M. Monegro, les éditeurs d’UBC Student Media ne croient pas que tu te tiens au courant sur les enjeux que concernent les étudiants de notre université, on peut facilement en découvrir selon ta plate-forme elitiste. Donc, cette site-là a comme but informer tous les étudiants, comme (on crois) que tu es encore un étudiant à UBC, on va t’informer de la dette moyenne des étudiants; comme ça tu peux, peut-être, changer les reformes élitistes de ta plate-forme. Porquoi pas penser sur les étudiants que, évidemment pas comme toi, ONT BEAUCOUP GALÉRÉ à cause de leur manque d’argent.
LA DETTE MOYENNE DES ÉTUDIANTS EST DE $27,000!
LA DEUDA ESTUDIANTIL EN UBC ES, EN MEDIA, $27,000!
Good try! Now, I would ask but one question. How did you calculate this average? And this is an important one. If you divided the total debt by the number of students, this number is completely unrepresentative of the debt UBC students hold. A more accurate number would be the number of students that hold debt of over $20,000. Now that would be a relevant fact. Also, I’m not sure what the meaning of writing a blog entry in French was (most of the blog entries here are in English), but I am sad to tell you that my conversational french is alive and well.
Cheers,
Alex
Alex,
Thank you for your comment, we are glad that you have responded to this entry. Since you know enough about the average student debt and calculate yourself that it is over $20,000, the UBC Student Media would then like to ask you why don’t you tackle this problem more aggressively in your campaign? Would you consider altering your platform to better incorporate student debt alleviation methods?
Thank you.
Sadly that issue is not a strong focus for my campaign. I am more interested in making sure students get the best bang for their buck by tackling the other side of the issue: quality of education.
Money does not grow on trees. For every decrease in tuition or increase in grants money has to be taken from other places be it taxing the populace further or decreasing monetary support for other government initiatives such as health care. Wealth distribution is a zero sum game. While we should have our voice heard by the government and UBC stating that some students are overwhelmed by debt, I don’t believe that it will change. I would argue that opposite to what you state, most students are not overwhelmed or distraught by the amount of weight they carry.
Also, you are the one touting your statistics around. I said it would interesting to know how many students carry over $20k in debt. I don’t have the numbers and have no interest in calculating that number. I do believe your ‘debt of average student’ number is poorly calculated and challenged you to explain where it came from. Hopefully you will do so.
“I don’t have the number and have no interest in calculating that number” – Alex Monegro
Alex,
Thank you for being so frank. It sounds like you really don’t care about the price of tuition, since you are a super-privileged international student and that was never a problem for you. It seems like the numbers came out of the VP External office… hmm… that’s why Blake Frederick is so aware of it. If you get elected, the AMS will suffer with your lack of skills very dearly.
Thank you Alex for your reply and thank you Phantom for the clarification.
Alex, the numbers come from the office of the VP External, this is an official figure released last year by the the VP Ex, the UBC Student Media is kept well informed of the issues affecting students of this university, the average debt is indeed one of these important issues.
Wealth redistribution is a zero sum game indeed Alex, however there are many issues to consider with the distribution of provincial funds, first of all each and every public institution that receives any kind of public funding, be it provincial or federal will have their executives lobby government officials so that their services be improved (as you mentioned) and their fees be subsidized (something you do not support for UBC students). Therefore, it is the job of the AMS executive to defend the interests of the students they represent and that includes their right to affordable education. If this issue is not on your agenda it is evident that you do not care about the welfare of students and student-workers at UBC
From a politicized international student as yourself I would expect some sympathy towards financial matters concerning students, given the astronomical international tuition at UBC.
You have stated you do not care about the number, but how did you come up with $20,000 (+) yourself? And even if you were right, how can a student indebted $20,000 not interest someone who is running for President of the body which represents all students? Please remember that the average UBC student is not a Sauder student.
Thank you for your comments.