22 Apr 2004
Advice from a Perfect Stranger


Are you in need of good advice? Are you having a problem with your husband/wife, friend, or job? Call Patti, The Perfect Stranger. I can help. I am not a licensed therapist. I am a good ear, with logical, sound, unbiased advice, and will keep your problems strictly confidential.

Cost is only $5 per call (One problem per call, please). Ask for Patti 212-861-2327.

Problems? For $5, She'll Listen

(link) [New York Times]

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As Wealthy Fill Top Colleges, New Efforts to Level the Field

Quoting Homer: "Doh!"

My eldest daughter will graduate from IUPUI this year with her Masters in Social Work. It's a community type college - no residency. She's worked all the time she was in school, at everything from waitressing to housesitting. It's took her 7 years to get her undergrad degree - she was lucky enough to get enough financial aid to do a "fast track" masters in a year.

I'm not rich, by any means, but I think (or used to, anyway) I'm pretty solidly middle class. I've helped her out with school, of course, not paying for all of it, but for a good percentage.

...they also have much steeper tuition bills than in the past, and this seems to have turned off many middle- and low-income families. Some students are not willing to take on the tens of thousands of dollars of debt that is often necessary

She has nearly $50,000 in unsecured debt. That debt load is nearly double her starting salary. It's a larger debt load than I carry - it's a larger amount than the cost of my first house, 20 years ago.

The cost of an education at some of the top schools discussed in the article below is that amount per year!

At prestigious universities, more and more students from upper-income families are edging out those from the middle class.

(link) [New York Times: NYT HomePage]

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