wdavis

This whole situation is funny to me. We get so angry at large financial institutions, insurance companies, and other businesses that have all this money yet raise costs, premiums, and tack on fees. Yet we just sit by and allow these institutions of higher learning to gauge our pocketbooks whenever it suits them. I know things are slow now and its affecting everyone. I admit I don't know the circumstances surrounding public schools, but these private institutions should be ashamed. Schools like Harvard, Yale, Boston College have money in the coffers. Check out the dowries of these schools. I mean billions. And alumni keep adding to it every year. These schools, if they really cared about the financial issues of their graduating, classes would dip into these funds to assist in keeping costs low. This is not the case because these schools are just like the insurance companies and financial institutions..they want to make money. Presidents of educational institutions have the same goals as their counterparts running the financial institutions.

The borrower is SLAVE to the lender. This statement has been true since the creation of the floating rock. Our grandparents knew this. That's a big reason why they are the "greatest generation". They live by this creed and thus prospered. We ignore it so we pay...and pay....and pay.

There are two issues I have with our system.of education 1) who said that college was all that important 2) why is there a necessity to jump from high school directly to college. The apprenticeship model works ten times better. In my opinion an aspiring lawyer would do much better if he just got a job working at a law firm. By working his way up he/she would gain valuable experience, hands on training, and here it comes MAKE MONEY. Even if he worked for peanuts the experience alone would be worth more than a college or university could ever teach. I would bet any amount of money that, after the same eight years the apprentice would have spent in some pampered cocoon of a college/university, he/she would be a better lawyer than 99% of Yale or Harvard graduates who at most may have done an internship. The same goes for doctors. Even still, if the individual wanted the college experience let him have a year or two to learn how the world works. It's not doing any of these teenagers any good to go from the sheltered atmosphere of mom and dad's to that big and expensive procrastination of true life we call college. By experiencing life and understanding the value of a dollar, individuals will be better prepared to make proper financial decisions. Furthermore, by waiting a few years and not throwing people (in there most immature and naive stage in life) you avoid the ignorance and stupidity that is college life.

If an individual decides to seek their higher learning from one of our countries institutions the first lesson taught should always be: the borrower is slave to the lender.

One of the lessons I've learned in the few years I've been in business is this: sometimes you do everybody a favor by charging them. While I'm not necessarily in favor of this practice for angel investors, I'm not going to condemn it either. If I was going to "pay-to-pitch" I would make sure 1) the concept is marketable (investigate competitors, keep my ear to street, etc) 2) that I had a damn good pitch. Unfortunately, some startups don't take the time to due these things or even think about the investors time. The fact is they do feel entitled. By charging a fee you eliminate the half-hearted and at least ensure that the start-ups pitching understand the importance of the situation. The companies named apparently provide a service that these entrepreneurs can not provide for themselves. They bring in the money. Therefore, they should get paid. Does anyone know if the angel investors get any of this money? Look if it's a scam it should be stopped, but if it's bad business it will stop itself.