Award Winning Professor to Host Commencement Ceremony Before Retirement

Edgar Dyer of Coastal Carolina University

For Edgar L. “Eddie” Dyer, his time, experiences, and contributions to Coastal Carolina will not soon be forgotten. Dating back to 1976, when Dyer joined Coastal Carolinas political science faculty, Dyer has aided students in receiving a proper education, to say the least. After a whopping 39 years of employment at the university, come July of 2015, Dyer will be retiring.

Of course before Dyer will be making his exit, for a man of his character, it is no surprise that Dyer will be going out with a bang. The accomplished professor will serve as the winter commencement speaker for the fall 2014 graduating class.

While Dyer may not be serving the university for much longer, and may be moving on, let not his accomplishments be forgotten.

Dyer’s list of positions held at the university is extensive. From serving on the university counsel, to interim director of athletes, to interim dean, to vice president of university relations, to executive director of the Coastal Educational Foundation, Dyer has served as one who goes above and beyond, for quite some time.

His awards and accomplishments reflect his. He is an honorary inductee of the CCU Athletic Hall of Fame and a faculty inductee of Omicron Delta Kappa. Dyer is also the first recipient of the HTC Distinguished Teacher-Scholar Lecturer Award at CCU and has been named Professor of the Year. And that’s not all. In 2010, Dyer was presented the Palmetto Patriot Award for his service to the community. Dyer has taken an active part in civic affairs, from chairing the local Grass Roots Initiative for Planning and Progress in the 1990s, to his current service on the Horry County Planning Commission. Adding to his resume, Dyer also currently serves as chairman of the RIDE III committee, a group appointed by Horry County Council to prioritize roads projects for a pending 2016 RIDE III referendum. In addition, Dyer also currently serves on the board of Horry County United Way.

As one can see, Dyer is anything but selfish, and has gone out of his way numerous times to serve others and give back to the community. While Dyer’s accomplishments and time served at Coastal Carolina is not to be overlooked, and is greatly appreciated, Dyer will most definitely be missed. Dyer is one of those individuals who is simply irreplaceable; the type of individual who is always working to be the best they can be, while expecting nothing in return.

The fact that Dyer not only went above and beyond while working at the University, but is also an active member in regards to the community, should be a clear indication that he is one of a kind. And individuals like Dyer, should be cherished and not taken for granted.

While Dyer has put in his work at the university and in the community, and may be moving on to bigger and better things, he will forever remain a part of the university.

For this reporter, Dyer will serve as a role model, and others should follow in his footsteps. And by this I am not implying that everyone should dedicate their life to working at a university and helping others; instead I feel it would be beneficial for society as a whole, if everyone tried to be the best they can be, just as Edgar Dyer did.

High Tuition Costs Problematic for Students

Receiving a college education in the United States is looked at as a key stepping-stone to living the American Dream. Many high school students are told that in order to get a high-paying job, they must first attend college after high school. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, over 68 percent of high school graduates enroll in degree-granting institutions to receive a higher education.

What these high-school students are not told about is the immense amount of college debt from student loans that will follow them after attending these institutions. While more people are enrolling in major universities and institutions each year, the cost of college tuition is rapidly growing also. Today it now costs 400 percent more to attend college than it did 30 years ago. Although 75,000 Americans agree that college is overpriced and too expensive, enrollment rates are increasing and not much is being done to work on lowering college expenses. I strongly believe that while a college education can be extremely fundamental and useful, the price of college tuition and receiving an education should be lowered in order to be more affordable.

The fact that currently there are over 40 million Americans carrying student debt, amounting to more than 875 billion dollars, should be a clear sign that something is not right, in terms of the cost of college tuition and receiving an education. With the current prices of college tuition being so extreme, students who opt to pay to receive a college education, and do not have the financial stability to pay upfront, are immediately at a financial disadvantage. A study from Business Insider indicates that over two thirds of college graduates graduate with student debt, and that the average college graduate in 2010 had accumulated approximately $25,000 in student loan debt by graduation day. With that said, the cost of college tuition has only increased since that study was conducted. With the majority of college graduates graduating with an immense amount of student debt, the chance that they will all be able to land a high paying job and receive the necessary funds to comfortably pay back their loans is extremely slim. In fact, since the year 2000, the average salary for young Americans has actually decreased by 10 percent. This means that while college tuition has risen and become more expensive, the jobs college graduates are able to land are decreasing in salary. This obviously would make the task of paying back student loans even more difficult. It is also important to note that even if a graduate is able to land a high paying position, allowing them to pay back debt on student loans, the excess funds that the graduate will then have will be limited to none. This would make the entire point of attending the college to receiver a higher pay pointless, as the graduate could have opted out of attending school, and landed a position offering the same amount of money, if not more.

When any student looking to go to a financial institution receives a student loan, until that loan is paid back, that loan is with that person forever. This is extremely problematic. A high school graduate attempting to define what he or she wants to do in the future, and what route of education to pursue is a difficult task to accomplish. Many young teens looking to go to college have no idea what they plan to do in the future, and are still growing and learning. While society pushes these teens to attend college, students are pressured into entering a debt agreement that many do not even understand. When a student receives a student loan, the loan in permanent. Even if students who graduate with student loans find themselves in financial troubles, and file for bankruptcy, student loans do not disappear. In fact, extending the pay period to pay back the student loans causes interest prices to increase. On top of that, in a situation where a student carrying debt from student loans is deceased, that loan may be passed on to surviving family members. This makes the problem of student debt not only affect the student, or graduate, but the surrounding family members as well.

To make matters worse, after entering into debt agreements in order to receive education, the current job market does not even provide students with the necessary jobs to make enough money to pay back loans. Over one third of college graduates land a position that does not require a college education. This means that one third of the students who graduate with debt, owe money for an education that is not being put to use, or shows no signs of financial benefit. Along with this, 10 percent of college graduates find themselves unemployed. This shows that even attempting to make the sacrifice and enter into a debt agreement to receive a better job by going to school doesn’t even guarantee a position in the future. And even for students that are able to find some sort of income, many are overqualified and did not need the education to begin with.

With all of this said, the goal of this paper is not to immediately turn one away from the idea of attending college. Rather, the point of this information is to make apparent the problems with the extremely high costs of attending college, with the hope of inspiring change. While college may be beneficial, if the negative effect it causes does not outweigh the benefits, it generally makes for a bad decision. And I believe that until the price of college does in fact decrease, from a general standpoint applying to the majority of college students, the benefits will not outweigh the negatives.

Is College Worth Really Worth It?

Since as long as I can remember, it has been expected of me to attend college. My parents embedded in me that after high school I would go to college in order to get a degree and further my education to get a better job. But as I am approaching graduation, and still remain jobless, the more I think about the last four years of attending college, the more I think about what college has really done for me. And the more I try to reason in my head that college was a good decision, I continually mind myself facing the realization that college, is in fact, simply a waste of time.

The entire reason I attended college was to obtain a degree to get a job. My father did not attend college and wanted me to have more opportunity than he was presented with. While I am grateful for that, and am aware that’s why he sent me to college, I am not sure he achieved his goal. For I am set to graduate and have absolutely nothing lined up in terms of a real career. And I am not alone. According to a poll conducted by AfterCollege, over 80% of graduation seniors in college have nothing at all lined up in terms of a career. That leaves only 17% of graduating seniors who have jobs lined up.

While 17% of graduating seniors may have jobs lined up, and 17% sure is more than 0%, the 80% of graduating seniors who don’t have careers lined up should be an immediate red flag. Especially taking into consideration the fact that almost 100% of graduating seniors will have some forms of student loans and student debt to pay back. Loans and debt that will in fact take decades to pay back. According to a report released by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, more than 700,000 households of Americans 65 or older still carry student debt. As college tuition prices continue to increase, the number of people owing money will only increase. Keep in mind that this number of 700,000 people owing for borrowed student loans is only people 65 year and older, meaning they attended college over forty years prior. This Is not even including the number of people who have graduated college within that last forty years.

While I understand many people will read this and disagree, citing that in order to get a high paying job, one needs a college education, and that without a college degree, one stands no chance of competing in the job market. While that may have been true years ago, that may no longer be true today.

In fact, some of the world’s wealthiest people have not attended college or dropped out of college, to go on making a fortune. Of this list of people, found on BusinessInsider.com, number 1 is Bill Gates. Bill Gates dropped out of college to go on to start Microsoft, making more than 54 Billion dollars. Ingvar Kamprod, founder of Ikea, with a net worth of 23 Billion dollars, only has a high school education. Continuing on with one last example, Michelle Ferrero, founder of Ferrero Rocher chocolates, stopped school after high school, and is worth 17 Billion dollars.

So with all of this said, I leave it up to the reader to decide. While you may have a slight advantage of getting a job with a college degree, just remember to ask yourself, is it really worth it?

Three Coastal Carolina Fraternities under investigation for hazing

A Coastal Carolina University Greek life logo

Coastal Carolina University has suspended three fraternities after administrators received complaints of “hazing.”
Coastal Carolina’s spokesperson Martha Hunn released a letter, written by Vice President of Student Affairs Deborah Konner, to the university’s Greek community stating that chapter activities had been suspended while an investigation takes place.

The fraternities under investigation are Kappa Sigma, Tau Kappa Epsilon, and Pi Kappa Phi.
Coastal Carolina senior and member of Kappa Sigma Eljon Pette said “I never saw or heard any hazing that should be considered ‘unacceptable’”

“As a freshman, we were all hazed and I don’t think it was taken too far…it was all in good fun,” exclaimed Pette, “at the end of the day we’re all brothers.”

However, what students think is acceptable and what administrators think is acceptable may be two completely different things.
Pette does agree it reflects the university poorly. “I do understand it doesn’t make the university look good, I just think there making it a bigger deal than it really is,” he said.

While the investigation is underway, Konner did make clear that the most important thing is “the end result being a positive experience for all who participate.”

The full letter released to the greek community can be found at http://ftpcontent5.worldnow.com/wbtw/media/greekletter.pdf .

“I’m Shmacked” Tour Visits CCU, Leads to Multiple Arrests

The “I’m Shmacked” tour visited Coastal Carolina University, hosting an event leading to over 30 arrests.

The event was held at the House of Blues in North Myrtle Beach on Thursday the 28^th.

The event debuted the “I’m Shmacked” 25-event “Fall Crawl” series.

The “I’m Shmacked” tour describes itself as a “new way to scout colleges” and is “one of the world’s fastest growing entertainment platforms for young adults and teens” on the “I’m Shmacked” Facebook page.

Officials, however, say the “I’m Shmacked” events lead to binge drinking and promote irresponsible behavior.

Business Insider referred to “I’m Shmacked” as “the brand that glorifies the worst parts of college partying.”

Multiple arrests for various charges including disorderly conduct, minors in possession of alcohol, altering identification cards, and public urination, support it.

As do the tweets on the “I’m Shmacked” Twitter page, where the “I’m Shmacked” staff eggs on students, promoting risqué behavior with tweets such as “Will you make the video?”

As part of the “Fall Crawl” series, the CCU event competed with the “I’m Shmacked” Syracuse University event. Students at each university were recorded by “I’m Shmacked” staff to create the craziest party video.

These videos were then uploaded to YouTube and shared via social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, where students can vote and comment.

The “I’m Shmacked” CCU event video, displaying the over-the-top behavior of Coastal students can be seen here.

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Coastal Carolina University background featuring teal palmetto.