Issue 23

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FOOTBALL PREVIEW:

SAGINAW VALLEY VS. GRAND VALLEY >> SPORTS | B1

Lanthorn G r a n d Va l l e y

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T H E S TU D E N T - R U N N E W S PA P E R S AT G R A N D VA L L E Y

T H U R SD AY, N O V E M BE R 10, 2011

lanthorn.com GV Runners Club TO HOST 5K RACE

PAY AS YOU EARN Lawmakers, administrators offer insight to the early details of proposed student debt reform By Dan Spadafora

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GVL Assistant News Editor

he national outstanding student debt total is expected to surpass $1 trillion by the end of the year, a rapidly-rising statistic that prompted U.S. President Barack Obama to introduce his new “Pay as You Earn” plan in Denver last month. The plan, which could become effective as early as 2012, is aimed at lessoning the burden of student debt on students struggling to repay federal college loans. According to FinAid.org and FastWeb.com, the current numbers show student debt at $850 billion outstanding and the Federal Reserve reports consumers owe $828 billion in credit card debt. “Over the past three decades, the cost of college has nearly tripled, and that is forcing you, forcing students, to take out more loans and rack up more debt,” Obama said in his Denver speech. While some politicians, including Robert Shireman, former deputy undersecretary at the Department of Education, argue that the plan would increase confidence among students about their post-graduate perspectives, other lawmakers have early doubts as to if the plan will be effective and whether this plan will have enough qualifying students to make an impact. “The best student loan repayment program is a student with a job,” said U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga, RMich., who represents the state’s 2nd District. State Rep. Bob Genetski, R-Saugatuck, said the plan addresses how students pay for education but ignores the

CHASING THE SKY Kevin VanAntwerpen discusses life as part of a moderately successful indie rock band.

KEVIN VANANTWERPEN

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JUSTUS vLOG Lanthorn columnist reads blog in 60 minutes-style vlog to honor Art Rooney, who recently passed.

Andrew JustUs

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What’s Inside

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larger issue of total education costs. “I see nothing in the plan to reduce tuition overall or encourages universities to bring down tuition,” Genetski said. “There all sorts of incentives to keep loaning kids more money, but there’s nothing to get universities on the hook to say, ‘Boy, we need to cut tuition so that more kids can go to college for less money.’” Who benefits? In a 2011 report from Grand Valley State University’s institutional analysis department, students who graduate from GVSU are expected to have $26,912 in total student debt, putting GVSU nearly $2,000 higher than the national average. This is an increase from an average of nearly $9,000 in 2006. Michelle Rhodes, director of financial aid at GVSU, said the president’s plan could help GVSU students. “It can absolutely help Grand Valley students,” Rhodes said. “It can help a select group of students who meet the criteria.” According the plan, there are two ways students can benefit. One way is by consolidating all loan types. The plan would allow borrowers to move all Federal Family Education Loans — all private loans taken out before July 1, 2010 — under the current Direct Loan plan, which would give borrowers one payment per month and reduce their interest rate by .5 percent. The second aspect of the proposed plan is an adjustment to income-based repayment. Under Pay As You Earn, borrowers would pay only 10 percent of their income toward the loan every month in comparison to the

Courtesy Photo / obamasouth.com

Spare change: U.S. President Barack Obama delivers a speech. Obama’s “Pay as You Earn” student debt reform proposal would limit students’ debt burden in three ways: reduce payments to 10 percent of income, consolidate private loans and forgive loans after 20 years of payments.

current 15 percent. In addition, after 20 years of payments, any remaining loan balance will be forgiven. To qualify for the second aspect of Obama’s plan, students must have taken out loans in 2008 and in 2012. Robert Moran, director of federal relations and policy analysis at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, said under the current guidelines, the plan would not benefit enough people. “Most seniors in postsecondary education have already taken out their senior loan,” Moran said. “If you think about it, the types

of students who are going to have a loan in 2008 and a loan in 2012 is a very small number.” Huizenga said the plan also raises questions about the student decision-making process. “It just seemed really odd to me,” he said. “I don’t have a 30-year mortgage and if it’s not paid off in 20 years, I go, ‘Oh, I guess I don’t have to pay the last 10 years.’ I think it sends conflicting messages. If there’s no responsibility hanging over your head at the end of this thing, why wouldn’t you make mini-

See Debt, A2

College marriages withstand trials, tribulations

Some students tying the knot before graduation despite rising divorce rate, average marriage age By Lizzy Balboa GVL Staff Writer

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The American concept of marriage is changing, but rising divorce rates have not prevented some college students from tying the knot before graduation. Yan Yu, a sociology professor at Grand Valley State University, said the number of college students marrying surprises her because the average age that Americans get married at is rising. “Those who marry later are less likely to divorce,” she said. “Young marriages are vulnerable or unstable

because young couples may not be ready to face the challenges brought about by marriage. They may marry for romantic love, but marriage itself is not romantic at all.” However, GVSU sophomore R.J. McVeigh said he does not expect a fairy-tale marriage. The newly-engaged student embraces the alternative. “If I was making this decision and it meant that I was to be poor for the rest of my life, but I would be married to Brianna, would I still choose to do this assuming pretty much the worst?” he said. “The answer is yes.” McVeigh will wed his girlfriend

of two years in August despite opposition from many of his peers, who he said are skeptical about college-age marriages. “The reason our marriage seems young is because of its relation to the marriages in our society right now,” he said. “If you’re talking the human race throughout history, we’re normal getting married (this young).” Like McVeigh, junior Cassie Regan has found little support in her young marriage from peers and others. “People can’t understand why you would be 22 and in college and married,” she said. “It’s just really awkward, the reactions.”

Regan met Paul Kiger in a GVSU Spanish class, and the couple waited only a year to marry. “Once we met each other, we both knew we weren’t coming back to school (right away),” she said. “We didn’t have any time limits or time frames, so we were like, ‘Well we really like each other,’ and the next step in our lives we were both doing the same thing so we decided to do it together.” The couple married in September 2010 and moved to El Salvador before returning in the spring. Regan said she has no regrets

See Marriage, A2


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