LetterToEditor@buffnews.com May 21, 2005
Dear Sir:
I couldn't help but think that your newspaper seems to have made another 'affirmative action' weak hire in the person of Rod Watson. His recent claim that the primary reason black graduation rates are less than those for majority student is due to 'money problems' ("Lack of Money is the Root of the Grad Gap - May 19) is ridiculous. Do you require your OP ED writers to have any common sense before they publish such rubbish? First, he argues that PELL GRANTS are being reduced. Okay, as any college student will tell you, you then take out a LOAN. Many governmental positions today (teacher, police officer, social worker, etc.) offer up to 50% forgiveness on such loans! My own son and my "Vietnamese boatperson" daughter-in-law have over $100,000 EACH in loans they have to repay for their college degrees. (His being on the Dean's List repeatedly didn't help that much - not like the ability to shoot 'hoops,' that is.) Why does Mr. Watson think black students shouldn't borrow? Next was his deliberate attempt to bash Bush, the Governor, and most governmental organizations in general for being unsympathetic to the plight of black students. I sort of think it is the exact opposite. When just being Black can get you 20 points on some college admissions and a perfect S.A.T. score is worth a measly 6 points, well, you can see where I'm going. I mean, why study? I won't mention the myriad ways that most colleges make every attempt to ensure the success of their Black students. Space won't permit me to list all the absurdities to which they go. What I did notice is that Rod made no mention of the impact of the complete breakdown of the Black family in urban America, the levels of abuse and neglect resulting from many of these 'parents', or the well-documented aversion of Black students toward academics in general, regardless of family circumstance or income, for being 'part' of the black graduation rate problem. Nor does he mention how so many Asian immigrants who, like my daughter-in-law, are able to do so well in America's schools when they don't even have the benefit of English in their immediate background or family! I can understand Mr. Watson's propensity to take the 'easy' way out on what might otherwise be a very important investigative study for your paper, but what I can't understand is your propensity to print such drivel.
Sincerely,
Jack Bovee
319 Fifth Avenue
Lehigh Acres, FL 33972
239-369-1397
“The main reason, more than anything else, is money,” said Robert Slater, Journal managing editor.
Don’t tell that to my Caucasian son who recently graduated and now owes over $100,000 for his Pharmacy doctorate – despite being on the Dean’s List repeatedly and winning numerous small academic scholarships – none of which exceeded $2,000. Don’t tell that to his Asian Pharmacy Doctorate (former “boatperson”) wife who also owes about the same amount. First, most of the black students at his school got pretty much all expenses paid, but many dropped out anyway. Worse case scenario, why can’t the black students just BORROW the damn money like everyone else? If they majored in the hard sciences instead of ‘social work’, ‘general studies’, ‘Education’, and other weak-minded professions, they’d earn the money back rather quickly.
“Schools try to overcome that with programs to help minority students navigate campus life."
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