Being a junior in high school, I have got to plan for college. One thing I value the most is the quality of life in universities. As the influence of the Economic Crisis spreads out more and more widely, colleges are being affected, even Harvard University is suffering.
Here is an interesting article on The New York Times. It elaborates the hardship today in colleges. Especially in Harvard, students are having harder time: they don’t have hot breakfasts in most dorms; varsity athletes have less benefit like getting free sweat suits and good food; clubs have to share place sometimes; staff members are laid off. The article also gives data such as the cost and some percentages.
This content about student life is important. As known, America is a big country of education. Colleges here are commonly regarded as the best. It’s probably the main reason for which international students come here study. Many parents take their children to see how things are going on in the chemistry. Therefore, college students’ lifestyle is kind of a name card of America.
Although the author mainly talks about negative phenomena going on, well at least there are still some good things, too. The school demonstrates its democracy when the faculties are asking the opinion of students about what needs to be given up and what should be kept. So this gives a good image of America.
One thing that I want to point out is that the data given in the text are significant. They illustrate the seriousness of the influence bought by Global Financial Downturn. For example, Stanford “lost $14,000 in financing” so the annual Mausoleum Party might be canceled; 25o staff members are asked to stop working; Harvard’s endowment has decreased from $36.9 billion in 2008 to $26 billion in 2009. It’s more clear and easy to understand an article when data are used. From these specific examples, people will probably have bad impression about the country.
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