<p>"College students have always scraped by on less-than-nutritious food ramen noodles, pizza, Diet Coke but as the price of grocery shopping climbs, more of them are struggling to find their next meal. With the economy tanking and a 5% increase in food prices this year, the highest in nearly two decades, college students are increasingly turning to a new kind of financial aid: food pantries."</p>
<p>this is sad.</p>
<p>While food prices are rising, we have to take into consideration that a lot (possibly a majority) of the students at colleges and universities have meal plans that provide them with an adequate amount (sometimes all you can eat) of food throughout the week. Some plans are unarguably limited, which then leads to students to flock towards the grocery store.</p>
<p>Yet, I believe I'm inclined to believe I've possibly been hit hardest. As a strict vegan, I've seen the price of many foods on my "a-okay list" to go through the list. I do not have a meal plan considering there is inadequate food for me, while others disagree. I find myself trekking to local grocery stores to fill up on something to eat. It's pretty hard to say the least.</p>
<p>But I believe this is the kick in the butt America needs.</p>
<p>This is old news to me. I went to an UG uni that did not have enough housing so you went off campus after freshman year. Students were on the local economy for rentals and for food sources which included the rip off little grocery stores and, yes, the food pantries and soup line. There was a lot of resentment among the permanent residents of that community because the students did bring up the prices of the apartments and resources and then they would partake of things like the free clinic, free food, thrift stores, even as many of them also frequented the take out food options and restaurants that the permanent residents were not as able to afford. The "Pseudo poverty" of the students made them quite upset. </p>
<p>The problem is that the students had other options; the other residents often did not. Some students did not need the provisions at all. One of my roommates was the daughter of a very wealthy family, but she was on food stamps. Wanted to do it on her own. When parents came to visit, it was the best restaurant in town for dinner and a filled pantry from the big supermarket and a fistful of dollars. A month later she was in the food line.</p>
<p>Smug, I really do not think this is the kick in the butt we need. There are families and children out there who really need these services and as the resources trickling down dry up, they will be the one most affected. My sympathies are with them, not for the students who have other alternatives.</p>
<p>
[quote]
There was a lot of resentment among the permanent residents of that community because the students did bring up the prices of the apartments and resources and then they would partake of things like the free clinic, free food, thrift stores, even as many of them also frequented the take out food options and restaurants that the permanent residents were not as able to afford. The "Pseudo poverty" of the students made them quite upset.</p>
<p>The problem is that the students had other options; the other residents often did not. Some students did not need the provisions at all. One of my roommates was the daughter of a very wealthy family, but she was on food stamps. Wanted to do it on her own. When parents came to visit, it was the best restaurant in town for dinner and a filled pantry from the big supermarket and a fistful of dollars. A month later she was in the food line.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Heh heh. Here's a story about MBA students at Harvard Business School.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Aside from knowing everythign a man should know about finance, my classmate Vivek also knew everything about cars. One morning in the cafeteria, I asked him, "Have you seen the cars in the student garage?" </p>
<p>"Yes"</p>
<p>"Well, how come I'm driving a $2000 Toyota, and everyone else has a BMW?"</p>
<p>"Lots of people buy them when they get into HBS and want to get financial aid."</p>
<p>"What?"</p>
<p>"Once you get accepted, you want to clear out your bank account so that you can get more financial aid."</p>
<p>"I'm sorry. I'm not getting this. You buy a BMW to get financial aid?"</p>
<p>Vivek explained. "When you list your assets in the financial aid application, you don't have to mention your car, but you do have to list your savings or property. If you buy a car for $30,000, maybe you get an extra $30,000 in financial aid. So basically HBS buys you a BMW."</p>
<p>"But I thought that if you were caught lying on your financial aid form, you could risk losing your place."</p>
<p>"This isn't lying. Neither is taking all your money and parking it with your parents while you apply for financial aid."</p>
<p>"So your personal accounts look empty."</p>
<p>"Right".
[/quote]
</p>
<ul>
<li>from the back cover of Ahead of the Curve. Two Years at Harvard Business School by Philip Delves Broughton.<br></li>
</ul>
<p>I've even heard of some stories of HBS students applying for Medicaid because of their supposed "poverty", and even a few who have applied for welfare because they ostensibly don't have any income or assets.</p>
<p>You don't get grants as a rule at HBS, first of all. You get loans. As for Harvard ugs, they need to complete profile which would ask about luxury cars. An urban legend here.</p>
<p>Those with the money may buy the car, take the loans on the assumption that they will be getting big paying IB jobs after graduating. This does not look like a good assumption these days.</p>
<p>
[quote]
You don't get grants as a rule at HBS, first of all. You get loans.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>False. You can certainly get grants. They're called "fellowships", but basically, they're need-based grants. Almost half of the students will get them. </p>
<p>HBS</a> Fellowship Program - MBA - Harvard Business School</p>
<p>cpt, yes this is the kick in the butt they need. When people starve, they start to think. We actually need thinkers, very badly.</p>
<p>The link at the bottom, "Evolution of the College Dorm," is absolutely astonishing, especially compared to the article about students struggling to eat. Some of the amenities schools are providing now are just ridiculous. Shouldn't they be ensuring their students get food before constructing swimming pools, hot tubs, and rock climbing walls?</p>
<p>If it were the students living on campus, eating on the meal plan who were starving, yes. More often, though, it's the students living off-campus, trying to live off of the local fare outside of the university who feel the pinch - and the university never took responsibility to feed them outside of the meal plan, anyways.</p>
<p>Depends, Smug. Poverty can lead people to make decisions in pursuit of happiness, not positive change. They'll buy Nikes, a cell phone or cable rather than a car or a suit. When you're in the pits, it's hard to find a way out. People take actions to make themselves comfortable in their pitiful state.</p>
<p>"If it were the students living on campus, eating on the meal plan who were starving, yes. More often, though, it's the students living off-campus, trying to live off of the local fare outside of the university who feel the pinch - and the university never took responsibility to feed them outside of the meal plan, anyways."</p>
<p>Yet the college did force them off-campus by increasing room and board (and tuition and fees) to pay for the excesses southeasttitan points out.</p>
<p>College is a competitive business. If they don't build the swimming pool another school will and people will choose the other school over them. People with money will anyway, and that's really all the college care about.</p>
<p>Wow, just plain sad. Nation building the world, while people here are suffering under this bad economy to where even college students have to go to food pantries.</p>
<p>hehehe</p>
<p>Smug! I'm a strict vegan too! I'm going to die/starve in college :(</p>
<p>Even the Harvard Vegetarian Society, which is supposed to be great, isn't too vegan-friendly, I hear.</p>
<p>
[quote]
When people starve, they start to think.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>This is absurd.</p>
<p>Except that when people starve, they lack the wherewithal to do anything besides try to procure food. Not exactly a great catalyst for change.</p>
<p>When people starve, they actually go insane in the mind and body.</p>
<p>I can relate to this. My school does not have a food plan - I live in New York City - I live off of about $300 a month.</p>
<p>Food, and the cost of living in general, is getting way too expensive.</p>