Don’t Underestimate Community College

When I was in my last year of high school, my parents took me to four public university in Michigan to chose from. Between Western Michigan University, Northern Michigan University, Saginaw Valley State University and Central Michigan University, my parents were trying to give me the best opportunity to receive the education I would need to have a successful life. I also had an idea to go to Delta College, a nearby community college where everything would be much cheaper, closer to home and I would take the same classes required in any Michigan college. My parent’s reaction when I mention delta wasn’t like I thought it would be.

“Orrin. You have so much talent and potential, and you want to use that at Delta!?” my dad said, obviously unenthusiastic about the community college.

Like the naive kid I was, I listened to my parents and went to Central Michigan University for three years. I burnt out my life savings and went into debt paying for apartments while struggling to keep up with my classes in an environment I was uncomfortable in. It eventually got to the point where I could no longer to afford living on my own and I couldn’t take classes with my poor grades. I was forced to move back home and attend Delta College

And up to this point, I have proven to my parents that it is a great choice (especially when they saw my tuition bill).

Should high schools allow memorials in their yearbook for students who commit suicide?

Is it the right thing to do for students to remember a classmate who has committed suicide by memorializing them in their yearbook? Or could that inadvertently cause more suicides in the future? A high school in Minnesota believes so.

About 100 students signed a petition to their high school to have a yearbook memorial page for their classmate who had committed suicide in January. The decision to not have the student’s page in the yearbook has the students and school officials torn on the subject.

““During that process, we took a lot of time to decide how to properly respond to the death of a student or faculty member, and we were recommended not to memorialize suicide because of the possibility of copycats. That’s our biggest fear,” said Mary Klamm, Menahga Public Schools superintendent.

However, the victim’s mother believes her child’s suicide in the yearbook could serve as a lesson.

““I think we need to use this as a teaching tool because this can happen in anybody’s family and we need to take into consideration that this is not just my child but the community’s child,” the mother said. “And if we can prevent any other family from going through this then we’ve accomplished something.”

Personally, I believe the schools are making the correct decision. Although the numbers for suicides for attention are very low, it is still too much of a risk for those low numbers to happen in that school again if that memorial page for that student is in their yearbook. A lot of people are led to believe that having that in the yearbook will help spread awareness of suicide and help prevent suicide. There are many other, better ways to spread awareness of suicides such as talking to your parents or school counselors. In fact, I went to a play a couple days ago dedicated to bullying and suicide. That’s where the awareness should be at.

It’s the same reason why I was instructed as a reporter last year to not investigate a police situation where someone was threatening to take their own life. Suicides don’t deserve attention for those making the conscious decision to kill (themselves). It only encourages suicides.

It can also be debated that the school doesn’t want the suicide story to be spread in that way so it would be easier forgotten and preserve the school’s reputation. That is very possible, and if it is then I don’t blame them for trying to prevent a long-term situation where innocent, hardworking teachers, faculty and students are punished for events they actually have little control over.

Don’t take my word for it. Read some of the comments from the linked story and make up your own mind.

Tseirpa

The school has a policy and has made a decision and has adequately explained their decision. The kids are continuing to pursue a memorial page. The school has the right to maintain discipline in the school, contrary to alot of people’s ideas that kids should be allowed to do what they want.

This kid killed himself… he chose to take his own life. Glorifying what he did will only encourage other kids who are depressed and fighting it to just give in. They can achieve fame by killing themselves that they cant while alive.

 

Jet-1092441

Schools are not a democracy. Administration has a policy, and has explained the reason behind that policy.

End of story.

Its a sad thing that a young adult chose suicide over any other action. Its entirely possible that the fellow students are feeling a bit, say, guilty (for their own lack of action or compassion while the studen was alive) and are overcompensating for it?

Those of you who spout all these reasons why the administration should allow the yearbook to become a memorial to one student are obviously not as adult as you would like to believe.

 

Wendy-7085764

My 16 year old son took his life on December 1, 2010. He was sensitive, out-going, athletic and intelligent. He was loved by many friends and family. Sadly, he suffered from depression which he was able to mask very well. We saw irritability, but he functioned well outside the home. His high school placed a beautiful memorial page in the yearbook. We used it as a teaching opportunity to identify the issue of teen depression and how suicide should never be an option. Other schools should learn from this. With over 1200 kids in his high school, thankfully there have been no copycat suicides. The risk of copy cat suicides comes only if you turn the teen who died by suicide into a hero. There is a long way between memorializing a child who suffered and died and turning him into a hero.

 

KINGPIN-3376333

when a student drops out of school is there a section for them? Suicide is a decision to drop out of life. I don’t think a memorial for suicide is necessary but a standard pic with the name & dates of life in the normal alphabetized place with his/her class. no more no less is fair in my opinion.

 

SpcTorres

I have to agree with the school. I knew a guy who committed suicide and he felt unloved and that nobody cared about him. He felt as though if he committed suicide everyone would feel bad for how they treated him and that he would be missed by everybody. If he were probably in school and saw another student being memoralized in the yearbook for suicide, he probably could have used that as a reason to do it, also. But then again he killed himself either way.

 

AlaskaGirl-759554

I agree. That is just plain “bully tactics” at work. Great way to teach our kids. You shove us, we will shove you back, only harder.

 

Lauren-3602517

I agree with the person who suggested that students not purchase a yearbook in response to the ugly side of showing from their school administration. Honoring life with a memorial page is NOT the same as glorifying suicide and creating copycats. If this were the case, then news programs should NEVER tell the truth about suicide. Let’s just cover up what happened and pretend it didn’t happen and that way it will never happen again. We tried that years ago…we continue to try it…and GUESS WHAT? It keeps happening. I’d say that means the “medical books” may not have the answers for this problem. We need to bring attention to suicide and depression in teens and help them to understand that while a memorial page will last forever, ending your life means it’s all over. There’s no personal benefit for the suicide victim by having a memorial page. A little common sense and decency would sure go a long way. A different solution…students design their own memorial page and hand it out to other students to add to their book or leave out. Then it becomes the choice of the students and not the bullying of out of touch adults who absolutely have no idea what’s happening with the teens they are supervising. What a shame. An opportunity to teach respect for life…the tragedy and permanency of death…and the administration totally botches it!

 

MB Texas

Another school district putting legal/psycho BS above common sense. I graduated from a high school similar in size and we had 3 students die in traffic accidents. All were memorialized with their class in the yearbook and it was very meaningful to the families and the students. The school states its worried about “copycats,” but what they are actually doing is further ostracizing the student and continuing to fail him. Hopefully the community will make a stand and make some immediate changes in who is setting policies for their schools.

Delta College Millage Renewal voters need to consider both sides of voting yes

Ever since the Delta College Board of Trustees voted to put the millage renewal on the questionnaire ballot for the Nov. 6 general election, they have spread awareness of the vote all across Delta’s campus and across the Great Lakes Bay Region. The key word is awareness, rather than saying to vote yes for the millage renewal.

Everyone from Delta responsible for the “awareness” is aware that it is illegal for using Delta property to campaign for the renewing the millage in addition to teachers asking their students in the classroom to vote yes. Who’s to say their plan is to spread awareness about the Millage Renewal vote in hopes of people being more likely to vote yes? The board cares about renewing their millage enough to vote to have it on the ballot. Why would they put something on the ballot if they wanted the community to vote no?

Look at the brochure they have all around campus. On the front of the brochure, they state several reasons backing up people who want to vote yes. Reasons such as our current tax rate will not change, Delta’s enrollment has grown by 25 percent in the last 10 years and funds supporting general operations like instructional programs, workforce training, equipment and facility maintenance. The front of their brochure doesn’t list any negatives to voting yes, making the brochure more one-sided, in a subtle way. In fact, it says on the very back of the brochure (where someone would be less likely to read it) how the millage renewal would cost them $24.32 per year for anyone living in a home costing $100,000. The brochure also has a FAQ sheet in it where most of the questions are geared towards spreading awareness of voting for the millage renewal, and only two questions about asking people to vote yes.

Representatives at Delta College are very crafty when it comes to influencing its students and community to do something they want. Don’t just take they’re word for it before you have a chance to look at the pros and cons of voting yes for the Millage Renewal. We won’t know if or how the Millage Renewal will work out for the college until long after it is renewed, if it’s renewed.

Obama is the better choice for college students

For anyone who paid attention to the Obama vs. Romney debate on Wednesday Oct. 3, we saw towards the beginning President Obama making it clear that one of the keys to fixing our economy and creating more jobs in the long run is to make community colleges, in addition to making college for affordable, more well-equipped for students. This will result in much more educated and well-trained professional that could find new ways to bring money back into our economy.

Obama has already been doing a lot to help out college students like me. Last October, I wrote an article about Obama announcing his plan to reduct student loan debt by limiting the repayment amount for federal loans to 10 percent of income, affective 2014. The plan will also extend all forgiven debts from 15 years to 20 years.

In another article comparing Obama and Romney’s plans for higher education, Romney’s plan for federal student loans focuses on attacking Obama’s plan and uses a lot of big words. Most importantly, it doesn’t offer a solution, or proof that it would work.

“While President Obama’s idea of sound advice to student borrowers is a promise that their loans will be forgiven if they cannot afford to repay them, Romney supports private-sector involvement to ensure students are clearly informed about their obligations when they apply for federal student loans, and that they receive support that goes beyond a call from a collections agent to help keep them on track to repayment,” the article said about Romney’s stance on federal student loans.

In addition, Obama is able to provide concrete facts and proof that his plan for tax credits for college students is affective when Obama created and extended the American Opportunity Tax Credit, which helped about 9.4 students in 2011. Romney, on the other hand, uses big words and long sentenced to try to provide his point of view on tax credits for college students, but doesn’t really state his intentions or back it up with any facts.

“Today it is unnecessarily complex, made up of multiple need-based grant programs, competing loan programs, and duplicative tax benefits, all of which include significant administrative costs,” the article said. on Romney’s behalf about tax credits. “A Romney Administration will eliminate programs that are duplicative, inefficient, or ineffective and concentrate available funds directly on helping students.”

It may have appeared that Romney allegedly defeated Obama in the first debate with his fast talking and his big words, but Obama and his administration can state their plan for my most important factor in the election (affordable education) and prove that it can work.

That’s why college students should consider Obama.