LOAN DEBT DEBACLE
I am writing to express my concern regarding the lack of financial education for college students. I am a graduate student at Eastern Washington University, facing an excess of $20,000 in debt when I graduate this June for just two years of a postgraduate degree (that is not counting debt from my undergraduate degree). I wish I knew more about the weight of student loans before signing my financial future away. Between 2004 and 2016, student loan debt in the United States nearly tripled and the current debt has exceeded $1 trillion. The reality is that student debt is crippling for young people. According to research by the American Institute of CPAs, only 39 percent of students fully understood the burden student loan debt would have on their future.
I urge your readers to contact their legislators asking them to vote in support of Senate Bill 5100, which will require institutions of higher education in Washington state to provide financial education to all students. Readers can find their legislators and contact information at leg.wa.gov.
Megan Tucker
Spokane Valley, Wash.
Readers react to a Washington state Supreme Court justice's letter asking Homeland Security to ease off enforcing immigration laws at courthouses due to concern for crime victims and families in crisis:
Gary Trowbridge: I just can not stand this. Laws are laws for all, you can't bend them it wrecks the whole system. Washington State has been letting us down. Our Representatives are not standing for the law of the land, and is in the oath they they swore to uphold. Shame on them.
Sarah McClure: Then let me suggest what you would suggest to anyone else: Leave. Go to another state that placates you. You have chosen to live in a liberal state. Complaining about your choice is beyond silly.
Ryan Williams: There is also the letter of the law and the spirit of the law as well. It seems as though this judge is asking that the spirit of the law come first. I can, at least partially, see where she is coming from. As an example, let's say a felony was committed and the key witness to that felony just happens to be in this country illegally. Chances are that they will not come to the courthouse to testify for fear of being apprehended themselves, and the individual on trial for the felony walks free because the key witness was not at court to testify. IMHO sometimes things are not always black and white.
Patrick Schmidt: Liberals have no idea there is a difference between illegal and legal immigration.♦
