still obligated to create rubrics outlining the main ideas and aspects of our articles. This was also a new technique to writing that I was unfamiliar with. After creating the rubric I felt that it was highly beneficial to my organization and focus of my articles final outcome. I created the rubric by collecting information from numerous online sources either pertaining directly to topic or other issues that were related to my main topic. Another aspect of class that I felt really benefited my writing process was the in class peer evaluation sessions. This past Monday, I received a lot of positive feedback from my peer evaluation group members. Not only did I feel that the information I received was helpful, but also my evaluation of the groupmemebers articles helped better my final product of my article. Like I stated earlier many of my past English teachers taught with very strict and concrete teaching methods and format. I feel that in my current course grammar and format are much less emphasized in the writing process. So far I have felt that since I am not harboring as much focus on grammar and structure that I have been writing more fluently and frequently as ever in my scholastic career. I know this sounds farfetched but I feel that the experiences I have learned so far in class can be used in everyday life. Students always complain about how they will never use class material in everyday life. Just in the short amount of time that I have been enrolled in this class I have learned how to use a learning blog and interact within the blog community. I have functioned in peer groups feeding off each other’s ideas and criticism. I felt that the skills practiced in peer editing groups could better prepare me for the corporate world. So in conclusion to unit 1, I have enjoyed the new approaches I have used  thus far and feel I have consumed  plenty of useful information  thus far. Not only scholastically but also information that can be used in everyday life.

1.While creating my newspaper article I used multiples tools  and techniques to gain information and translate it into my own words. After I chose my topic I began extensive research on student loans. Not only did I research student loans, but I also looked into other national issues that I thought could be affected by student loans issue.

2.Before creating the article our class all created rubrics containing topics and issues that we would like to discuss in our article. We also later analyzed our sources, picking apart article topic, facts, and style of writing.

3.My article should be open to the whole internet, I plan to share it after the final product of my article is complete. I wish for anyone who reads it too take my ideas into consideration. The best possible outcome is for readers to feel compelled to make a change after reading my article.

4. Like I stated previously I hope that my readers gain some knew knowledge on the issue with student loans in the U.S. It is affecting each and every one of us given how devastating the debt is, and how prevalently it exist among Americans.

1.  The text began after I had researched my topic fairly extensively, which I then later took all my gathered up information and wrote my own article.

2. I mainly used traditional informal newspaper articles and videos on student loans, along with expository pieces to understand my production.

3. My 3 group members on monday all read and reviewed my article.

4. I anticipate most of our class to read my piece, as long as any one on the internet who happens to view my blog.

5. I hope anyone who reads my articles realizes the problems with student loans and their effect on other multiple aspects of our economy. I would like readers to attempt to educate others on my topic and try to make a change.

6. Like I said previously, my blog is open to whoever wishes to view it. I hope for as many people as possible to stumble across it.

7. The ideas in my article could possibly create other articles that focus on one smaller issue in my article. I feel that when focused on a very specific topic people would be able to go very in depth and detailed.

8. I feel that my article challenges the U.S government to make a change in our countries student loan situation.