Financial worries for American students despite third level education being 'an economic necessity'

Obama's administration attempt to grapple with the cost of education

As the new term looms, parents across the country are fretting about how they’re going to pay the college bills.

Attending university in America is insanely expensive. Even average colleges can cost well over $50,000 — the guts of €38,000 — per year for tuition, basic room and board.

So parents and students take out loans that in many cases last most of a lifetime.

Though we’re creeping out of recession, job prospects for new college graduates remain shaky.

So why the heck take on such huge debt?

For families with more than one kid, this is an especially crucial question — and higher education is a very sore subject here these days.

Even President Obama is jumping into the fray, vowing to push an initiative that would rank colleges on affordability — with those at the top getting priority status for more government aid.

“The current path we’re on is unsustainable,” he said during a campus tour last week. “Higher education should not be a luxury, it’s an economic necessity.”

Obama also advanced the idea that law schools should cut back from three years to two — saving students at least $50,000.

If you get near-perfect scores on the national college entrance exam, the SAT, colleges throw scholarships at you.

But most pupils don’t — and must figure out how they’re going to pay for a four-year degree.

Mortgages

The federal government offers loans with steep interest rates, and some parents even take out second mortgages to finance their child’s education.

How crazy is that?

Each of the 50 states administers their own university system, which is much more affordable compared to private schools.

For example, the State University of New York (SUNY) network charges $5,870 (€4,400) per year for residents — but excluding room and board.

The 64 SUNY campuses state-wide have got much more popular and competitive because they won’t bankrupt students and their families.

But, understandably, many teenagers are set on the bigger prizes of Harvard, Yale or Boston College — where the yearly tab is around $60,000.

Yes, the piece of paper from Harvard is worth much more than the equivalent from, say, SUNY Binghamton — but at what cost?

It is hugely difficult for young people to start their careers saddled with crushing debt, giving up chunks of their paychecks for loan payments

Even President Obama and his wife, Michelle, both law-school grads, couldn’t pay off their tuition until he became a senator in 2005.

But universities aren’t suddenly going to offer half-price deals, or slash the multimillion-dollar salaries of their presidents and top staff.

And many parents will continue to do whatever it takes to help their children pursue their dreams.

So the next time you hear people complaining about university fees in Ireland, spare a thought for hard-pressed students and families over here.

The trouble with Christine Quinn’s strange run for New York mayor

What's gone wrong on Christine Quinn's New York mayorial campaign?
(Photo: MSN)

Christine Quinn must be wondering what she needs to do to get some love from New York City voters in the mayoral election. The Irish American legislator was hot favorite and front-runner for much of the contest.

Despite the powerful endorsement of The New York Times and the support of the New York Daily News and New York Post she trails behind front-runner Bill De Blasio by a whopping 15 points and is barely ahead of Bill Thompson who is on 20.

Frankly, I thought once I saw the Times endorsement, which is usually as good as gold in New York politics on the Democratic side, that Quinn, after a rough patch, was the very likely favorite again.

Not so, far from it. This poll includes several days polling after the Times, News and Post endorsements.

The Quinnipiac poll brings into sight the unbelievable scenario of Bill De Blasio getting the 40 percent that would avoid a runoff.

The poll shows that even if Quinn gets into a runoff with Di Blasio she would be crushed.

A Friday New York Times poll confirmed the bad news for Quinn with roughly similar figures.

What has gone wrong for the flame-haired candidate who is a firm favorite in the Irish American community?

Many in that community are now deeply concerned that a Quinn loss could impact many high profile projects such as the Irish Arts Center expansion, a huge boost for the community which Quinn has been solidly behind.

It seems that Quinn has just not connected with two critical groups, women and minorities, and that Di Blasio is crushing her among African Americans in particular. She is also losing votes because of her closeness to Bloomberg.

Di Blasio, who I got to know a little when he was campaign manager for Hillary Clinton’s 2000 senate campaign, is a likeable guy but I am as puzzled as the next person as to why he has suddenly shot so far ahead.

Sure he is the most liberal candidate in a liberal city, sure his wife is African American which helps with that vote, and yes he has the best campaign ads but he has pretty much shot out of the pack with little or no fanfare catching everyone by surprise.

Can that momentum be stalled? The polls do show that one third of the electorate can change their mind but it is getting very late for Chris Quinn who has simply failed to carry a knockout punch.

The big winner in all of this in my opinion is Joe Lhota on the Republican side, a former Mayor Giuliani commissioner. Lhota’s folks will be rubbing their hands if Di Blasio wins given his liberal record.

Unlikely as it may sound don’t rule out yet another Republican mayor after Giuliani and Bloomberg in the Big Apple.

Why The Gathering may be Ireland’s greatest tourist success

Irish Tourism Minister Leo Varadkar speaks at a Dublin Gathering event based on Riverdance in July.

The genius of The Gathering, it may turn out, is not that Americans and others came, but that self-pride in the home place mushroomed in Ireland.

At a time of maximum economic malaise, communities from Donegal to Dingle began to draw on the authentic local history and tradition that is miles removed from the Disney version of Ireland so often peddled abroad.

It clearly made local people feel good about themselves, and was a lesson in self-help and organization that bodes well for the future.

It also allowed them to understand they are the keepers of the flame, as Tim O’Connor, chairman of The Gathering, has stated. Without their active participation and watchful eye on local history this could all so easily disappear.

In a world consumed with a search for authenticity Ireland has it in spades in its marvelous local histories and traditions. Its own children must grow up to realize that.

Some of the great movements in Irish history such as the co-op movement grew from the same broad-based community roots as The Gathering to become a massive part of the Irish landscape.

The Irish Americans I spoke to and heard from lapped it up. It seemed authentic to them too, and the welcome they received at those events, where they tapped into the family tree, went down very well.

In a world grown more global and more corporate every passing year, to have these touchstones of family and community that millions of Americans yearn for is vitally important.

That is why The Gathering has been a success, like the Notre Dame game in Dublin last year which allowed tens of thousands of Irish Americans an occasion to travel back for and feel an intimate part of.

(This year The Gaelic Players Association are bringing two hurling teams to Notre Dame for an exhibition before a big Notre Dame football game, further extending the links between the two entities, Ireland and Notre Dame.)

So what should be the follow up to The Gathering? It seems simple -- a long-term project in every village and town to preserve local history, to reach out to exiled sons and daughters and to create occasions every two years or so where the twain shall meet.

Call it The Homecoming and extend it deliberately to every parish.

On the governmental level the intent should be to publicize and spread the word about such homecoming events and continue to try and drive more visitors through extended access such as flights from American Airlines and United Airlines achieved this summer, and new routes from Aer Lingus will next year.

Few Irish Americans will ever refuse an invitation to Ireland if it is couched in the opportunity to return to the soil where their forefathers left.

Being born in Ireland does not end the franchise of being Irish. We have sent too many millions abroad.

New definitions of Irishness have arisen, whether it is American Irish or Australian Irish or Irish in Britain.

The Gathering has shown us all a powerful new tool on how to reach out to them.

Brave move by U.S. bishops to preach immigration reform from the altar

Catholic U.S. bishops (Credit: Getty)

The New York Times is reporting that on September 8th priests and bishops across the country will join at masses and other pastoral  events to speak out strongly on behalf of immigration reform.

The decision by the Catholic Church to put their full weight behind comprehensive immigration reform is a very welcome and overdue one. It also smacks of the influence of the new pope and his vision of a more pastoral church reaching out to the neediest.

A spokesman for the U.S. Catholic Bishops put it well when speaking about politicians. “They have to hear the message that we want this done.”

It is the political thing but also the right thing to do. The impact could be remarkable.

As The New York Times noted: “The political campaign by Catholic priests is certain to catch the attention of Catholic members of Congress. Catholics are the largest single religious group in Congress, making up just over 30 percent of the members, according to the Pew Research Center’s Religion and Public Life Project.

The current House has 136 Catholic members, including Speaker John A. Boehner and 60 other Republicans, according to Pew.”

It places the church, still one of the most powerful forces in American life, directly in the line of battle on an issue of paramount importance.

I suspect that the new era of Pope Francis is in part responsible for this dramatic shift. He has urged his clergy to be pastors and seekers of those in need and on immigration it certainly seems they are.

The future of the church is Hispanic especially in the west and south but there is also a Christian message here about helping the least among us -- including about 50,000 Irish undocumented.

The least among American Catholics are undoubtedly the undocumented who have no voices of their own and are demonized in many cases by Catholic legislators.

Indeed the blatantly racist Congressman Steve King of Iowa is himself a Catholic and he was forced to admit this move by the church was a powerful one.

“If the church puts out a unified message, there will be some Catholic legislators who will want to accept that guidance, because they want to get there anyway,” Mr. King said. “It gives them cover.”

The church has opposed the Obama administration on every issue from contraception to same sex marriage so this move also allows them to appear bipartisan.

It will be fascinating to watch the impact of what they do. I have a feeling it could be a major turning point both for the church and immigration reform. Let’s hope so.

Reliving the sinking of the Titanic as it was reported in Ireland at the time - Biggest story of the century but local angle took top billing

The Titanic

The loss of the Titanic was an incredible story even looking back 101 years to 1912 but to the people of the time it was the equivalent of 9/11 and then some.

I am reminded of that time by a copy of the Cork Examiner from Monday, April 13, 1912 which a friend brought back after visiting the Cobh Titanic exhibition in Cork where the ship last sailed from.

The complete newspaper is moments in time, when a disaster of incredible magnitude had just occurred and stunned local people in Ireland were trying to make sense of it.

The type in the newspaper is miniscule compared to today but the story is as big or bigger than almost anything we have seen since in peacetime

Among the stories is that of the “Lucky Stoker” A young local man called Coffey who made a miraculous escape.

He signed on to the Titanic in Southampton but jumped ship at Queenstown, as Cobh was then known, as he did not like his job.

Lucky stoker indeed.

Much sadder is the flood of inquiries at the telegraph office at Queenstown and personal visits from worried relatives desperate to confirm whether or not their beloved ones were on board.

“The White Star Co’s agents here, Messrs Scott and Co- continue to receive shoals of telegrams and letters making the most pathetic enquiries,” the story runs.

“Enquiries at Queenstown ---Pathetic messages” runs the headline.

“Pathetic in the extreme were those enquiries “Do you know if—is amongst the people saved.” “Did you hear if the family – was saved,” runs the copy

Incredibly the story was not on the front page, that was saved for advertisements such as “Neck Wear, latest designs” Royal Worcester Shape Fitting Corsets” (“Grand demonstration this day by Miss Wass”) and “Suttons Coal reduced in prices.”

As well on the front page was all the shipping news announcing Liverpool to Philadelphia and Liverpool to Australia and Liverpool to Canada sailings,

The Home Rule for Ireland debate also took up many column inches “Home Rule Bill Debate Resumed, Mr. Balfour’s Attack” was the main headline.

There was also a speech by Joseph Devlin MP who claimed it was “the Irish vote, which abolished flogging in the British Army and navy”

Fascinating story too about an M.J. O’Connor of Broadway, New York, obviously a successful exile, who rushed home to buy the “town of Leitrim” and a massive mansion house at Drumberney where the paper reported, “as he put it himself his life may be extended by twenty years as against living in New York”

Wade through all that and you finally get to the biggest story of the century on page 7 and there it is.

“Sensational news; World’s largest liner in collision off Newfoundland. Titanic strikes an iceberg on her maiden voyage.”

We are still living in the shadows of it.

Hillary Clinton is no shoo-in for president despite Obama backing

Hillary Clinton leaves the White House
after lunching with President Obama on July 29.

President Obama’s recent cozy lunch with Hillary Clinton was widely interpreted as giving his early blessing to her to succeed him in 2016.

Just don’t tell supporters of Vice President Joe Biden, who strongly believe he should have the backing of Obama given his unswerving loyalty and his ability to deliver.

Biden was announced as the speaker at Senator Tom Harkin’s annual steak fry in Des Moines in September, a move always seen as a barometer for who Harkin is backing in the vital Iowa caucuses.

The Irish American VP looks more and more like a candidate in 2016, and getting Harkin’s support at this early stage is a real coup for him.

Iowa is the early epicenter.  As columnist Maureen Dowd noted in The New York Times, the Madam President hysteria sweeping Democrats at the moment has spread to Iowa, where former Clinton opponent Senator Claire McCaskill recently called for a massive Hillary 2016 effort.

Obama seems to have jumped on board but, as Dowd noted, in doing so he was “bypassing Joe Biden,” who must be feeling the lack of love given his service.

As Dowd wrote, the Hillary people were delighted with the lunch. “The Clintons can present those images as Obama passing the torch and bypassing Joe Biden, just as Bill once took a simple handshake from JFK during a Boys Nation visit to the White House and turned it into an Arthurian moment,” she wrote.

But what Obama wants and what we might get are two very different things nowadays.

Most pundits describe a disappointing Obama presidency that was built on great hope and expectation -- and a Nobel Prize before he hardly had his seat warmed -- which instead has degenerated into endless fights with Republicans and a stalled second term agenda.

There is little doubt that Hillary would have been effective given her experience and rooted knowledge of Washington.  But does that mean she would be the best choice for 2016?

There are good reasons why she did not win in 2008, Clinton fatigue among them. Who is to say that will not resurface with a vengeance? Perhaps a bright new face, Governor Martin O’Malley from Maryland for example, will surface at the key moment.

Anointing Hillary as the next Democratic nominee is a dangerous business, which I think she would be the first person to acknowledge given her own political failures in the past.

Her major problem may be that many of those same key advisors who backed her into a dead end in 2008 are still clinging to the Clinton ship with the stickability of barnacles.

Obama jumping on board seems a tad premature to say the least. We’re not even in the first inning in campaign 2016. If the republicans see sense and pick Governor Chris Christie as their candidate they could well win the whole argument.

There is a lot of baseball to be played.

No angel just a very good priest, Father Patrick Dowling (VIDEO)

Father Patrick Dowling exemplifies what it is to be a good priest

Watch the accompanying video (about eight minutes long) of Kilkenny-born Father Patrick Dowling, the “miracle priest” who showed up at a bad accident in Missouri.

Many thought he was an angel as he gave comfort to the young woman trapped in the car and calmed down emergency workers desperately trying to free her.

When they failed to find him after the young woman was rescued the legend grew that he had been an actual “angel” or a miracle worker.

Then he stepped forward and laid to rest many of those notions.

Instead he gave a wonderful interview that should be mandatory viewing for all those who want to see the Catholic Church at its best.

About three minutes into the interview he becomes very emotional when asked why he just didn’t drive by like so many others. He makes it clear that would have been a dreadful sin for a priest, tasked with comforting the afflicted, to do so.

His genuine shock at the notion of driving by and not offering his help is deeply impressive, more than a hundred stories about him being a miracle worker.

He is not a prince of the church, he professes no miraculous powers, merely the responsibilities thrust upon him as a good priest.

He fulfilled his mission that day and all ended well with the desperately ill young woman surviving a crash brought about when a drunk driver slammed into her car.

Watch the video. The church needs more Father Dowlings more than anything else to overcome their current problems. The fact that he is an old fashioned Irish priest, intent on doing good makes it even more remarkable.

Here’s the full interview with Fr Dowling on khqatv7:

The sins of the father were used to destroy Bishop Eamon Casey

Bishop Eamon Casey

When you drive from Killarney to Dingle in Kerry you pass one of the most beautiful beaches in all of Europe; Inch Strand is a glorious expanse of white, shimmering sand and a walk along its length is heaven, rain or shine.

Not far away, up a half hill is the old bishop’s palace where the Bishop of Kerry often resided. Last time I was in it it had become a restaurant of sorts, but everyone remembered it for something else, the place where Bishop Eamon Casey conducted his affair with American divorcee and third cousin Annie Murphy.

This week the son of that love affair, Peter, broke his long silence over his father and his relationship with him. Eamon Casey is now 86, suffering from Alzheimers, and living in a nursing home in Clare.

It is a sad end for a once powerful prince of the church, a passionate supporter of emigrants, especially in London where he worked tirelessly for them, a devoted pastor who cared for and loved his flock at a time when almost all other Irish bishops were remote and domineering.

I met him a few times and was always impressed with his humanity and lack of pretension. He was genuinely concerned with the welfare of emigrants, a large, colorful man with a zest for life that was very evident.

He was almost too much flesh and blood. Back in 1969 Eamon Casey was appointed Bishop of Kerry and was soon embroiled in a passionate love affair.

In 1973 his third cousin from America, Annie Murphy, a pretty 25-year old, came to Ireland on her father’s recommendation, fleeing a miscarriage and a divorce. Casey picked her up at the airport and was smitten.

The vulnerable young woman and the all too flesh and blood bishop hit it off and they had a torrid affair, mostly carried on in the 46-year-old bishop’s palace at Inch and the courtship featured long walks on Inch Strand.

Annie got pregnant, Casey denied the child and paternity until 1992 when it became public after Irish Times American editor Conor O’Clery broke the sensational story.

In those pre-pedophile scandal days It seemed like the world collapsed and the church went out of its way to demonize Casey for his human frailty.

He was penalized, driven from office, refused permission to say mass. He spent a long time in enforced exile in South America and later in Britain. His son revealed this week that he was a broken man but still loved his church.

Sure Casey was wrong, and he should have owned up to his deed and become a proper father to his son. But given the deluge that followed with much worse sex scandals with far fewer punishments, he seems far less culpable.

Perhaps someday we will understand that human beings generally can sometimes do daft things, whether dressed in a collar, a uniform or just plain street clothes.

Bishop Casey was wrong and was wronged by his church. This week’s brave interview by his son reveals some sad truths but strangely, makes us feel more sympathy for Casey who made belated attempts to patch up his relationship with his child.

He was more sinned against than sinning in the end, his son believes, and he is right. Eamon Casey fell victim to human frailty, no more no less. Let him without sin...

Maureen Dowd on “pushy Irish broad” Christine Quinn’s prospects for N.Y. mayor

Christine Quinn

Christine Quinn received a generally positive notice from New York Times doyenne Maureen Dowd in her Sunday column which is certain to help her significantly in her race for mayor.

Dowd can make of break political reputations in a single column (ask Bill or Hillary or  W who referred to her as “the viper”).

Most notably her column a few years back revealing Hollywood icon David Geffen was abandoning Hillary was the coda for the death knell of her presidential campaign.

No such worries for Christine Quinn. The two tough Irish broads bonded over breakfast (berries and yogurt)  and according to Dowd, Quinn could be the next big thing even if she has got “lost a little” recently following a negative New York Times profile that portrayed her as, well, a bitch on wheels.

Dowd quotes a commuter at a subway stop telling Quinn “You don’t seem quite as evil as they make you out to be.”

Quinn she reports seemed genuinely taken aback that someone would paint her as evil even though the Times piece portrayed her as a very tough and downright nasty boss at times.

Dowd writes that it has all began to change again for Quinn who was slipping before Anthony Weiner’s implosion.

“This should be the moment for Christine Callaghan Quinn, and she is back in the lead, after being knocked off last month by a resurgent Anthony Weiner.

“The coppery 47-year-old speaker of the New York City Council wants to be seen as a member of the fighting Irish, “a big pushy broad,” as she puts it, who pushes for New York.”

Along the way Dowd notes, Quinn has got caught up in charges of being a rubber stamp for Mayor Bloomberg and of being late to the debate over police stop and frisk tactics.

However, Dowd asks if “Despite her Irish temper, some wonder if she has Bloomberg’s spine.”

Dowd quotes her as saying  it’s frustrating when people criticize her for being politically inauthentic. Quinn says, “you’re gonna make yourself crazy and take up space in your brain — and I don’t have that much space in my brain.”

Quinn does admit she is pushy and loud at times

“Am I pushy?” she asked. “Yep. Do I like taking no for an answer when no means New Yorkers aren’t going to get something they need? No. Do I push back and crack some eggs? Absolutely.”

As to whether she and her partner Kim Catullo will move into Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s residence which Bloomberg never occupied Quinn says they won’t discuss it this far in advance

As for starting a family she says maybe

“It kind of never came together for us for different timing reasons. It’s not ruled out.”

A lesbian couple having a baby when one of them is mayor of New York might rival the royals for coverage!

Quinn however tells Dowd no matter what happens during the race she can handle it.

She quotes her late mother who died when she was just sixteen.

“My mom was very clear to me and my sister that we had to figure out what we loved to do, and then do it exceptionally well. Making an excuse because you’re a woman or something else was not in her universe of possibilities.”

As she looks more and more likely to be the next mayor the Dowd semi- stamp of approval will certainly help.

Why sex scandals should not bar politicians from seeking office

Anthony Wiener keeps on going with New York Mayoral race (Photo: Fox)

I believe sexual behavior should not bar a man or woman from high office once it is between consenting adults.

I’m not saying that Anthony Weiner’s sexual indiscretions should not count against him, but they should not be the only disqualifying factor.

If we denied office to every man or woman who displayed aberrant sexual behavior we would have lost out on some great leaders.

When you consider some of the great politicians of our times, mature sexual behavior was not high on the list.

Need I mention John F. Kennedy, who was reckless to the point of shamefulness, sleeping with mobsters molls, alleged spies and every pretty young thing he could get his hands on?

Yet as president, as he proved in the Cuban missile crisis, he was cool, calculating and not at all impulsive.

Ronald Reagan commenced an affair with Jane Wyman, his first wife, when she was still married and she later divorced her husband to be with him. Reagan rarely played the hypocritical card about sexuality that so many GOP leaders do today. (Remember Bob Livingston and Newt Gingrich carrying on affairs while leading the charge to impeach Clinton for the same activity?)

Then there’s Bill Clinton who looks better and better in the rear view mirror these days.

Like Kennedy he seemed to have an insatiable appetite for dubious women but governed very much from the center and was cool and calm in a crisis.

Then consider FDR, by any measure one of the greatest presidents, who had at least two mistresses and imbibed about eight to ten martinis a day. Yet he managed the New Deal, took America out of the depression, and helped win the Second World War among other accomplishments.

Consider that his adversary Adolf Hitler was vegetarian, conducted no affairs outside his relationship with Eva Braun and never imbibed.

On a far less notorious scale consider Jimmy Carter, arguably the most morally upright of all our presidents who was also one of the worst by most historians’ opinions.

So the moral of the story is do not draw any moral conclusions about leadership from politicians and their sex lives. Even Anthony Weiner looks better when judged by that standard.

Former presidential candidate for the GOP Texas senator Phil Gramm said it best in 1996.

Told by Focus on the Family president James Dobson to deliver on moral  values, Gramm retorted: “I’m not running for preacher.  I’m running for president.” How right he was.