Book reveals Harvard pupils' cunning trick to get luxury cars, financial aid
Mon, Jun 30 04:05 AM
New York, June 30 (ANI): A journalist claims in his upcoming book that pupils at Harvard Business School used to play a cunning trick to buy luxury cars and get financial aid, when he was a university student.
Philip Delves Broughton writes in 'Ahead of the Curve' about his two years at the Ivy League university, telling that he was stunned to find a number of students driving BMWs, Porsches, Lexuses, Mini Coopers and Lincoln Navigators, while he only had a 2,000-dollar Toyota.
"Once you get accepted into HBS, you want to clear out your bank account so that you can get more financial aid. When you list your assets in the financial-aid application, you don't have to mention your car . . . You buy a car for 20,000 dollars, maybe you get an extra 20,000 dollars in financial aid, so basically HBS buys you a BMW. If you hadn't bought the car, you'd have to pay 20,000 dollars out of your savings," the New York Post quoted him recalling what a student once told him.
The author writes that he was jolted by "the idea of these 25-year-old Wall Street jerks fiddling with their financial aid forms, with the connivance of their parents and the local BMW dealerships."
Representatives for the school were unavailable for comment. (ANI)
Monday, June 30, 2008
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Rising Cost of Education: Schools more expensive than Colleges
'School expenses rise by 160% in 8 years'
30 Jun 2008, 0140 hrs IST, Abantika Ghosh,TNN
NEW DELHI: While politicians battle it out over inflation and the prices of onions and brinjals, the probable blow for the Indian middle class with its obsession for a 'good' education are the rising school expenses. According to an ASSOCHAM survey, the costs of sending a child to school have risen by 160% in the last 8 years. What's more, this figure is exclusive of the tuition fees hiked every now and then.
The survey, done under the aegis of the Social Development Foundation of ASSOCHAM on 'Rising school expenses vis-a-vis dilemma of young parents' says annual school expenses for a single child excluding tuition fees have risen from Rs 25,000 in 2000 to Rs 65,000 in 2008 while the average annual income of fairly well-off parents has not risen by more than 30% in the same period. The average tuition fees for a private school is Rs 35,000 per year, with Rs 30,000-35,000 per year as expense for a host of 'overheads'. An estimated 3 crore children in the country study in private schools, says the survey.
The 2,000 working parents across were surveyed across nine cities—Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow, Dehradun, Pune, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai and Chandigarh—during April and May this year. One in 10 respondents said the cost of schooling did affect the choice of school. These were parents of young enough kids who had the option of changing schools. Sixty-five per cent respondents said more than half of their salary was spent on their children's education while 50% conceded schooling was actually a 'strain' on the family budget.
Nearly 60% of parents felt education had become a business and that the high tuition fees did not actually indicate the academic standards of a school. Rather, it indicated a demand-supply function so that school managements could effect erratic fee hikes every year—something parents can not protest. Even private preparatory schools charge Rs 25,000 a term, the survey says.
Said a parent with two children studying in a very reputed chain of schools, 'Every year there is a hike. Every few days there is something or the other in school for which I have to cough up more money.'
Transport has emerged as one of the most expensive components of a child's schooling with an average annual cost of Rs 12,000 per child. Packed lunches cost Rs 9,600 per year per child and shoes cost Rs 4,000-5,000 per year per child.
Said Rakhi Sengupta, whose daughter studies in a reputed private school in south Delhi, 'It's all a racket but we can do nothing about it.' This 'brand consciousness" too finds a mention in the survey.
30 Jun 2008, 0140 hrs IST, Abantika Ghosh,TNN
NEW DELHI: While politicians battle it out over inflation and the prices of onions and brinjals, the probable blow for the Indian middle class with its obsession for a 'good' education are the rising school expenses. According to an ASSOCHAM survey, the costs of sending a child to school have risen by 160% in the last 8 years. What's more, this figure is exclusive of the tuition fees hiked every now and then.
The survey, done under the aegis of the Social Development Foundation of ASSOCHAM on 'Rising school expenses vis-a-vis dilemma of young parents' says annual school expenses for a single child excluding tuition fees have risen from Rs 25,000 in 2000 to Rs 65,000 in 2008 while the average annual income of fairly well-off parents has not risen by more than 30% in the same period. The average tuition fees for a private school is Rs 35,000 per year, with Rs 30,000-35,000 per year as expense for a host of 'overheads'. An estimated 3 crore children in the country study in private schools, says the survey.
The 2,000 working parents across were surveyed across nine cities—Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow, Dehradun, Pune, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai and Chandigarh—during April and May this year. One in 10 respondents said the cost of schooling did affect the choice of school. These were parents of young enough kids who had the option of changing schools. Sixty-five per cent respondents said more than half of their salary was spent on their children's education while 50% conceded schooling was actually a 'strain' on the family budget.
Nearly 60% of parents felt education had become a business and that the high tuition fees did not actually indicate the academic standards of a school. Rather, it indicated a demand-supply function so that school managements could effect erratic fee hikes every year—something parents can not protest. Even private preparatory schools charge Rs 25,000 a term, the survey says.
Said a parent with two children studying in a very reputed chain of schools, 'Every year there is a hike. Every few days there is something or the other in school for which I have to cough up more money.'
Transport has emerged as one of the most expensive components of a child's schooling with an average annual cost of Rs 12,000 per child. Packed lunches cost Rs 9,600 per year per child and shoes cost Rs 4,000-5,000 per year per child.
Said Rakhi Sengupta, whose daughter studies in a reputed private school in south Delhi, 'It's all a racket but we can do nothing about it.' This 'brand consciousness" too finds a mention in the survey.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Debate on SEx education:Did Ellen Lindsey cross the limit?
Did Sex-Ed Class Cross Thin Line?
Some Parents Enraged at Explicit Talk; Sex Experts Say Guidelines Too Restrictive
By DAN CHILDS, JON WIENER and RUSSELL GOLDMAN
June 6, 2008
In an episode that has reignited debate over what kids in classrooms should hear about sex, a Utah middle school teacher has come under fire for leading what parents said were explicit discussions during an eighth-grade sex education class.
Teacher placed on leave for "educational" pamphlet sent home with students.
The teacher was placed on paid administrative leave while an investigation is carried out.
But the case has divided sex experts and some educators, who believe that the state's restrictions on sex education are far too strict, which, they say, prevents 13- and 14-year-olds from receiving adequate information about risky sexual behaviors.
The teacher, Ellen Lindsey, is in her first year on the faculty of Fort Herriman Middle School in Herriman, Utah. Before taking her current post, she had taught for 30 years in another district.
Exactly what the lesson included is unclear. But the parents of the children involved have alleged that Lindsey exposed their children to explicit messages and pictures in the course of the class.
Attempts to reach Lindsey at her home number were unsuccessful. Mike Sirois, principal of Fort Herriman Middle School, said that he has since talked to Lindsey about the discussions that took place in her class. And he said that it appears the subject matter discussed went beyond the border of what is permitted by the state regulations on the discussion of sexual material in a classroom.
"It was stuff of a sexual nature that went beyond the curriculum, he said. "Her side is that hindsight is 20/20, that she probably shouldn't have said some of the things that were said."
But, Sirois noted, "She disputes some of the issues, like the depth of her discussions on these matters."
Meanwhile, school board officials would not confirm the nature of the topics that Lindsey discussed in her class.
"It's an employee issue," said school board spokesman Mike Kelley. "On the specific issues we do not have a lot we can say."
And, according to ABC affiliate reports, officials from the Jordan Education Association have instructed Lindsey not to talk to the media for now. One education official involved with the matter said Lindsey has not yet conferred with the JEA attorney on her next step, which could involve a statement to the media.
But some parents have been vocal about the alleged incident.
"The teacher was entertaining questions and expounding on topics outside the state statute," said Dewayne Smith, the father of a 14-year-old eighth grader in the class. "She was talking about anal sex, oral sex, masturbation, mechanical instruments to enhance masturbation and historical instances of self-abortion with a hanger.
"If I met a kid on the street and started talking this way to a minor I'd be thrown in jail."
Smith also said he heard that Lindsey presented her students with an adult-themed cartoon and solicited questions from the students about sex.
Some Parents Enraged at Explicit Talk; Sex Experts Say Guidelines Too Restrictive
By DAN CHILDS, JON WIENER and RUSSELL GOLDMAN
June 6, 2008
In an episode that has reignited debate over what kids in classrooms should hear about sex, a Utah middle school teacher has come under fire for leading what parents said were explicit discussions during an eighth-grade sex education class.
Teacher placed on leave for "educational" pamphlet sent home with students.
The teacher was placed on paid administrative leave while an investigation is carried out.
But the case has divided sex experts and some educators, who believe that the state's restrictions on sex education are far too strict, which, they say, prevents 13- and 14-year-olds from receiving adequate information about risky sexual behaviors.
The teacher, Ellen Lindsey, is in her first year on the faculty of Fort Herriman Middle School in Herriman, Utah. Before taking her current post, she had taught for 30 years in another district.
Exactly what the lesson included is unclear. But the parents of the children involved have alleged that Lindsey exposed their children to explicit messages and pictures in the course of the class.
Attempts to reach Lindsey at her home number were unsuccessful. Mike Sirois, principal of Fort Herriman Middle School, said that he has since talked to Lindsey about the discussions that took place in her class. And he said that it appears the subject matter discussed went beyond the border of what is permitted by the state regulations on the discussion of sexual material in a classroom.
"It was stuff of a sexual nature that went beyond the curriculum, he said. "Her side is that hindsight is 20/20, that she probably shouldn't have said some of the things that were said."
But, Sirois noted, "She disputes some of the issues, like the depth of her discussions on these matters."
Meanwhile, school board officials would not confirm the nature of the topics that Lindsey discussed in her class.
"It's an employee issue," said school board spokesman Mike Kelley. "On the specific issues we do not have a lot we can say."
And, according to ABC affiliate reports, officials from the Jordan Education Association have instructed Lindsey not to talk to the media for now. One education official involved with the matter said Lindsey has not yet conferred with the JEA attorney on her next step, which could involve a statement to the media.
But some parents have been vocal about the alleged incident.
"The teacher was entertaining questions and expounding on topics outside the state statute," said Dewayne Smith, the father of a 14-year-old eighth grader in the class. "She was talking about anal sex, oral sex, masturbation, mechanical instruments to enhance masturbation and historical instances of self-abortion with a hanger.
"If I met a kid on the street and started talking this way to a minor I'd be thrown in jail."
Smith also said he heard that Lindsey presented her students with an adult-themed cartoon and solicited questions from the students about sex.
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