College Debt, The Financial Obligation of a Lifetime

Congratulations to the class of 2014.  You will all be paying for your college debt for a good long while and the bankers thank you for this obligation you created for yourselves.

I can't open a newspaper or a magazine that there isn't some boo-hoo article about college debts and how will kids pay for all this.  Well, I have to look no further than Mom and Dad for not saving for their kids education and not giving them better council on what to get their degree in while they were in school.  I also can't say enough about the choice of schools either.  What were they thinking when they went to a school with $50k/yr. tuition?  And to top it off they got degrees in History or English or some other field without a prayer of making a decent income for all that expense and effort.

I was aghast at finding a friend of mine had managed to rack up $140K in college debts.  What are these folks thinking when they sign on the dotted line.  The average graduate these days comes out with about $25K in college debt.  The media is making a big deal about this and I have to ask why?   People routine sign on the dotted line for a new car and all they are concerned about is the monthly payment.  They quickly forget it is for 60-72 months and they have a worn out piece of rust when it is finally paid off.

Parents have the obligation to help their kids pay for college and at the same time direct them to a course of study that has a job waiting at the end of four years.  They also need not get all gushy about which school their kids attend.  Not once was I ever asked where I went to college.  Employers are more concerned about putting your kid in a room with his sheep skin and can he or she solve a problem.  Critical thinking and problem solving are more important to employers than where junior went to school.

The idea that grants and free money from the government will be there when a kid graduates from high school is a myth.  Start saving for their education the day they exit the birth canal and send them to a state supported school in-state for their undergraduate degree work. Grad school is another matter but in-state is still better than a place that will place a financial burden on the family or the student. 

Make them take 15 units or more each semester and get the hell out of college as quickly as they can.  This means advance placement in high school and they can be out in a little over three years or less. 

New Changes To Caldwell General Regulations

Caldwell Planning and Zoning Regulations are once again acting as the "good taste police" in downtown Caldwell.  Changes will require Tobacco shops and Secondhand Stores to get a special use permit.  Also noted in the ordinance changes is the requirements for "drinking establishments" to get a special use permit if they want music in their establishments.

 
All of this comes on the heels of a long and thorough effort back in the 2005-07 effort to make downtown an eclectic collection of a wide range of business enterprises and to make it easy for people to start a new business in downtown.

THE GUARDIAN is concerned the good taste police are overstepping and creating more red tape in a city known to be difficult to do business.

If this goes through it is important to note the downtown area is defined as 12th avenue to Paynter and from Grant Street to the RR tracks. The "downtown zone" is in no way the same as that defined by the urban renewal agency.  That zone goes from Dearborn to the RR tracks and from Simplot Blvd to 10th Ave., if I remember it correctly.

These proposed changes will go before the Caldwell City Council on July 7th at the regularly scheduled City Council Meeting.  These changes come on the heels of the ordinance changes to prohibit Pay-Day Loans in Caldwell.  The short title of this is 2014 Zoning Ordinance Modifications.

Update:  I got a call from P&Z Director, Brian Billingsley and upon reflection he wants to take another look at what was put together and run it by some folks for their review along with a group of citizens before the final effort goes before the City Council.

Bergdahl Should Be Court Martialed Under UCMJ

THE GUARDIAN IS A VIETNAM era veteran and finds it hard to believe Mr. Bergdahl is anything but a deserter at worst and AWOL at the least.  He should stand for a Court Martial under the Uniform Court of Military Justice, (UCMJ).  Mr. Bergdahl put his unit at risk, six other members of the Army died in the search for him and now we find his return a cause to celebrate? 

What makes this even more disturbing is, Mr. Bergdahl signed in as a volunteer in the Army. He was not drafted like most of those who served in my generation.  He could have used any number of avenues to get out of the Army.  The simple and quick way is to refuse direct orders. He would have been court martialed, given a dishonorable discharge and returned home. 

Anything less than a UCMJ Court Martial for what he did is an affront to everyone of us who served with HONOR. Any celebration of his release and return is disrespectful to everyone who has served in the various branches of the military.