Student loan forgiveness plan uncertain; Seawolves worried

STAFF WRITER ALLY VALIENTE

If you’ve been taking more than two classes at Sonoma State, chances are you might have used financial aid such as FAFSA to help with the cost of tuition, books, or even housing on campus. In more severe circumstances, you might have even taken out a loan.

According to Forbes, there are currently 43.5 million borrowers with the average student racking up to at least $37,000 in debt. To put it in another perspective, around 17% of the nation’s population is in debt. Last year, the Biden-Harris administration rolled out a plan to help ease those debts with a Student Loan Forgiveness Program. The plan includes loan forgiveness of up to $20,000. The plan is part of the final extension of the student repayment pause, which started when the pandemic hit, and it also aims to help low and middle income families. However, the plan has now been blocked by Republicans and as of Tuesday Feb. 28, there has been a court hearing to determine whether Biden overstepped his powers as president.

And while students watch the Supreme Court hearing, it’s interesting to think about how the government would rather doom students to a lifetime of poverty than aid them.

“If the Student Loan Forgiveness program panned out, all my debt would be erased in one go. That’s life changing stuff. And now they wanna take away hope from students on top of everything? It’s heartless,” said K. Reubens, a sixth year biology major.

Other students such as third year business major Westfield G. said that although he doesn’t have any debt accumulated, he still feels bad about the students whose debt forgiveness is in limbo. “I feel bad because it’s scary how a group of people can determine their future. Even though I myself don’t have any debt, that doesn’t mean it’s the same for everyone in my life. I have family members and friends who either have debt, or are still trying to pay it off.”

According to the Associated Press, 26 million people have already applied for student loan forgiveness with 16 million already approved. Although hearings began last Tuesday, a decision is not expected to be announced for a couple months; the earliest it would be announced would be until April, although the latest would be June.

As hopeful as students have tried to be, the fact that the Supreme Court is dominated 6-3 by conservatives does not promise an outcome in our favor. Furthermore, the Biden-Harris Administration has not announced a plan B in case the forgiveness program falls through.

Baby boomers and Republicans make up the majority of those staunchly against the idea of loan forgiveness, according to Politico. Those against the program will argue that Gen-Z and Millennials, the two groups most impacted by student loan debts, should “work harder” and “save more money.” Both arguments are futile considering that there are bills to be paid on top of paying for tuition, gas, and housing. The idea of saving money and having a little extra to ourselves sounds great, but in the end it’s easier said than done.

In reality, the majority of people against the idea of loan forgiveness are the same ones who went to college on their parents’ dime. The argument that it is up to the student to take sole responsibility for their education is simply egregious and classist. The fact of the matter is that millions of students’ lives will be impacted, regardless of the outcome.

Netflix and bill; service cracks down on password sharing

BERNARDO RAMOS STAFF WRITER

It’s no secret that many people bum a Netflix account off a friend or family member, blissfully watching all the service has to offer without having to pay a cent. Unfortunately for them, Netflix has a plan to change that and force them to pay for their content. For the last year there have been rumors of Netflix cracking down on password sharing. However, last month on Feb. 8 Netflix implemented their new policy on those regions. Netflix users will now only be allowed to share their account with people that live in the same place as the ac- count holder. That means if you are a college student living away from home and your parents are the primary account holder you will no longer be able to use that account unless you pay for an extra account. Netflix will be able to make sure users are in the same household by tracking IP addresses and device IDs so there is no way around the crackdown.

The ability to share passwords for streaming services among friends and family has been a huge help to many college students who may be struggling financially. The added cost of another streaming service that they were originally not paying for because of password sharing would add difficulty to struggling students’ pockets.

Kevin Valencia, a fourth-year Span ish major who watches Netflix for much needed breaks said, “College students depended on Netflix for mental health breaks with this new ban, more stress is added as it becomes another monthly expense.

Which can be hard for a college student with no job.” It could also be tough on parents who might be financially supporting their students with essentials and an added Netflix fee would put even more of a burden on them.

Still it seems that not everyone is planning on leaving Netflix. Some die hard fans and those who never intended to share their password will still remain. One such person is Joshua Walker who voiced his thoughts on Netflix’s new policy, “I think it’s fair. It’s not like I also share my debit card with friends.”

Netflix has acknowledged that they expect to see a dip in subscribers after the change but users like Joshua are the ones that Netflix is hoping stick around.

Although Netflix plans on combat ing the expected mass exodus of subscribers once the new policy hits the rest of the world at the end of March by offering different price plans it still may not be enough. Sec- ond year nursing student Abby Wilson said, “If I can’t use my friend’s Netflix account anymore I guess I’m only going to pay for my Amazon Prime subscription which has a student discount and gives you access to Amazon video for free.” Competition like Amazon, Disney, HBO, Crunchyroll and Hulu are all after the same viewers and by not allowing password sharing outside of a household Netflix has opened the door for these platforms to swoop in and take their customers.

Perhaps if Netflix is able to outcompete other streaming services in price plans and quality content they could make the policy change irrelevant. By offering a student discount similar to Amazon Prime it could get college students to pay for the service but not break the bank of those who are already struggling. And those who never planned on switching will get to enjoy higher quality content. Still it would have been best if Netflix never changed the policy at all.

STAR // Dennae Taylor