Thoughts & Notions

I’ve been meaning to write for a while but between a trip to Europe and the university strike, plus my computer was acting funky, somehow I couldn’t. Summer is coming and with it I plan on writing more often to get my word out there. I have thoughts!

I’m pretty sure that if you live in Puerto Rico or watch the international news you are aware of the situation that the University is going through. Since April 24 the University of Puerto Rico has been on strike. The gates are completely closed, there are no classes and only a group of people ( adm. mostly) has been going in and out. Being a public education system the University of Puerto Rico (UPR)  contains 11 campuses all through the island and of those 11, 10 are on strike. The biggest one with an enrollment of almost 20,000 students, that’s a lot of students that are not taking classes right now. Although a lot of students support the strike, there is another chunk that does not. The issues that the students are advocating for are plenty, but one of the most important is the defense of the financial aid that students receive and that let students study without incurring in great debts like a student would have to do in the US. The syndicate that manages the university have decided that if you receive the Pell grant ( depending on your social status) that you shouldn’t receive any other type of financial aid such as exemptions for being an athlete or being an honor student. In such case the student receives the exemption ( that comes from the university) and the Pell grant if his/her economical status dictates it. Well this new certification called certification 98 would change all of that beginning August and will only let students receive only one. This certification, in addition to being another trick of our  governor to fix the current economical crisis that the university and the country is going through, will leave many students with a big hole in their pockets since many of them, especially those with great financial needs, utilize both aids to pay for everything. Having only one aid will only cover tuition costs and will leave other necessities in the air such as books, transportation, food, housing, among many others. What is worst, our current government, to vindicate itself, keeps comparing the low cost of our university with those in the US or other private universities on the island, as if you can put a price on an education. Just because over there people have to pay for their education does not mean that we have to feel that we owe them something because our education is free. Education should be free! everywhere! is not a right is but a duty of each country to educate its citizens which will be the leaders of tomorrow. It angers me every time people say “I don’t why the complain so much” Students, us, complain because we are defending what is rightfully ours, our right to receive a great education at a low cost. If I wanted to owe my life the big loan lenders, I would have gone to the US to study, but I stayed here because I knew that here I was going to receive a top-notch education for less.

I leave with this:

“All who have meditated on the art of governing mankind have been convinced that the fate of empires depends on the education of youth.”

-Aristotle