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I’m feeling a bit like a Debbie Downer about the 2006 Winter Olympics. It was the most boring, over-covered, unexciting athletic event ever. And I like the Olympics and sports. To be fair, part of the blame lies with the Internet. The second I turned on my computer I knew the day’s winners and lost the motivation to cheer. Sure I could have changed my homepage to, I don’t know, CBS Soaps or something, but I wasn’t motivated. The lack of team spirit displayed by the athletes and recent world events clouded the Olympic experience and eliminated the goosebumps I usually get when an athlete stands on the podium gleaming as the Star Spangled Banner booms in the background.

Now, I don’t mind that so many US Olympic athletes didn’t win the medals they were supposed to. That happens I guess. (See the Chicago Cubs for the last century) What was disappointing was their behavior and lack of team spirit. Also there didn’t seem to be any sort of patriotism that is usually evident at the Olympics. The hours I watched I never heard a shout out to the troops risking their lives in Iraq. I never heard ‘God Bless America.’ I didn’t even hear ‘Thanks Mom.’ Perhaps NBC edited it out. What the didn’t edit out were the troubling incidences of conflict and individualism.

The feud between Chad Hedrick and Shani Davis was a gross display by both parties of bloated egotism. Whether or not the media overplayed their differences, the two should have kissed and made up for the spirit of the games. Both were wrong: Shani for not competing in the team event and Chad for snubbing his teammate after he won gold. But get over it and act like professionals, or I guess amateur athletes representing your country…

As Shani would say, "It would have been nice…"

Is the lack of patriotism by our Olympic Athletes reflective of the embarrassments our own country has endured during the past few years? As the skiers jumped through the air, sectarian violence broke out in Iraq, perhaps the preclude to a civil war.

As the pucks flew into the nets, in New Orleans, the devastated city prepares for a scaled down Mardi Gras with homeless residents still residing in temporary housing outside of the state. While Sasha Cohen wears her barely earned silver medal, Iran busily attempts to build a nuclear bomb with a mostly silent U.S. State Department leaving the diplomacy to the Europeans because our own intelligence failures have left us with little world credibility.

What saddens me is that the Olympics are not supposed to reflect a downtrodden American, but its strength. No matter what is going on politically, the games are supposed to bring us together to root for our compatriots and feel good about being an American.

Where was the miracle on ice?

The good news is the Olympics ends this weekend and Law and Order will be back on three days a week beginning Feb. 27. The bad news is the Today Show is airing from New Orleans to cover the first post Katrina Mardi Gras. Where has NBC News been for the past six months to cover the rebuilding problems? Sure, beads and masques are prettier for the cameras than condemned houses and empty street, but isn’t it the network’s duty to show the difficult reality endured by the impoverished residents who have lost their homes?

"It would have been nice."

Great coverage by NPR of Post Katrina rebuilding efforts

What caused the most recent violence in Iraq

Iran nuke

More on Hedrick-Davis drama

Another Debbie Downer column

…we need to encourage children to take more math and science, and make sure those courses are rigorous enough to compete with other nations. We have made a good start in the early grades with the No Child Left Behind Act, which is raising standards and lifting test scores across our country. Tonight I propose to train 70,000 high school teachers, to lead advanced-placement courses in math and science, bring 30,000 math and science professionals to teach in classrooms and give early help to who struggle with math, so they have a better chance at good, high-wage jobs. If we ensure that America’s children succeed in life, they will ensure that America succeeds in the world…

…Preparing our nation to compete in the world is a goal that all of us can share. I urge you to support the American Competitiveness Initiative and together we will show the world what the American people can achieve.

-President Bush’s State of the Union Address, January 31, 2006

One of the hats I wear at school is “college counseling associate.” It means I have to get up at 6:30 a.m. this Sunday to give the ACTs and on a more frequent basis help high school students figure out where they want to attend college, where they statistically have a chance of being accepted, and where they can afford to shell out the cash. More often than not, teenagers realize there is no way they can attend their ‘dream’ college without saddling their parents or themselves with enormous debt. 

So let me give you some perspective on the cost of going to college today. Since most of you weren’t in college that long ago, you probably remembered what you paid (or are paying off).  For fall 2006 here are the costs to attend the following schools:

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
In State Tuition: $6,460
Out of State Tuition: $19,380
Room and Board: $7,176
Books and Supplies: $950
Required Fees: $1,582

Washington University in St. Louis
Tuition: $31,100
Room and Board: $10,064
Books and Supplies: $1050
Required Fees: $942

University of Denver
Tuition: $27,756
Room and Board: $8,749
Books and Supplies: $1,306
Required Fees: $654

Indiana University at South Bend
In State Tuition: $4,035
Out of State Tuition: $11,445
Room and Board: N/A
Books and Supplies: N/A
Required Fees: $406

The average employed American earns $39,795. If you live in Illinois and want to send your child to U of I, and earn 40,000 you will be spending about 40 percent of your income on your child’s education. Even if both parents work and are earning 40,0000, that’s still 20 percent of your income on your child’s education.

And that’s only if you have one college age child.

That brings me back to President Bush.  For his latest budget he proposed significant cuts that will affect students trying to pay for higher education:

<span style=”FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-default-font-family: Arial; mso-ascii-font-family: Arial; mso-latin-font-family: Arial; mso-greek-font-family: Arial; mso-cyrillic-font-family: Arial; mso-hebrew-font-family: Arial; mso-arabic-font-family: Arial; mso-latinext-font-family: Arial; language: EN; mso-ansi-language: EN“>…Tuition and fees have increased 57 percent for a public four-year college and 32 percent for a private four-year college since 2000…the President has proposed a budget that freezes the maximum Pell Grant award at $4,050, the same level as Fiscal Year 2003…in 1975, a Pell Grant covered 80 percent of the cost of a public four-year college education while today it covers only about 40 percent. (Democratic Policy Committee) A Pell Grant is mostly given to families who earn less than $20,000 per year.

The President’s budget also proposes to eliminate the Perkins loan program, which provides low-interest, fixed-rate loans for students with financial need, and to recall the federal portion of revolving funds collected by participating institutions for a total of $664 million.  Furthermore, the President’s budget proposes to eliminate the Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership (LEAP) program, which provides a federal match to states for need-based grant and work-study assistance.<span style=”mso-spacerun: yes”>  (Democratic Policy Committee)

With this plan to cut spending on higher education, how could the President address Congress and the American people, look them in the eye and say, “Preparing our nation to compete in the world is a goal that all of us can share.” Look, I’m not a person who thinks the President deliberately lied about the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. But when he made that statement he lied.

I understand the deficit. But if you’re going to cut funding to something, then admit it. Don’t create meaningless programs labeled great initiatives when in actuality they are underfunded, underinspired political propaganda. Like No Child Left Behind. That rolls right off the tongue into the trash can. No Child Left Behind will be underfunded by $15.4 billion during the year 2007.

I turned on Fox News the other night and I heard them mocking ‘angry Democrats.’ Who is going to vote for someone who is always red faced about something like Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, or Howard Dean, they laughed.

I’ll be honest. None of those names particularly inspire me, but I’m angry too.  On February 1, the House of Representatives passed this budget that liberally cuts funding to education by a 216 to 214 vote. Remember that number if you think you might forget to vote in the 2006 Congressional election.

Or start saving your money. The University of Baghdad might be the only college affordable in 25 years.