Undocumented immigrants children and Higher Education

We are dealing with the same issue here in Virginia with an even higher number of undocumented students attending state colleges.  The difficult issue here is that these undocumented students want to be considered "in-state" residents so that they can pay a lower tuition rate. Sen. Ramirez of Maryland, is asking the tax payers to further subsidized the educations for this population.

We (United States) provide all young children a primary education without any "documents" showing their immigration status.  That is for ALL children.  Higher Education is not protected under that same provision. A college degree is thought of as a luxury not a right.

I agree that these students are being punished for a decision that was out of their control, but I am not sure that it is the state tax payers responsibility to pay for that decision? I don't know if their is a right answer to the undocumented residence question.

I have one suggestion, if the mother and/or father is somehow paying state taxes, then maybe we should look at another tuition rate for this group?

The Reality of Life......We all have to deal with something!

Good Sex by bell hooks made me think about how "Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus" as the quote states!  On one hand a male can look at things as being innocent and consenting, but a female in the same situation will feel violated or taken advantage of.  As I read this piece by hooks what I realized is that this article is not about a male professor and a female student, it is about power and sometimes (most of the time) the wrong people having it. I understand the women have been objectified FOREVER and until they become the majority in all situations and the POWERFULL, then the underlying sexist society will remain.

 

When I think of professors and students having "relations" I think on one hand the young lady is over 18 and makes her own decisions. I don't think that schools should persecute people for making adult decisions unless it is found that a law has been broken.  I have a daughter and I hope that I raise her to understand that ALL of your choices have good and/or bad consequences. I want her to explore herself and go through self-realization during her young adult life.  The way that I raise her to respect herself and always love herself is one thing that I hope gets her through the perils of being a black women in America. It ain't easy, but you have to deal with it!

I loved the fact that hooks wrote this kind of piece knowing that she had firsthand knowledge of the subject. 

Now, I am not condoning the act of a person of power preying on another, but the other person has at one point in all relationships a point where they are in control.

Selling Hot Pussy by hooks also had me thinking about how women can use and should use what they have in some situations to get what you want.  I am not talking about sex, I am talking about using the stupidity of man against him.  I love women, but I also understand that I have almost no power over them and (as I tell my daughter), women have all the power, they just don't know it.  That is the general statement regarding women, this piece by hooks talks about black women and how they always had it bad and that is the burden they have to bare.  Generations upon generations have used the black women for pleasure and made them think that being black and having black features is not beautiful.  I look at Halle Berry, Lena Horne and Dorothy Dandridge and that is what our society has deemed to be beautiful.  I have women of all colors in my family and I still get the "light skinned" black comments at family reunions and "house nigger".  As the piece stated we objectify ourselves then expect someone to respect us!

Now looking at this in other races women have been treated as second class citizens and sex objects, maids, and secretaries far worse than the American women.  When I think of Asians, Muslims, Hispanic nations I see that women are truly looked at as being second class citizens in the male dominated society.

Romancing the Student by Gibbs, Epperson and Rochman  again affirmed what my thoughts were after reading Good Sex.  We need to deal with relationships on campus between professors and students on an individual basis and not try to control the personal lives of anyone. Administrators, university presidents, boards of trustees can only hope that all parties involved will make adult decisions and understand that both are responsible, and no matter what the outcome can or will be, you have to face it to protect yourself in the long run.

These readings were extremely interesting and prevalent to all of our careers moving forward. Diversity and then fair treatment are key to developing a strong working environment that fosters ideas and challenging dialogue for students to learn and understand their voices do count, that being different is great and loving oneself is the key component to survival!

My First Experience with this blogging thing...

Good Evening Everyone,

I am a person fighting with these new mediums of communication such as blogging, tweeting and text messaging. I am of another generation that states "communication is overrated"!  I am a fish out of water at this time.