Running Head: ISSUES THAT AFFECT THE STUDENT TODAY

Issues that Affect the Student Today and How Authors React Brittany Marie Lerma University of Texas at El Paso

Running Head: ISSUES THAT AFFECT THE STUDENT TODAY Going to college is the gateway to better paying jobs, which creates better lives for the future of college graduates, however, receiving college education is continuously getting more expensive as colleges expand to be more available for larger numbers of students in the forms of higher tuition and fees. Tuition costs can range from under ten thousand dollars to sometimes even over fifty thousand and over for the top-of-the-line universities. The pursuit of higher education is just a stepping stone to accumulating student debt that college graduates just have no way to pay off soon enough in this economy. This topic can stretch to many other issues that affect students such as financial aid distribution, the education students receive from their elementary, middle, and high

schools, the recent government shutdown among a variety of others. The following articles are reactions and outcomes of such concerns that use rhetorical devices to lure their audiences to lean towards their side. A recent study out of Rutgers State University of New Jersey in an article in Human Events by Tom Toth found that from the graduating classes from 2006 to 2001, only 51% are employed full-time and 11% are unemployed, a number way above the current 3.8% unemployment rate for all college graduates over the age of 25. To account for these disappointing numbers, Toth continues by saying that underemployment is more problematic than that if unemployment. A picture of a man dressed in a masked superhero costume with a graduation cap and shackles on his arms and carrying a sign that reads Unemployed Superhero; Master of Degrees, Shackled by Debt is shown to accompany the article emphasizing the stand that Toth takes. While seeming to be mainly informational, the article take a right turn by mentioning Obamacare in a section titled as Worsening a

Running Head: ISSUES THAT AFFECT THE STUDENT TODAY Possibility. This post hoc ergo prompter hoc logical fallacy tells the audience that the installation of Obamacare will worsen the situation that college students already face. Opposite of the right-sided article from Toth is one that comes from USA TODAY by Ryan Conner, a junior at Fordham University. In this article, Conner reports on a visit to Hamilton University in rural New York from the Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton. The article that is titled On Campus, Hilary Clinton talks education, shutdown misleads the

readers in several ways. To begin with, Clinton hardly addresses the government shutdown other than to say When we let partisanship override citizenship, when we fail to make progress on the challenges facing our country, our standing in the world suffers. Secondly, throughout the article, opinions of students who attended Clintons speech were given that all give only but the highest praise to he Secretary on her opinions, beliefs, and actions. Conner, like Toth, seemingly forgot to include the other side of the story. Lastly, the picture associated with the article is of Hilary Clinton speaking two days earlier at a Law School ceremony at Yale University is also irrelevant to the story. The third article by William McGuiness of the Huffington Post unlike the articles written by Toth and Conner as it is unbiased in nature, but however throws many statistics to the readers and viewers that would discourage many. The article, which also includes a video interview, concludes that of 41.7 million working college graduates in 2010, about 48% of them have jobs that require less than a bachelors degree. Within the 48%, 38% have jobs that do not require even a high school diploma. The article borrows credibility from others such as the President of the Ohio State University and another article from the Chronicle of Higher Education. McGuiness says that college graduates are not paid enough to compensate what they paid for higher education, comparing baristas at coffee cafes

Running Head: ISSUES THAT AFFECT THE STUDENT TODAY

trying to introduce themselves into the middle class and because of this, may bring readers to question if it is worth going to college in the first place. Reporters all have their ways to lure their audience. The articles by Conner and Toth each address their topic biasedly by not including the other opinion or rather, including too much of their own opinion instead of giving it straight to the reader of the issue at hand. Authors of articles such as the one by McGuiness do not give their own opinions but take credibility from people of importance or other newspapers, scholarly journals, or websites. The writers many times include pictures, videos, or even headlines that are completely irrelevant to their topic and mislead the audience, while other times emphasize the topic and instill certain emotions in the reader. In the end though, the goal is to persuade to audience to lean towards their cause or opinion. Authors must do what they must to achieve that goal.

Running Head: ISSUES THAT AFFECT THE STUDENT TODAY References Conner, Ryan. (2013). On Campus, Hilary Clinton talks education, shutdown. USA TODAY College. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/10/07/hillary-clinton-athamilton-college/2937901/. McGuiness, William. (2013). Half of Recent College Grads Work Jobs That Dont Require Degrees: Report. Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/29/underemployedovereducated_n_2568203.html. Toth, Tom. (2013). The New Vicious Cycle of Student Loan Debt. Human Events, Powerful Conservative Voices. Retrieved from

http://www.humanevents.com/2013/10/14/the-new-vicious-cycle-of-studentloan-debt/.