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Editorials

Making college affordable

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     On average college students spend roughly $26,027 per year. This is for students who live on campus in a public 4-year-instate college. Additionally, out-of -state students pay on average $27,027 per year. If these numbers get put all together of the 4 year course of a degree it will come out to about $108,364. 

      College should not be free, but it should be affordable for students based on the federal minimum wage. This is because minimum wage is not really minimum, it is just to “survive.” Making $10.10 an hour is not enough to pay for college. 

     Many students who have a passion for education and who want to get an education, can not because they are not financially stable enough to pay thousands of dollars every year. 

      Furthermore, colleges should be more affordable because there would be higher salaries and better futures. When lowering costs of colleges and universities it will persuade people to go and get their degrees which will allow them to make more money. 

     Because of the way student loans are set up today, if students decide to go to college after they graduate, they may be thousands of dollars in debt. This could be harmful to them because they will be too busy paying off their debt instead of investing and focusing on their careers. 

    Halah Anwaar, sophomore, said, “I think they should be free for those who cannot afford it at all, so they don’t have to work 40 hours a week for their job. I think they should be free for local community colleges, but if it’s out of state colleges should be affordable for the majority of people.” 

     Riya Bhattarai, sophomore, said, “I think colleges should be more affordable than what it is right now because right now it’s literally ridiculous, it’s so expensive where it’s to the point students have to work more than they study.” 

     Paying off debt can hinder peoples lives after college, imposing numerous problems.

     Sophomore Claire Green said, “I think it’s unfair that students have to live their entire lives paying off college debt, and I’m not saying it should be free completely because of needing to pay for things like school maintenance and professors. I think it should be more affordable than it is now.” 

     College is not the only path after high school, many degrees do not require a degree, resulting in less debt.

     “I think college should be much more affordable than it is, in college for all model would be great but I also think the idea of everybody having to go to college is one of the worst things that has happened in the last couple generations,” History teacher Colin Martua explained. “There are a lot of jobs that don’t require a college degree, a lot of trades we don’t have enough people to fill those types of jobs, and they’re well paying jobs, so I think every high schooler in the nation thinks that they will have to go to college is ultimately just putting them in a lot of debt.”

     In many cases, the cost of tuition being so high does not make sense when comparing the learning to the future career.

     “It’s an absolute crime that college tuition is that high, there’s no reason why a text book for a course should be $300,” Martua said. “I think that has to do with area model of capitalism and what we choose to put our money towards and what we choose not too, I think that there are people around the country that are decision makers that decided not to invest in education at a college level, at a high school level, at every level, there is the money to reduce that cost it’s just the matter where we send the money.” 

      Many people ask me if colleges are free and or affordable how would we pay the professors and get a good university. The question is how are other country’s doing it? My home country, Iraq, has free colleges, and we have a lot of educated people, such as doctors, engineers, lawyers and business men/woman.

Now I am not saying college should be completely free in the United States because there are a lot of differences between the United States and Iraq but college should be affordable. Since the United States has one of the best education systems in the world, education should be easily accessible.

       As the prices go up for college tuition it makes higher education seemingly unattainable. Although by making college more affordable it would drive economical growth and it will encourage people to go get an education. As the prices of college tuition goes up, many people will decide not to go to college 

     

According to letterstopresident.org it states, “Every year more students drop out of college for many different reasons, and a major reason is because of the cost.” By lowering the cost of student tuition it will help students continue their education and get their degrees. 

    A country with a population that is educated is excellent because it supports a civil society and political stability.

      College in the United States should be affordable because it will help the economy, help students financially and increase the education rate.

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Presidential Candidates Continuation

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What also is concerning when considering an older candidate is their lack of prudence. It is very possible they are less engaged in long term issues, such as climate change, and will leave our generation to clean up any unresolved messes. 

     In a form of government where the people largely decide who will be president, why are many Americans unhappy with the age of candidates, saying they are too old when they elect them? 

     Grimm provided some insight about lack of representation in the USA. “I hate how one sided [American politics] are,” Grimm conveyed. “We have two parties, and it’s really the only thing we have. Like, any third parties have no chance at all.” 

     A third party president has never been elected: it remains true third parties have very little chance to become elected when put up against the two mainstream parties: the Democratic party and the GOP. 

      A common concern when mentioning a maximum age limit to run is expressed by Moyer.

     “I think the idea is interesting, but I don’t know how you would choose that number because there are so many variables,” Moyer expressed. 

     Rather than choosing an arbitrary number where potential candidates can no longer run, increasing tests with age will hopefully ensure increased confidence and efficacy in presidential candidates.

     Barter gives examples on what to test presidential candidates on, “I think there should be an age cap which should also be accompanied with a cognitive ability test.” 

     One of the most notorious aspects of the 2024 election revolves around former president Donald Trump’s felony charges. According to politico.com, Trump’s felony charges are as follows: 34 felony counts for issuing “hush money” payments to a sex worker in New York, 40 felony counts for hoarding classified documents and impeding efforts to retrieve them in Florida, four felony counts for attempting to overturn the 2020 election in Washington D.C. and four felony counts for his election interference from Georgia. 

     Someone with one, let alone many felony charges filed against them is not apt to run this country: how will a president enforce laws if they choose not to follow them? 

     Largely, the American people are not satisfied with the current presidential candidates. This is why it is vital to American democracy to take on the duty of educating yourself.

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Field Hockey

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The high school’s girls field hockey team opened their rivalrous game versus Hawken by scoring half way through the first quarter. Stow battled throughout all four quarters, keeping the plays alive. This team has had a fair start to the season with their record being 3 wins and 5 loses before the game. Considering this, the team is optimistic about their games to come.

    Six of the players were interviewed before the game to gauge their feelings. When asked how they feel about the game, senior Emma Oshel responded, “I’m really excited, a little bit nervous, but I think we have a good chance if we play as a team.” Senior Mckenna Rice agreed with Oshel’s sentiment by adding, “Yeah, it’s going to be a lot of fun and it’s going to be hard, it’s going to be physical. I’m really excited and I really want to win.” Spirits were high, even though the team admitted that they were nervous for their upcoming match, they would put more effort than ever to work together as a team to beat Hawken. Senior Alyssa Walter admitted, “This is the one game I really want to win and we have a chance if we play right.” Rice continued to explain the reason why Hawken was such an important competitor to beat saying, “It was tough last year, they were mentally and physically draining.” The others agreed, mentioning the poor sportsmanship among Hawken which makes them a fierce competitor. With the game taking place at the high school’s football stadium at seven pm, the girls were ready to finally beat Hawken.

    The game opened up with the rivaling teams fighting for the ball in the middle of the field. The first quarter started out with both teams zero and zero until senior Angie Ilijevich scored on an open path. She managed to get ahead of Hawken and push past their defenders for a goal. Towards the end of the first quarter, number 30 from Hawken had the jump on Stow and scored. First quarter ended with the score tied at 1-1,

    Second quarter started out with a tied game and renewed spirits. Stow’s upset from the first quarter continued into the second as their defense was working harder than before. Hawken continuously tried to score as defender Oshel completed a tackle to hold them off. With only 2 minutes left of the quarter, Senior Aubrey Bottger was awarded a corner which gave them an advantage over Hawken. The two teams battled for the ball until the end of the quarter. Even through the multiple battles, Stow’s defense held strong keeping the game tied at 1-1.

     Quarter three began with Stow starting with the ball. This quarter was fairly unattentive until ten minutes left in the quarter Stow was awarded a corner shot. From here, this allowed Bottger to gain yet another advantage over Hawken. Bottger was able to switch the fields and get the ball into Hawken’s defensive zone. Minutes later Hawken ended up in Stow’s defensive zone and scoring, though this ended up being ruled no goal. With new faith in the game’s outcome, Stow came back out with their offense stronger than before. Hawken was awarded a corner which lead to a long battle in the middle of the field. With the third quarter ending in a tie, the final push to pull a win out from under Hawken was approaching fast.

     Stow came into the fourth quarter with determination. Rice battled through multiple Hawken players to keep the ball on Hawken’s side of the field. Stow was awarded a corner two minutes into the quarter. With this advantage, Bottger scored resulting in the score to be 2-1 in Stow’s favor. A corner pocket was awarded to Hawken.. Even considering this advantage, goalie Mary Barnes, junior, blocked a shot on goal. Bottger once again was able to pull away and switch the fields once again. Stow took a timeout with five minutes and fifteen seconds left of the quarter. Rice snatched the ball and hit it up to the middle of the field. Minutes later Hawken had control of the ball, scoring with only 57 seconds left of the quarter. End of the fourth quarter finishes with both teams tied 2-2.

     Considering the tied game, Stow and Hawken had to go into a 7 versus 7 player showdown. No substitutions are allowed and it lasts for 10 minutes, or until a goal is scored. Stow opened up by Oshel preventing a goal from Hawken. Within seconds, Hawken scored but it was once again ruled a no goal. Bottger snatched the ball, running up the far end trying to switch the fields. Hawken’s defense fought as they received control of the ball. Barnes blocked a goal, giving Stow another chance. Only three minutes left in the game, Hawken scored, giving them the win. This leaves the final score being 3-2 in favor of Hawken.

    With the game over, Coach Palma was interviewed and asked about her perspective on the game as a whole, “Hawken is one of our greatest opponents. Just last year we lost 12-0 to them, so the fact that we got to go into overtime with them, and we were able to compete with them was a huge win,” Palma said. Palma was very proud of her team by continuing to say, “I think this game was one of our better games that we’ve ever played, and that I’ve ever coached. I think at the end we just got very tired and that affected us a lot,” Palma explained. Ilijevich was questioned about her opinions about the team’s performance, “[The team performed] super good! We were passing super well which was one of our struggles at the beginning of the year but now it’s one of our strengths so that is amazing to see,” she explained. Bottger, who was another one of the two to score, gave her opinions about the game and the team’s performance during this game. She led off saying, “I feel like [the game] went well, we did really good communicating. We did good to keep hustling and I’m just really proud of us,” Bottger explained. With the team, overall, seeming happy with how they performed, this softened the blow of a loss to a harsh rival team.