The Best of Our Knowledge
(2008-05-19)
Listen Now:
ALBANY, NY
(WAMC) -
STUDENT LOAN CRISIS UPDATE/QUICK ACTION TAKEN -
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Several items of interest occurring on this front as we meet our show
production deadlines. Perhaps fearing an election-year nightmare
where students are unable to find college loans, the Bush administration
and Congress have agreed on and passed a student-loan bailout bill
in record-breaking time, just one month. The new law includes several
provisions designed to help students, beyond giving the Education
Secretary authority to purchase loan portfolios from lenders.
It boosts the government's lender of last resort program by letting
Secretary Spellings designate an entire college, if necessary, as a place
where lenders are allowed to issue student loans with an additional layer
of federal subsidy. It also increased federal grant aid for low-income
students, raised the amount students can borrow each year under the
federally subsidized program, and encourages parent borrowers by letting
them defer repayment until six-months after their children leave college.
Some student-aid advocates believe the student loan crisis was
overblown. The 50 loan companies that have announced their withdrawal
from the federal program thus far, actually represent only about 15-percent
of all government backed lending. So far, no student in the U.S. has
reportedly been unable to find a subsidized loan. Plus, the federal
government runs its own parallel program through which students can
get loans directly from the Department of Education without using a bank.
Of course money is such an important topic, we plan to return to this
issue in several shows planned for June and July.
Dr. Karen Hitchcock and Glenn Busby report. (2:00)
BULLYING:
THE SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL IMPACT ON STUDENTS, Pt. 2 of 2 -
High-level forms of violence such as murder and assault usually receive
the most media attention. But lower-level forms of violence, such as
bullying, is now being being addressed by researchers, educators,
parents, and legislators. Indeed, after many school shootings, we often
read that the students who have perpetrated the shooting, claim they
were victims of bullying and resorted to violence as a last resort.
Last week, we heard that surveys indicate as many as half of all children
are bullied. On a worldwide basis, that means tens of millions of students
are victims. Bullying can be defined as an act of repeated aggressive
behavior in order to intentionally hurt another person, physically or mentally.
We were surprised to learn that Canada has fallen to 9th worst in the world
when it comes to reported incidents of bullying. So they've attacked the
problem full force, and have created PrevNet which stands for Promoting Relationships and Eliminating Violence Network.
Dr. Wendy Craig Co-Directs PrevNet for Canada. And is also a Professor
of Psychology at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. This week, Karen finishes her interview with Dr. Craig and talks with her about the multi-faceted ToolKit Dr, Craig helped develop. It's a comprehensive program to prevent
bullying in schools.
Dr. Karen Hitchcock reports. (16:10)
**(Program Directors and Listeners please note. The website given at the
above story's conclusion for those seeking comprehensive help for bullying
issues is: www.prevnet.ca)**
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