‘Headphone Disco’ UCF blow out Florida Tech Event brings students, Knights take home win, music for good cause take out Panthers by large margin 3 8 Volume 17, Issue 12 www.ValenciaVoice.com Dec. 5 , 2012 Banquet brings insight Clear college costs? Firsthand look at hunger Oxfam America is one of 17 international Congress is trying to help branches of a worldwide relief effort. By Renee Schoof across US and world wide “Last year, we had 100 people show McClatchy Newspapers up,” said Professor Subhas Rampersaud. By Amber Hastings This year’s banquet had 55 people in WASHINGTON — College “By the time a fam- [email protected] attendance. By the luck of the draw, nine is one of the biggest investments ily receives acceptances people were seated at upper-class tables people make, but it can be hard to and financial aid letters in WEST CAMPUS — The world’s that were set with silverware and the first estimate in advance just how big. the spring, it’s too late for wealthiest 10 percent have a yearly in- course of a three-course meal. Congress stepped in a few do-overs,” said Lynn come of $12,000,000. Chairs set on the three sides of the audi- years ago with a law requiring O’Shaughnessy, the The Human Empathy Rights Organi- torium sat the 16 people who drew tickets that colleges and universities offer author of a con- zation’s (HERO) hunger banquet repre- that represented the world’s middle class an online tool to help families get sumer book about sented these figures by separating guests demographic. The remaining thirty people a handle on it. college costs, “The into classes that represented the world’s sat on the floor with no pillow or cushion For the past year, schools have College Solution.” upper, middle, and lower classes. for the banquet, mirroring 60 percent of the Mike Gramajo / Valencia Voice had to post “net price calculators” “You can’t start The banquet, which was developed world’s population living in poverty. West Campus president Falecia Williams on their websites for students to de- the process all over by Oxfam America, aimed to bring aware- “We tend to live in this world with participated as a member of the middle class. termine the full cost of attending, again if the schools ness to poverty and hunger as a world- a mythical view that everything is fine minus scholarships. turned out to wide issue as opposed to just a local one. and it’s not,” said Rampersaud. to mirror the economic that takes place. be stingy.” Those who live in the lower class rep- During a break in the presentation, buck- But all net resent the sixty percent of the world’s pop- ets of rice were placed on the floor for price calculators ulation who make less that $2.70 a day. guests in the lower class to eat that night. are not created For this demographic, it is not un- At the same time, guests seated at tables equal, and common for an entire day to revolve chose from a selection of dressings for the — See “Debt” around gathering water for survival. Ac- first course salad. Those seated in chairs on Page 1 cording to Oxfam, even the most basic were served a meal of rice, beans, and water. healthcare is unavailable and education “It was about 25 pounds of rice and is limited for children. Education for 42 cans of beans, “ said HERO member girls is even more difficult to come by. Stephanie Feliciano. Some in attendance were asked to Feliciano prepared the rice and beans move from upper class tables to the floor — See “Hunger banquet” on Page 4 14304-The Valencia Voice :Layout 1 11/7/12 9:00 AM Page 1 www.valenciavoice.com NEWS Dec. 5, 2012 2 of Technology who’s an adviser at College Coach, a Debt private college-admissions consulting firm. Others said that more complicated versions — Continued from Page 1 could be daunting. “I think they have the potential to be tremen- schools have flexibility in how they present them. dously helpful, but two things will determine Indeed, an immediate problem is that some whether they really are: if people use them, and schools don’t make them very easy to find. secondly, if they’re user-friendly,” said Michelle When you do find them, some calculators can Asha Cooper, the president of the Institute for take about 20 minutes to fill out because they re- Higher Education Policy, a policy research group quire pulling information from tax returns and that focuses on helping low-income and minority other family financial records. students succeed in college. Still, they provide an early estimate though Part of being user-friendly is being schools make it clear that students still must apply easy to find. for financial aid and that what they receive could be The Institute for College Access different. and Success, a nonprofit group that The concept is simple: When students advocates for college affordability, said plug in their financial information, in a report last month that schools Barry Law students (L-R) Brian Kozlowski, they receive estimated net prices should put the net-price calcula- Leanne Palmer, John Berry based on what similar students tors in prominent places on paid in a previous year. their financial aid or costs “It takes into consider- pages so that potential ation the institution’s fi- applicants, and parents, nancial aid policies, and who weren’t aware of the gives a more accurate pic- tools might discover them ture of what the out-of-pocket more easily. BARRY LAW Makes its Case costs are likely to be for a family,” said Sacramento State University, for exam- Irene Jasper, the director of student ple, has a link under “resources” on its lending at Duke University. financial aid page. Tacoma Community Providing students with the skills and knowledge to aid society Now enrolling Some calculators also ask for grades, College in Washington put the calculator through the competent and ethical practice of law is what drives class ranks and SAT or ACT test scores to determine on its student consumer information page, reached by the Barry University Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law. The new students for whether students are eligible for merit aid, which isn’t clicking the “About TCC” tab on the home page. real-world legal skills developed at Barry Law are showcased by January 2013 based on need. The more information, the better the Kim Matison in the Tacoma Community College . our championship-caliber trial and moot court teams. That same estimate, O’Shaughnessy said. financial aid office said her office had been talking legal expertise is displayed by our graduates every day in law Some private colleges already had embarked on about making the calculator more visible. offices and courtrooms. the idea before it became a website requirement. O’Shaughnessy said the calculator was a boon But because many now give only average for parents, who could get more personal estimates www.barry.edu/Valencia amounts for grant awards, based on income, the of what schools would cost them before their chil- net price calculators are “a good idea that’s been dren went through the time-consuming, and often watered down,” said Robert Weinerman, a former anxiety-ridden, effort of applying. financial aid officer at the Massachusetts Institute — MCT Campus Barry University School of Law is fully accredited by the American Bar Association (Section of Legal Education & Admissions to the Bar, ABA, 321 N. Clark Street, Chicago, IL 60654, 312-988-6738). ORLANDO, FLORIDA www.valenciavoice.com NEWS Dec. 5, 2012 3 East Campus tries to hold ‘Headphone Disco’ HuNGEr HAs A Event brings students, music for good cause By Shannon Scheidell lected a lot of food,” which was the ini- FAVorItE [email protected] tial goal of the event. Trent wore a gray three-piece suit, bHANuNGEd, r Student Development and the Valen- with a royal purple tie to accent his out- cia Volunteers organized a special “Glow fit. Other students wore rave-like attire, HAs A the Night Away” Headphone Disco sporting brightly colored T-shirts with too. event, Friday night, for those who be- glow sticks around their necks. lieve that no one should go hungry dur- Carlos Lebron Rivera, Valencia Vol- FAV1 IN 6 AMEorrIcANs ItE ing this holiday season. unteers coordinator, said it was a great struGGlEs WItH HuNGEr. Charitable intentions and eclectic tastes success, considering it was a Friday. in music brought a diverse group of peo- “Though each campus is different, I bANd, ple together on the first floor of Valencia’s was surprised about how many people East Campus, in a room near the cafeteria, showed up,” said Student Development too. where beats echoing from the speakers advisor Lauren Kaplan. could be heard from outside the building. She credits Lebron Rivera as being a big Courtesy of Lauren M. Kaplan 1 IN 6 AMErIcANs The original plan was for two DJs to influence in her decision to organize the Participants helped donate to the Second Harvest food bank and the Coalition for the Homeless. struGGlEs WItH HuNGEr. play separate styles of music at the same “Glow the Night Away” Headphone Disco. time, while attendees were handed a pair “The whole point of Valencia Volunteers students and anyone seeking informa- dies to his custom-made mix. With the of headphones to wear, given the choice is to help the community,” Kaplan said. tion about the school. There was a signif- party beginning to thin out at around to switch between two channels of tunes.