Barbara, like you, I am short on empathy about college kids having money problems. They ARE in college, while the majority of American workers do not have college degrees and it's the blue collar workers who are losing their jobs in this recession. Yet, did you know that only 4 percent of professional workers have lost their jobs?

I do wish you'd watch which descriptive words you choose to use, Barbara. You write that many college students "live in slum housing." Puhleez! Let's think about what a real slum is.

For example in Dharavi, India's largest slum, there are about 18,000 people crowded into one single acre. There a person shares 300 sq. ft of floor space with 15 other human souls and innumerable rats. This city of squalor is an infinite stretch of open sewers, cramped huts and thousands of stray dogs. A person is bitten very 2 seconds in India and somone dies from rabies every 30 minutes. And then former Baywatch star, Pamela Anderson, protests about the Indian government wanting to euthanize stray dogs -- who are killing people -- saying "Dogs cannot use condoms..."

You can read more about Dharavi at Ethic Soup blog, which has a great post about how 6 slum kids were terribly burned when they agreed to fill gas from cylinders into aerosol cans, for a perfume business man who then got the hell out of this explosive environment, at:

http://www.ethicsoup.com/2009/05/burned-in-fire-children-asked-to-fill-aerosol-cans-with-gas.html

You say college kids should learn that there "still isn't a free lunch." You're speaking about kids full of self-entitlement, who are getting an education and have never gone hungry in their lives. Sorry your two kids have to live "very frugally" to make it in college. Why not send them to see Dharavi on Spring break? Or a closer trip -- hey they can go to Mexico -- and tour Mexico City's slum Neza-Chalco-Itza barrio, which has four times as many people as Dharavi's one million. Since your kids have had some college, they can figure out that's four million, right? Forgive my sarcasm, I'm feeling strong emotions on this topic.

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SPOILED BRATS!
Rather than face the possibility of, heavens, underemployment, they choose to hide from reality and seek refuge in the womb of academe. As children, the ill-conceived No Child Left Behind initiative established, in their collective minds, that life's difficulties are eveyone's responsibility but their own. Now, as young adults, rather than face another of life's difficulties, they choose to hide in the womb of academe, assuming, once again, that the difficulties, in the form of a rotten economy, are to be borne by others. Their plan is to emerge once those difficulties have been resolved, once again, by others.
SPOILED BRATS!

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I'm pretty shocked by the overwhelmingly negative responses from people to these findings, but all I can do is share my story.

I was accepted to a well regarded private arts college where I'm currently finishing up my studies for a double major in Advertising and Graphic Design. I've always taken a full class load of 12 or more credit hours (to maintain full financial aid) and still worked two jobs the entire time to make ends meet.

Unlike some college students, I had no support from my family so I really had to be frugal in every sense of the word. There were times when I had to decide whether to put gas in my tank, buy food to eat, or buy ink for my printer so I could complete a project that was due so I don't want to hear that business about students not knowing hunger or realizing what sacrifice is. In fact there were quite a few times where I never knew where my next meal was going to come from.

I survived and thrived though, putting in extra time where I could to make a bit more money, or studying later than I really wanted to so I could give a good presentation the following day, or taking up a position as President in the school chapter of a American Advertising Federation to show to future employers that I have what it takes to be a leader.

College was a huge risk that I took. When I leave in August, I'll have a bill for just over $50,000 dollars. I knew I'd be that deeply in debt, and I accepted it to get myself closer to my ultimate goal of a career I really love. And the ultimate satisfaction comes from reading such asinine comments as these saying that people of my generation are spoiled, rotten, useless, fragile, inadequate and otherwise because I guarantee that when push comes to shove, it will be my generation who will end up being more flexible than the older ones in the work force (Read: Work longer hours for less pay and compromise on benefits during these tough times).

And Sharon, the hostility of your comment is what I find most disturbing. In these times we don't have the luxury of looking to another person or indeed an entire group of people and debasing them all with asinine stereotypes displayed by a select few. I'm working hard to help people come together and move forward. What are you doing to help bring people through this period in time because from where I'm sitting, you aren't doing a whole lot; let alone anything positive.

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Well said Rhy... I really hate the way some people judge others with such a broad stroke. Rich, poor or in between everyone has been effected in some way with this downturn. Yes, some kids today have had great opportunities given to them to succeed but does not mean they are evil or ungrateful. To whom much is given--much is expected--that is what we should be teaching our children. If you have, you give back!!!
My kids have opportunities but they also give back and are frugal too. We would be considered rich by most standards but our kids worry over every penny they spend and very generous to friends with less. They do a lot of community service work because they want to--not that they have to.

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