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Tag Archives: New York Times

College-educated, jobless and already in debt

by Catherine Toth on May 15, 2012 in Musings, The Daily Dish

Mark Twain famously said, “Cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with a college education.”

And that cabbage today would be jobless and in debt — hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt.

Not a very successful cultivar.

The New York Times published a very telling series on this crisis — with students, not cabbage — called “Degrees of Debt.”

The Times reported that 94 percent of students who earn a bachelor’s degree borrow money — through federal and private loans and from relatives — to pay for higher education. That’s up from 45 percent in 1993.

In 2011, the average college debt level was $23,300 but 10 percent of graduates owed more than $54,000 and 3 percent owed more than $100,000. What 22-year-old can pay back $100,000 in loans — with interest — fresh out of college? It’s no wonder 1 in 10 borrowers who started repaying loans in 2009 defaulted within two years.

The series featured a recent graduate of Ohio Northern who owned more than $100,000 in student debt. Her monthly payment was more than $900 a month and she was earning just $225 a week working two waitressing jobs while she continued to look for a “real” job.

That’s insane.

I’ve been out of graduate school for more than 10 years and I’m still paying student loans. It’s not $900 a month, but it’s still money that I could use for other things like, oh, rent and groceries.

It took me awhile to come to terms with the amount of money I’m paying each month toward a degree I already have in hand. I realize now — years later — how valuable that education is, that if I can make more a month than my monthly student loan payments, I was doing alright, the degree was worthwhile.

But I can’t say that for everyone.

I have friends who are still paying student loans and not working in their degree fields or — worse — not working at all. There are some who are paying off these loans and other loans, including business loans and mortgages.

You can see why we’re a generation that feels overwhelmed.

As much as it hurt to write that check every month, I can honestly say it was worth it. The experience I had, the friends I made, the learning that took place — all of it was worth the monthly payment I’m still making.

Anyone got a horror story about student loans to share? Do you think college is too expensive? Dish here!

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Can men and women be ‘just friends’?

by Catherine Toth on April 8, 2012 in Musings, The Daily Dish

Growing up, I didn’t see how guys and girls couldn’t be friends.

And I think I was partially right.

At the time, sure, guys and girls could hang out on the basketball court, play Trumps and just exist as friends.

But once those “guys” became “men” and those “girls” turned into “women,” things changed.

The question — ”Can men and women be just friends?” — has long been debated and played out in sitcoms and movies such as “When Harry Met Sally.” In fact, it was in that movie that Harry, played by Billy Crystal, famously says it’s impossible “because the sex part always gets in the way.”

“How do you know?” asks Sally, played by Meg Ryan.

“Because no man can be friends with a woman that he finds attractive. He always wants to have sex with her.”

And that conversation pretty much summed it up for a lot of us.

The topic was resurrected in Sunday’s New York Times. Essayist William Deresiewicz said that platonic relationships with the opposite actually aren’t rare at all. “But [sex] doesn’t always get in the way. Maybe you’re not attracted to each other. Maybe you know it would never work out, so it’s not worth screwing up your friendship. Maybe that’s just not what it’s about.”

So what do you think? Can men and women be “just friends”? Or do you think it’s never that simple?

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Update your travel bucket list

by Catherine Toth on January 11, 2012 in Adventures

Every year I eagerly await the New York Time’s list of places to go that year.

And, to be honest, I was surprised to see Panama topping this year’s list.

Aside from the Panama Canal and baseball, I don’t know much about this southernmost country of Central America. (I don’t even know if there’s surf!)

According to the story, Panama’s economy is booming, with high-rises and hotels filling the skyline and other visitor-friendly endeavors — like the BioMuseo, a natural history museum scheduled to open in early 2013 — are in the works.

It was a provocative addition to the list — but not strangest. Those were Oakland (No. 5) and Space (No. 20).

Anyone been to any of the places on the list? Or want to go? Or got a city that should have been on the list instead?

I really need to get a credit card with travel miles…

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Great Debate: Banning e-mail at work

by Catherine Toth on December 6, 2011 in Musings, The Daily Dish

It sounds like an impossible feat.

But Atos, an international IT services company, announced that it will ban e-mails because the big boss, Thierry Breton, considers 90 percent of them a waste of time, according to a New York Times article.

The goal of getting rid of what’s become the most common way we communicate in work settings is to get employees to spend more time talking to each other in person, on the phone or via “real time” tools like IM-ing and Twitter.

It sparked an interesting debate on the Times site, and I thought we could discuss it here.

For me, I have a love-hate relationship with e-mail. I love the ease, the efficiency, the one-sided conversations it affords. But I hate checking them, getting spammed, trying to find an efficient way of organizing messages. It really only adds to my stress load — instead of reducing it.

And I feel like I can get a lot more done when I talk to people face-to-face. Meetings, as much as we all hate them, can be productive. We get everyone in the same room and get a lot of answers to questions, a lot of decisions made. It’s easier for me to get an answer from someone over the phone than through websites or e-mails — but it requires a bit more work in that I have to actually engage in a conversation with someone, which is something we try to avoid with technology.

See the challenge.

But banning the use of e-mail entirely seems a bit extreme — and unrealistic. But it’s an interesting experiment.

What do you think? Are e-mails a waste of time? Would we be more productive if that was limited?

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#TodaysGift

Dog Kimono from Inu Inu Hawaii

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Days left: 3

Dog kimono or yukata from Inu Inu Hawaii (www.inuinuhawaii.com)

Price: $30 online or at pet boutiques such as Calvin & Susie in Kilohana Square

The gist: Bored of the usual dog outfits? Or your pooch is quite the fashion diva? Get a kimono (or yukata) from Honolulu-based Inu Inu Hawaii, which specializes in unique Asian-inspired apparel for dogs. They come in all sizes — in fact, you can custom order ones for larger breeds — and patterns. Imagine your Rottweiler in one of these!

Best for: Dog owners, of course!

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Are kids these days overbooked?

by Catherine Toth on August 15, 2011 in Musings, The Daily Dish

One of my girlfriends recently confessed that she’s paying thousands of dollars a year for football clinics, workshops, equipment and personal training for her son.

He’s not even 12.

The goal, she hopes, is a lucrative professional football contract in 20 years. A full-ride scholarship to a Big 10 school is a nice consolation prize, too.

While her intentions are noble — hey, who doesn’t want their kids to get a college education and make millions of dollars in Nike endorsements? — the cost is overwhelming. She and her husband aren’t rich. They live in a modest townhouse and make a modest income. And like most parents, they want the best for their son — who, by the way, loves playing football. But when does it become too much — and what happens when it’s not enough?

The New York Times recently published an article about parents who sacrifice to provide these opportunities for their kids — from tutoring to horseback riding to summer camps with professional athletes. Some have even take out loans, borrowed money from their families and maxed out credit cards just to pay for all these experiences they feel their children can’t miss — or feel guilty about denying.

But here’s the thing: there’s no evidence that shows these experiences will pay off in the end.

“It’s easy to take a look at the more successful kids and assume that all the activities are why they are more successful,” said Bryan Caplan, an economics professor at George Mason University. “But research doesn’t bear that out.”

When I was growing up, both my parents worked — and they didn’t have time to take me to soccer practice or piano lessons. I grew up fending for myself, signing up for volleyball and basketball on my own in fourth grade — I was good at forging my mom’s signature — just to kill time before my parents could pick me up after work. We didn’t have the means or the time for the kinds of extracurricular activities kids today have.

Sometimes I wish I had done more, started earlier, learned a foreign language or played an instrument. And I wonder if I’m going to be one of those parents who give their kids all the opportunities I missed out on.

Then again, I actually played during my summers growing up. I went to the beach and hung out with my friends. Playing, to me, is an essential part of childhood. (Well, even adulthood, but that’s another blog.) I don’t think I would change that, either.

My girlfriend is making the best decisions she can for her son. She wants to provide him all the opportunities she can that will help him succeed in football — and life. I admire her commitment and devotion. And I know even if her son woke up one morning and said, “I’m over football,” he will have learned a lot from the experience.

Let’s hope he remembers to pay his mom back!

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