There's a hunger problem on America's college campuses

[Sanguine]

Montclair State University's food pantry is tucked away down a maze of hallways in the student center. Like the hunger problem on campus itself, the pantry is not quite out in the open.

It opened on the New Jersey college's campus in April, after administrators started hearing from students who said they were hungry and didn't have enough money for food. They surveyed students, finding that more than half said they or someone they know experiences "food insecurity" -- the lack of access to affordable, nutritious food.

On one Thursday in December, 33 students visited the food pantry, taking what they need to help make ends meet. They left with bread, cereal, milk, spaghetti, canned vegetables, as well as personal items like shampoo and soap.

"Even if you don't hear about hunger being a problem, there's probably a population on campus in need," said Megan Breitenbach, a student who volunteers at Montclair State's pantry.

Related: This could help fix America's student debt crisis

The number of food pantries on college campuses is exploding. ...

http://money.cnn.com/2016/12/06/pf/college/college-food-pantry/index.html

I thought college students are always hungry?

[Idaho_Cowboy]

I'll bet it doesn't amount to a hill of beans. 

[geronl]

They have enough for binge drinking though

[rodamala]

Send more quinoa, kale, and pumpkin spice lattes!

[Cripplecreek]

When Rick Snyder became governor here in Michigan one of the first things he did was cut some 30,000 college stupids off food stamps they didn't need.

We had millionaire trust fund babies getting food stamps because Jenny Grandtheft said they shouldn't have to worry about where their next meal is coming from.

[truth_seeker]

I came close to hunger as a 18 year old college sophomore, after my father kicked me out of his house.

He had been telling me, that since I seemed to know it all already, I needed to be out on my own.

The next few years found me growing up, including marriage, fatherhood, military service, being self-supporting SINCE 18, since  out of NECESSITY.

The more I see and hear about millennials, the more I believe they are a reflection of America's decline, for reasons like entitlement and victimhood.(And almost total ignorance regarding history, some aspects of honest and morality)

There was no food cache at school. You needed to GET A JOB. So I did.





 

[17 Oaks]

I came close to hunger as a 18 year old college sophomore, after my father kicked me out of his house.

He had been telling me, that since I seemed to know it all already, I needed to be out on my own.

The next few years found me growing up, including marriage, fatherhood, military service, being self-supporting SINCE 18, since  out of NECESSITY.

The more I see and hear about millennials, the more I believe they are a reflection of America's decline, for reasons like entitlement and victimhood.(And almost total ignorance regarding history, some aspects of honest and morality)

There was no food cache at school. You needed to GET A JOB. So I did.

Life is tough, whole lot tougher if you are stupid and when these losers get out of school and into the University of HARD KNOCKS they are going to be shocked into reality.  Some will see the light, work hard and rise to the occasion.  But I am afraid a lot will not hack it and end up on a poverty program.


Which leads me to my plan for fixing the poverty in America.  First you separate out the Sick and Lame from the Lazy.  You tell the lazy that they can gave all there benefits for 12 more months and every month they will receive 1/12th less money than the month before, so ya got 12 mo to find a job and make money, if not, then it becomes the old axe of 'how long can you tread water'...

[rodamala]

Life is tough, whole lot tougher if you are stupid and when these losers get out of school and into the University of HARD KNOCKS they are going to be shocked into reality.  Some will see the light, work hard and rise to the occasion.  But I am afraid a lot will not hack it and end up on a poverty program.


Which leads me to my plan for fixing the poverty in America.  First you separate out the Sick and Lame from the Lazy.  You tell the lazy that they can gave all there benefits for 12 more months and every month they will receive 1/12th less money than the month before, so ya got 12 mo to find a job and make money, if not, then it becomes the old axe of 'how long can you tread water'...

Natural Order... the lazy prostitute themselves in one way or another, OR STARVE.

[Suppressed]

There was no food cache at school. You needed to GET A JOB. So I did.

Unless you did this last year, times have changed a lot since then.

With current minimum wage and rent, one would have to work 112 weeks per year (tell me how) to pay for a 2-bedroom apartment, using average rents across the country.  That's rent alone.

Now, for tuition...



In the 70s, you could earn tuition over summer break.  Not anymore.

Even "getting a job" means one has to work more hours than there are in a day....leaving no time for sleep, studying, going to class, etc.  Plus, you need a time machine.

So where is the food coming from?

[17 Oaks]

Unless you did this last year, times have changed a lot since then.

With current minimum wage and rent, one would have to work 112 weeks per year (tell me how) to pay for a 2-bedroom apartment, using average rents across the country.  That's rent alone.

Now, for tuition...



In the 70s, you could earn tuition over summer break.  Not anymore.

Even "getting a job" means one has to work more hours than there are in a day....leaving no time for sleep, studying, going to class, etc.  Plus, you need a time machine.

So where is the food coming from?

No sweat my grasshopper, I can fix college tuition:  In fact its easy.  Yes I remember well the days of earning most of my tuition and books over the summer, but as the chart shows, never more said the raven.  Lets go to the root of the problem!  Who loans the money and what kind of profit do they make...its the time worn "follow the money trail" and in this case he leads directly to the FEDS and they are making a killing on it, usury rates in fact.  Get the Feds out of the lending business 100% and whatch the cost of college PLUNGE!


Right now the Feds are holding onto >$1 T LARGE in student debt.

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

Unless you did this last year, times have changed a lot since then.

With current minimum wage and rent, one would have to work 112 weeks per year (tell me how) to pay for a 2-bedroom apartment, using average rents across the country.  That's rent alone.

Now, for tuition...

Let's see.  I've worked minimum wage jobs in the past.  Never for more than a month or so.  Not because I quit, but because once your employer sees that you are always going to show up, and even take extra shifts when someone else doesn't (which is very often), and do the job you're paid for they tend to very quickly start deploying raises to keep you.    Those extra shifts lead to overtime (1.5x pay) and some jobs pay overtime after 8 hours per day  So the idea of minimum wage is out the window.

But even if you did work minimum wage full time:  1) Don't get a two bedroom.  2) Get a roommate.  3) Get a cheap apartment. It might take 112 40-hour weeks of minimum wage labor to pay for the AVERAGE 2 bedroom apartment, but then that includes apartments that are more geared towards families (and apartments in Manhatten).  So the 112 weeks for rent thing is out the window.

Now, for tuition...  When I went to college (early 90's) I paid less than $1,000/semester for full time undergrad (full time being 12 hours or more, with a default max of 18 hours).  I could have done the first two years at a CC for a fraction of that.  My university actually had 40% of its students from a city in a neighboring state, because our out of state tuition was considerably less than their instate.  At the time, I believe places like Harvard were getting around $25,000.  So if you looked at AVERAGE tuition, it was probably a lot higher than I paid.  But then, I could choose to pay a lot less than average.

[17 Oaks]

Let's see.  I've worked minimum wage jobs in the past.  Never for more than a month or so.  Not because I quit, but because once your employer sees that you are always going to show up, and even take extra shifts when someone else doesn't (which is very often), and do the job you're paid for they tend to very quickly start deploying raises to keep you.    Those extra shifts lead to overtime (1.5x pay) and some jobs pay overtime after 8 hours per day  So the idea of minimum wage is out the window.

But even if you did work minimum wage full time:  1) Don't get a two bedroom.  2) Get a roommate.  3) Get a cheap apartment. It might take 112 40-hour weeks of minimum wage labor to pay for the AVERAGE 2 bedroom apartment, but then that includes apartments that are more geared towards families (and apartments in Manhatten).  So the 112 weeks for rent thing is out the window.

Now, for tuition...  When I went to college (early 90's) I paid less than $1,000/semester for full time undergrad (full time being 12 hours or more, with a default max of 18 hours).  I could have done the first two years at a CC for a fraction of that.  My university actually had 40% of its students from a city in a neighboring state, because our out of state tuition was considerably less than their instate.  At the time, I believe places like Harvard were getting around $25,000.  So if you looked at AVERAGE tuition, it was probably a lot higher than I paid.  But then, I could choose to pay a lot less than average.

Here is one of the best ways to save money...live as close as you can to where you work.  Even if you have to pay a bit more the savings on fuel and even on owning a car and ins etc are high vs living with in walking distance or even short driving distance.

[geronl]

Right now the Feds are holding onto >$1 T LARGE in student debt.

Here is a way to fix it:

Make the college the borrower, not the student. Watch how fast fiscal responsibility and discipline make a come back.

[Applewood]

Two words:  Ramen Noodles

I know a number of college students who lived on them.  They didn't starve.

[CSM]

The root cause is not that they don't have the funds to maintain proper nurishment, instead it is because they have not learned to cook for themselves.  They don't even know how to make ramen noodles.  This is a result of the constant coddling and helicoptering parenting style.

They have plenty of funding, they lack knowledge and motivation to properly utilize their funding.

[CSM]

Unless you did this last year, times have changed a lot since then.

With current minimum wage and rent, one would have to work 112 weeks per year (tell me how) to pay for a 2-bedroom apartment, using average rents across the country.  That's rent alone.

Darn right "times have changed" since I was in school.  It would have been outrageous for any student to expect to be able to afford a 2 bedroom apartment on his/her own.  We might have had a 2 BR apt, but it would have had a minimum of 4 students living there.

[mountaineer]

Wouldn't purchasing a college's most basic room and board plan cost a heck of a lot less than a two-bedroom apartment? I suspect the kiddies don't want to live in the dorm so they don't have to be subjected to those mean ol' no-alcohol, no-drugs rules.

[Cripplecreek]

Two words:  Ramen Noodles

I know a number of college students who lived on them.  They didn't starve.

I still buy Ramen noodle 12 packs. In fact I bought three 12 packs last week. I add meat and veggies and its a lunch.

[mountaineer]

I still buy Ramen noodle 12 packs. In fact I bought three 12 packs last week. I add meat and veggies and its a lunch.

I admit to liking that silly cole slaw with ramen noodles, a favorite at church potlucks.

[Idaho_Cowboy]

I go upscale and buy Chuka Soba noodles. They make great ramen and stir-fry without that styrofoam flavor of the cheap packages.

[Applewood]

Wouldn't purchasing a college's most basic room and board plan cost a heck of a lot less than a two-bedroom apartment? I suspect the kiddies don't want to live in the dorm so they don't have to be subjected to those mean ol' no-alcohol, no-drugs rules.

Possibly.  But there could be more legitimate reasons.   My brother spent his freshman year in a dorm.  The next year, he and several of his buddies pooled their resources and rented a house off campus.  The owner gave them a break on the rent in exchange for doing basic chores such as mowing the lawn.  My brother said it was nearly impossible to study in a dorm with all the partying and loud music going on all the time.

[geronl]

Montclair State University

http://www.montclair.edu/about-montclair/tuition-and-fees/

room and board costs: $0 for in and out of state students

$0 is exorbitant, ain't nobody can afford that!!

[geronl]

Wouldn't purchasing a college's most basic room and board plan cost a heck of a lot less than a two-bedroom apartment? I suspect the kiddies don't want to live in the dorm so they don't have to be subjected to those mean ol' no-alcohol, no-drugs rules.

It's the opposite these days from what I gather and remember nowadays the dorms are co-ed

[mirraflake]

Wouldn't purchasing a college's most basic room and board plan cost a heck of a lot less than a two-bedroom apartment? I suspect the kiddies don't want to live in the dorm so they don't have to be subjected to those mean ol' no-alcohol, no-drugs rules.

Most schools require first year students to live in a dorm.

After my first year I lived in a fraternity but most of my friends moved to apartments..more privacy, can pick your roomates better etc

I actually liked living in the dorm my first year.

@mountaineer

[mirraflake]

The more I see and hear about millennials, the more I believe they are a reflection of America's decline, for reasons like entitlement and victimhood.(And almost total ignorance regarding history, some aspects of honest and morality)

Some millenials..most are not like that. Most are hard working and very conservative. My nieces and nephews in college TODAY tell me the idiots you see protesting are a very small segment of most college populations and most of the students laugh at them.

Milo has a video on this  as well.

@truth_seeker