President Obama discusses affordable student education

President Barack Obama delivered the State of the Union Address on Jan. 24. One main aspect of his address focused on students and affordable education.

“Higher education can’t be a luxury—it is and economic imperative that every family in America should be able to afford.” Pres. Obama stated in his Address.

            Unless you attend a state owned university, private colleges and universities as well as Ivy League institutions can be daunting for parents and students.

            The thought of paying back loans that are inevitably increasing can be very frustrating for graduating seniors who might want to continue their education or find a job, when it comes to the cost of tuition.

            “I think we already pay enough for dorms, books, and living in the city. Tuition should not be something that costs so much. The University is good, but the tuition feels like we should be in an Ivy League school,” expressed freshman Camila Camilo-Rodriguez.

            The University’s tuition has only been increasing, with the direct costs which includes tuition, fees and room and board increasing yearly, according to the University’s website.

            For the 2009-10 academic year, the estimated direct costs was $44,186 for a resident and $32,896 for a commuter. For the 2011-12 academic year, the estimated direct cost is $49,262 for a resident and $35,282 for a commuter.

            “Based on tuition, our campus should have more facilities, maybe a recreation center/room for commuters and better cafeteria food with student affordable prices,” claimed sophomore Adhanan Sulaiman.

            One of the topics Pres. Obama addressed in his speech was student resources, such as work-study jobs available a most universities. “…Give more young people the chance to earn their way through by doubling the number of work-study jobs in the next five years,” Pres. Obama said in his Address.

            One of the best resources the University offers is Career Services, which has the eRecruiting website, where students can upload their cover letters and resumes and apply for internships and jobs.

            But one student, senior Phil Medina, is concerned about how finding a job after graduation might affect the debt from loans he has accumulated while being a student.

            “I feel that President Obama is making a great point because students nowadays graduate from school with overwhelming debt; and the fact that the economy is recovering at a slow rate, students are not guaranteed a job when they finish school,” Medina said.

Taking the students’ side, Pres. Obama declared an important proposition regarding higher education costs that could alarm higher educational institutions.

            “The point is, it’s possible. So let me put colleges and universities on notice: If you can’t stop tuition from going up, the funding you get from taxpayers will go down,” said Pres. Obama in his Address.

            Despite high costs, our University holds a high reputation for employment rates after graduation. According to the University’s Career Services website, “Pace 2011 Bachelor graduates surpassed the nation employment rates by 12 percent. At graduation, 36 percent of Pace Bachelor candidates who had begun their job search were employed. The national average was 24 percent.”

            The University was ranked in the Top 30 list of  “Best Northeastern Colleges in the U.S. by Salary Potential” according to a Payscale.com survey.

            Pace’s President, Stephen J. Friedman said, “I think Pace will do well under President Obama’s standards for providing good value to students and their families. The value proposition of a Pace education is high. Last year, Pace placed nearly 1,500 undergraduates in internships at more than 500 companies.”

            “Finally, Pace offers several combined degree programs that allow students to earn both a bachelor’s degree and a graduate degree in a shorter time frame than usual, such as a combined BS in Criminal Justice/JD, a BA in History/Master’s of Science for Teachers, and a BS in Biology/Master’s in Environmental Science” President Friedman added.

            In reality, whether the amount of loans taken out by each student eventually matches to a graduate’s salary in the long run ultimately depends on what the student chooses to do after graduation.

NYPD ticket fixing scandal breaks throughout city

On Oct. 28, 16 NYPD officers have been arrested and were arraigned for allegedly dismissing and fixing tickets for over a span of three years. All 16 police officers pleaded not guilty and were released on bail.

The investigation started when a police officer was suspected of being involved with an drug dealer in the Bronx, which led to wire tapping and the discovery of other police officers involved in an assortment of unscrupulous services, the biggest being ticket fraud.

Numerous citations that had been overlooked were typically for family members and friends of certain police officers. According to Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson, $2 million was lost in NYC due to the ticket fixing.

The three methods for abolishing the violation, according to Huffingtonpost.com, were having them “voided by a ranking official, a copy is ripped up before it reaches court, or the officer doesn’t appear on the day of the summons.”

Although a majority of the police officers being prosecuted are from Bronx precincts, the misconduct happened in other boroughs as well.

Senior Rye Rin, who worked in her father’s auto shop in Queens stated, “At the auto shop I worked in, people always talked about having their close friends or family who worked or had connections with the NYPD helped get their ticket records erased.”

While some see it as fair game individually, there is a battle between what is considered just and unjust for those who do not have any connections with law enforcement.

“On a personal level, I would definitely want my ticket to be dismissed. On a national level though, it’s just not right,” freshman Danny Izquierdo said.

It’s natural to hope for one’s ticket to be nullified. In an overall stance, the process affects plenty and almost reverses and contradicts one of the sole duties an officer’s obliged to fulfill as an officer distributing tickets.

“I think it is really unfair to do this, because the NYPD should definitely treat all people equally. If I parked my car at the wrong place and the wrong time I would pay for the ticket, it is my responsibility to pay for my own mistakes,” graduate student Congcong Li said.

Aside from the citations, for a long time there has been the infamous Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association (PBA) card, which has assisted and favored many civilians in parking and speeding violations.

These special service cards are handed out by officers to friends and families; there are only a hand-few of them, which in many cases has veered officers away from certain illegal violations and carrying out their responsibilities.

Since PBA cards are already dismissing and favoring many civilians, for police officers to take further matters into their own hands toward citizens who do not bear these cards is somewhat disruptive and unfair to other officers in the force.

“I don’t think dismissing tickets are fair, but it happens. It is no secret that the NYPD is corrupt and I think that it should be corrected immediately, despite those cards they give out,” sophomore Alexandra Newton said.

“Taking care of your family, taking care of your friends, is not a crime…To take a courtesy and turn it into a crime is wrong,” Patrick Lynch, President of the Law Enforcement Union, stated to a Gannett press release.

Last fall, NPYD Commissioner Raymond Kelly enforced the department to rectify the computer system that tracks down distributed tickets. The system will detect and prohibit officers from practicing such methods used to interfere with quotas according to The Anchorage Daily News.

Taking advantage of authority power is not unheard of, but with the recent events, the NPYD may be put under close watch.

Top internship websites that will help you land a job in spring and summer 2012

It’s that time of the year where students start to prepare for next semester. Whether it’s signing up for classes, applying for graduation or applying for an internship, these are all an important part of a student’s college career.

The advantages of attending the University are the endless career opportunities offered here that helps students prepare for the real world.

Some students at the University stress how important it is to sign up at Career Services to have access to eRecruiting, a program that assists students in finding internships and jobs.

“It was really useful, and the time I spent doing it was worth it; I learned a lot of professional skills that I know I will take with me in the future,” sophomore Mai Nakazawa said, who utilized Career Services her freshman year and obtained an internship with the New York City Law Department.

Like eRecruiting, LinkedIn appears to be a popular internship search engine for some students, but unfortunately it does not produce as many positive results as some students would assume.

Craigslist is considered a popular website that many students use and actually do acquire internships from without the University’s Career Services.

“Craigslist is a great website, you just need to be really proactive in the search,” senior Leann Lightbown said, who has had three internships without the help of eRecruiting.

Other websites that are known to be efficiently helpful are Internships.com, College.Monster.com, Idealist.org and Indeed.com according to Degreecentral.com.

Because almost all departments offer internships-for-credit courses, these websites can help students find their own internships that better suit them and apply through their departments for the particular course, since some employers prefer work for credit.

Although most students find websites useful because of the speed of online multi-networking, other University students consider personal connections, such as professors and faculty, proficiently convenient and supportive as well.

“My professor always sends out list-serves to us, which I find very helpful and useful, especially for my major which is always hard to find internships for,” junior and biochemistry major, Neil Patel said.

“Personal connections and networking are way better than websites,” graduate student Marina Vykhodtseva said.

The reason for college is to hopefully establish a career that is truly of interest to us. Without experience, it is almost too hard to tell what professions one can acquire, how one will manage them and of course sustain them, which is where internships come in.

Not only do internships expose students to different aspects of one’s desired profession, but they also help build resumes to help one discover exactly what it is they long to do.

According to Forbes Magazine, Vault. Com put together a guide of the Top 10 internships of 2011 in the U.S., “Evaluating each job according to criteria that include pay and perks, training, mentorship and opportunities for a real job at the end of the program.”

Top internships of 2011 | source: Forbes magazine

The list in alphabetical order is as follows:

1. The Boston Consulting Group

2. Capital Fellows Program

3. Deloitte LLP

4. Garmin International

5. Google 6. J.P. Morgan’s Investment Bank

7.  NASA

8. Nickelodeon Animation Studios

9. Northwestern Mutual Financial Network

10. Smithsonian Institution