Pete Moye’
Opinion Button

Students across the nation and the state are struggling financially.

With the current economic climate, education is often the first to be cut when deliberations take place on Capitol Hill about the budget.

At Cerritos, students eventually get the financial help that they need, but is it in a timely manner?

Financial Aid disbursements are taking place at different times for different students and that’s a problem in and of itself.

But how are students that have received their Financial Aid currently doing in their studies?

Did you really need that 60-inch LCD flat screen television that came with a surround sound system?

I know you couldn’t say no to the bundle that included the Xbox Kinect and assorted games.

How will Kinect Joy Ride positively affect your studies?

Nothing personal, but it’s common knowledge to pedestrians around campus that it isn’t improving your driving skills.

It is good to have the support of the government in the form of Financial Aid, but students may be playing with fire in an economic climate already unkind to graduates.

Don’t give them an excuse to cut from one of the few programs that most students benefit from greatly.

KTLA 5 and, consequently, the LA Times reported on a Financial Aid scam that took place on our very own campus that took place in 2009 and led to the arrest of two students, as well as forcing police to open up an investigation into dozens of others.

Of course, the incident reflected fraud taking place, and may not have looked into exactly what legitimate students spend their money on.

But was every purchase legitimate?

These disbursements take place as a result of taxpayer dollars, student and non-student taxpayers alike, so it is vital for us to ask ourselves if we are acting responsibly financially.

Having a hard time keeping a cap on your own spending? Ask yourself: would mom, dad, grandma or grandpa approve of splurging on the massive home entertainment center?

It is unlikely.

However, the case for student aid has been made on grounds that the cost of living, which includes textbooks, food and additional supplies for classes, continues to rise and students sometimes have a hard enough time covering these fundamental costs and must work and go to school simultaneously.

Furthermore, some students are parents, and are financially responsible for other people who depend on them.

If we, the iPad generation, have a legitimate scholastic reason for buying anything, then it should be completely understandable.

The argument, if it is sound, should stand and we should continue to receive aid with no obstacles.

A random student may say, “I’m really struggling getting my Anthropology textbook.”

Don’t force your fellow student to point out that you shouldn’t have bought that Hello Kitty decal that will only fit clearly on a Diesel truck.

You know better.

Act like an adult, because the law makes no exception for “just out of high school.”

Spend responsibly, balance your checkbook and keep reserves safe in case of an emergency.

It will be really tough to play Kinect Joy Ride when you forget to pay your utilities and get served with the eviction notice.

If that is your plan, it might be wise to invest in a video projector, so you can play on the side of the building you used to live in.

Still, it might be difficult to study in the darkness.

Stay out of the darkness, students, the financial burden of taking on this aid, specifically loans, and having no long-term plan to pay them off is really counter-productive to the idea of college itself.