Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 110, No. 290, Ed. 1 Monday, May 19, 2014 Page: 4 of 8
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OPINION
4A
Monday, May 19, 2014
Denton Record-Chronicle
Denton Record-Chronicle
For-profit
schools
not the
problem
Published by Denton Publishing Co.,
a subsidiary of A.H. Belo Corporation
they re.
ONLY* TOES...
Founded from weekly newspapers,
the Denton Chronicle, established in 1882,
and the Denton Record, established in 1897.
Published daily as the Denton
Record-Chronicle since Aug. 3,1903.
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EDITORIAL BOARD
Bill Patterson
Publisher and CEO
Dawn Cobb
Managing Editor
Dianna Hunt
City Editor
Les Cockrell
Region Editor
Mark Finley
News Editor
PAST PUBLISHERS
William C. “Will” Edwards
1903-1927
Robert J. “Bob” Edwards
1927-1945
Riley Cross
1945-1970
Vivian Cross
1970-1986
Fred Patterson
1986-1999
&
_v,
ive the Obama administration credit
G
7l
for consistency if nothing else when it
comes to targeting the for-profit edu-
cation sector.
In March, the Department of Education
proposed new rules (whose public comment
period ends May 27) that may put some for-
profit schools out ofbusiness for no good rea-
son. A federal judge struck down similar
rules in 2012, but that
didn’t stop the depart-
ment from trying
%
YV
I
Editorials published in the Denton Record-Chronicle
are determined by the editorial board.
Questions and suggestions should be directed to the:
Denton Record-Chronicle
314 E. Hickory St., Denton, TX 76201
Phone: 940-387-3811
Fax: 940-566-6888
E-mail: drc@dentonrc.com
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The question is:
Fox News, GOP are
not in same business
Why?
Not everyone bene-
fits from being bom to
wealthy parents who
can afford to pay for
college. Increasingly,
middle-income stu-
ahbelo.com NYSE symbol: AHC
Linda
Chavez
Other voices
he curtain has dropped on the tale of
Cliven Bundy, the Nevada rancher fa-
mous for refusing to pay grazing fees
for use of public land. He became a hero to
anti-government zealots who oddly failed to
see this second helping of taxpayer largesse
(the modest fees he didn’t pay already re-
flected a government
subsidy) as the action
of a taker, not a maker.
But Bundy provid-
ed an especially pictur-
esque story custom-
made for conservative
Fox News. Here was a
rancher on a horse,
mad at the govern-
ment and surrounded
by a band of do-not-
tread-on-me-or-my-
Medicare-benefits supporters. All this and
heaven, too.
Liberal cable networks are not above
flogging minor stories with mind-freezing
repetition. But Fox News Channel excels at
the political freak show and is extra-careful
not to bore viewers with facts.
Because both Fox and Republican poli-
ticians want to appeal to people who think
themselves conservative, the politicos often
think they are in the same business. They are
not. Cable channels want viewers. Politi-
cians want voters.
Car wrecks attract spectators, not ap-
proval. Thus, Fox can be a trap for serious
Republicans. This is something many of my
conservative friends understand and liberal
ones, seeing Fox as a threat, do not.
Sen. Rand Paul, the Kentucky Republi-
can and likely presidential candidate,
thought he could get an easy Fox pat on the
back by hopping on the Bundy stagecoach.
But just as he settled in to his seat, the horses
broke away with the rancher’s primitive
comments on race.
Paul quickly distanced himself from
dents must borrow if
they want to further their education after
high school.
And the problems are even more severe
for nontraditional students who are older,
poorer and often the first in their family to
receive post-secondary education.
Those in the latter group seek opportuni-
ty in the for-profit education sector because
it meets their needs better than traditional
universities or colleges.
But they may soon find this avenue
blocked, as well.
At issue are rules that seek to impose a
“gainful employment” requirement on for-
profit schools and non-degree programs in
community colleges.
The rule is more than 70 pages long, but
the essence is that these institutions would
be prohibited from participating in federally
guaranteed loan programs if their graduates
fail to meet the arbitrary criteria the depart-
ment has developed for payback on the
loans.
Bundy. So did Fox News host Sean Hannity,
abruptly denouncing the remarks as “igno-
rant, racist, repugnant, despicable.” But they
experienced very different outcomes from
the story.
Paul had made the rookie mistake of pre-
maturely embracing a right-wing passion du
jour, without contemplating the possible
downside. Anyone who spent 10 minutes
considering Bundy’s radical anti-govern-
ment rant would have recognized the great
risk of far less popular views leaking out of
the package. Paul showed bad judgment and
saddled himself with Bundy quotes for years
to come.
Hannity, by contrast, did just fine.
Whether Hannity was on the Bundy up es-
calator or the down escalator didn’t matter
in gauging his metric for success. He rode
the Bundy story to the top of the tea party hit
charts. Then his vividly abandoning the
rancher raked in more attention than did his
previous support.
Several things happened. When Bundy’s
daughter Shiree Bundy Cox accused Hanni-
ty of ditching her father to protect his rat-
ings, she was right on both accounts —
though her notion that he had dumped her
father solely over his racist comments was
overly simple. Yes, Hannity didn’t want to be
associated with them, but yes, executing that
about-turn in such gaudy fashion made
Hannity himself the news for a cycle.
And some of his boost came courtesy of
the liberal media. Wow, even Hannity
couldn’t support Bundy anymore, they said
with great self-satisfaction.
Again, liberal outlets have their broken-
record tales of right-wing infamy, often ac-
companied by minimal reportage. But on
whipping up the faithful, Fox News has no
equal. And that’s not always good for the Re-
publican side.
FROMA HARROP is a columnist far
The Providence Journal. Her column is
distributed by Creators Syndicate Inc.
Energy prices a
moving target
T
fter a harsh winter, it’s time to get out and hit the
open road. So what’s with $4-a-gallon gasoline?
North American oil production is on the rise, so
you might have expected a break at the pump by now. Yet
gas prices remain stubbornly high.
What happened to the homegrown energy boom?
Wasn’t North Dakota supposed to be America’s Saudi
Arabia? How come gas isn’t back to $2 a gallon?
The boom is real, and North Dakota, along with states
and Canadian provinces, is producing a gusher of oil. The
North American energy bonanza now underway is help-
ing the U.S. economy to pull out of the doldrums. It
helped ease the pain of Chicago residents during the cold
winter, since stepped-up natural gas production kept
heating bills lower.
But gasoline, alas, is not going to be half price anytime
soon, if ever. America’s oil boom is delivering broad bene-
fits, but not necessarily at the pump.
The good news is that oil analysts say gas prices prob-
ably peaked for this year in late April.
Based on today’s market conditions, prices should
decline by a nickel or a dime over the next month.
Prices bounce around during the year. It’s not unusual
for prices at the pump to rise in the spring, ahead of the
summer driving season. That’s due in part to refineries
switching to a different formula for gasoline that meets
clean-air requirements during the warm-weather months.
As companies draw down winter stockpiles, conduct
routine spring maintenance and ramp up production of
the summer blend, prices are prone to short-term spikes.
This year, the transition has gone smoothly. Supplies of
reformulated gasoline are building. The usual run-up in
prices ahead of the summer driving season is likely to be
especially short-lived. Prices also vary by geography:
Some parts of the country could see gasoline selling below
$3 a gallon later in 2014.
The controversial extraction technology known as
fracking is contributing to the enhanced production of
domestic oil and natural gas. The light, sweet crude pro-
duced in the U.S. sells at a considerable discount here
compared with the price paid on other continents, be-
cause there is so much of it at our disposal, according to
Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst for the Oil Price Information
Service.
The oil industry, as well as energy-dependent chemical,
utility and industrial users, has been growing fast as a
result. That economic activity ultimately creates jobs.
But the impact at the pump is limited because oil is an
internationally traded commodity. By virtue of its soaring
production, North America is more insulated from price
shocks prompted by disruptive events in the Middle East
and other oil-producing regions than it has been in years.
The U.S. shale boom is replacing oil being kept off the
market because of geopolitical issues in Ukraine, Iran and
elsewhere.
But the U.S. can’t insulate itself entirely from global
energy markets.
Energy prices are always a moving target. We got a
break on heating bills during an extremely cold winter,
thanks to natural-gas production. But we’ll pay more this
summer to cool our homes, reflecting rising costs to se-
cure electricity supply. Gasoline may not seem cheap
these days, but it’s a relative bargain. America needs to
keep conserving and producing energy to keep those costs
in check
A
L
Froma
Harrop
Once the rule goes into effect in 2015, the
average loan payment of graduates of these
institutions won’t be able to exceed 8 percent
of their individual income or 20 percent of
their discretionary income.
The idea behind the rule supposedly is
not to burden graduates with mountains of
debt they can never repay. But the percentag-
es are arbitrary and don’t take into account
that the graduates themselves are in a better
position to know how much they can afford
to repay than some government bureaucrat
is.
Driving this rule is a belief by Secretary of
Education Arne Duncan and others in the
Obama administration that for-profit
schools are a rip-off.
When he announced the new rules, Dun-
can alleged that nearly three-quarters of
those who attend for-profit programs earn
less than the average high school dropout.
But even The Washington Post took issue
with Duncan’s claim. The Post pointed out in
its Fact Checker column that the data the
feds used was “bogus.”
Academic studies comparing before and
after earnings of graduates of for-profit
schools show modest increases in pay after
completion of training.
Will the graduate who earns a technical
degree from a for-profit school make as
much as a graduate of a four-year public or
private college?
Not likely — but to say, as the education
secretary has repeatedly, that they will make
less than someone who drops out of high
school is dishonest and suggests an agenda
other than protecting future students of such
institutions.
For-profit schools serve an important
niche in our post-secondary education sys-
tem. Despite President Obama’s oft-stated
goal of making college accessible for all
young people, attending a four-year institu-
tion does not make sense for everyone.
The students most likely to pick a for-
profit program tend to be older, and many of
them are already parents and are either
working at low-skilled jobs or out of work.
They want skills that will help them find jobs,
but they can’t necessarily afford to pay out of
pocket or to attend programs full time. With-
out loans, they cannot get the training they
need.
Letters to the editor
ELECTION LETTERS
SUBMISSIONS
The Denton Record-Chronicle welcomes
letters to the editor pertaining to the May 27
primary runoff elections. Letters must fol-
low all regular submission rules. Primary
runoff election letters must have been re-
ceived in this office by 5 p.m. Thursday, May
15; none will be published after Tuesday,
May 20.
Letters for publication must include the writer’s
signature, address and telephone number.
Authorship must be verified before publication.
The Record-Chronicle reserves the right to edit
letters for length. Letters should be typed or
legibly handwritten and be 250 or fewer words.
We prefer e-mail submissions.
Send to: drc@dentonrc.com.
Otherwise, fax to 940-566-6888, or mail to:
Letters to the editor
P.0. Box 369
Denton, TX 76202
Vote for Alexander
Dear voter: Beginning next week, we the
people have an opportunity to make an im-
pact on law enforcement in Denton County
that will affect this county for years to come.
We can elect Karen Alexander as our district
right people are there, she simply wants to
change the environment in which they work.
I am not worried about her ability to
manage a department as big as the DAs of-
fice or managing all the staff members. That
is called micromanagement. Karen needs
only to manage the department heads. They
will do the rest.
I feel I am a very close friend, but if the
situation arose, I sincerely believe that she
would prosecute me as vigorously as she
would anyone else. I don’t think God put
much back-up in her.
I am concerned about our law enforce-
attomey.
I’ve been associated with district attor-
neys here since 1966 — some good, some not
so good. However, I have never known any-
one with the drive, determination, selfless-
ness and just plain old fire in her belly to do
this.
Karen called me long before she an-
nounced her candidacy, and I talked at
length with her about what she wants to ac-
complish in that position. I was, and am still,
very excited about her campaign.
A man once said, “You can really look
smart if you hire bright, ambitious people —
set up a good work environment and simply
let them perform.” That man was the CEO of
Pizza Hut. I believe that to be true.
Mrs. Alexander is convinced that the
No doubt there are unscrupulous players
in the for-profit sector who offer more than
they can deliver.
But, as in the rest of the for-profit econo-
my, companies that don’t deliver what they
claim run out of customers fast.
The default rate on student loans is noto-
riously high
among former students of community col-
leges, 15 percent, than among those who at-
tended for-profit programs, 13.6 percent.
Both groups have high default rates be-
cause they include disproportionate num-
bers of relatively low-paid workers stuck in
an economy that is no longer producing
enough jobs. The administration hasn’t
served this population well to date, and its
proposed rules will simply penalize them
further.
LINDA CHAVEZ’S column is distrib-
uted by Creators Syndicate Inc.
— Chicago Tribune
ment community. Are you? If you are, join
me in supporting Karen Alexander for our
district attorney.
This day in history: May 19
Jerry Raburn,
Lewisville
In 1913, California Gov. Hi-
ram Johnson signed the Webb-
Hartley Law prohibiting “aliens
ineligible to citizenship” from
owning farm land, a measure
targeting Asian immigrants.
In 1921, Congress passed,
and President Warren G. Har-
ding signed, the Emergency
Quota Act, which established
national quotas for immigrants.
In 1954, American compos-
er Charles Ives, 79, died in New
York.
Today is Monday, May 19,
the 139th day of 2014. There
are 226 days left in the year.
On May 19, 1864, Ameri-
can author Nathaniel Haw-
but it is actually higher
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your commentary and your actions.
thome, 59, died in Plymouth,
N.H.
In 1536, Anne Boleyn, the
second wife of England’s King
Henry VIII, was beheaded after
being convicted of adultery.
In 1780, a mysterious dark-
ness enveloped much of New
England and part of Canada in
the early afternoon.
— The Associated Press
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Cobb, Dawn. Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 110, No. 290, Ed. 1 Monday, May 19, 2014, newspaper, May 19, 2014; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1132396/m1/4/?rotate=270: accessed July 10, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .