Hello everyone.
The news is fairly quiet today.
I'm feeling fairly skittish myself, as I am going in to school this morning with the intent to fight back against the Financial Aid Department. You see, I was given a scholarship this semester, and I wanted to make sure that this money would be refunded to me so I could pay my rent and other bills and buy some groceries (also to pay off the quite large amount I have owed on my Bursar account, which I MUST pay before I will be awarded my degree.) As all of you are aware by now, I'm not exactly well off, and I could really use this. I asked the scholarship department, and they told me that since this was an outside scholarship (not provided by the school), I would definitely get it refunded to me. Not convinced, I called the Financial Aid Department themselves, and was told the same thing. Relieved, I began to watch for the scholarship to hit my Bursar account. Instead, I was shocked to see that instead of refunding it to me, they charged the entire $1000 to my loans, meaning I will get nothing back. It won't even pay off my balance. I am so angry about this, because it means I was lied to at least 3 times by two different people, and because it means I have to continue to struggle. I'm even considering finding a job, which I know is absolutely impossible for someone taking as many classes as I am... but what can I do? My mom can only help me so much, she's not exactly well off herself, and the governor of Illinois is trying really hard to cancel out her job. I'm stuck, and I'm really angry. I've had to go into Financial Aid and fight with them over things like this every single semester. It's always a mistake on their part, or someone told me that something would go a certain way and it doesn't. Last summer I had to withdraw from a class because I couldn't afford to take it, and they accidentally withdrew me from the entire University without telling me. I had to go down to Admissions and have them put me back in. I've had to deal with so many issues from that one incident. So I'm quite nervous, because I know they're going to say what they always say: "Oh, I'm sorry, I don't know why someone would have told you that, but that's not how it works. Nothing we can do." And then I'm going to explode so loudly that people in Tacoma will hear me. Wish me luck.. Dealing with incompetency isn't exactly my strong suit.
Anyway, we're going to do a link day today, mostly because I'm strapped for time and so upset I can't even think straight.
-- A new witness has come forward in the Trayvon Martin case. The young woman says she and her young friend ran outside after the gunshot sounded to see what was going on, and were shocked to see Zimmerman holding the young man face down on the ground after he had been shot. This is contradicting what Zimmerman's close friend says of Zimmerman's character. The federal government may also be investigating the Sanford Police Dept., to see if any evidence has been destroyed or withheld. Tons of images and a few videos accompany the full story at this link:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2120096/Trayvon-Martin-case-Friend-Zimmerman-identifies-Neighbourhood-Watch-captain-screaming-help-911-call.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
(While some people may not believe the Trayvon Martin story is Occupy News, I must disagree. If we fight for equality, we fight for ALL equality. Not just what is important to you or your background. Class inequalities are inextricably linked to race and gender inequalities. If you don't believe that, you need to take a sociology course, or read a book on it.)
-- A short story without a link -- Occupy Portland (OR) marched yesterday to protest the city's camping ban, saying it's not just against Occupiers. The group rallied in support of the homeless population, many of whom joined the walk. Police were nearby in case things got out of hand, but regardless of a few incidents with traffic, did not step in.
-- Occupy Atlanta may have ended their stand-off with AT&T, but not without a victory. The group learned that the giant corporation will not be laying off the 250 workers that it originally planned to. This blog gives a more detailed account of the events:
http://clatl.com/freshloaf/archives/2012/03/25/occupy-atlanta-claims-victory-in-atandt-standoff
-- White Pride rallies in Edmonton and London were (in one case, literally) chased off by Occupiers and other anti-bigotry groups this past weekend. Police watched as the Occupiers and protesters chased the white-pride rally attendees through the city, but did not step in until a scuffle erupted.
http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2012/03/25/19547216.html
***Solidarity***
To contact me for any reason, please email elvishbutterfly@hotmail.com. Thanks.
No comments:
Post a Comment