The Undersecretary of Education and My Aching Butt

Friday the28th, I attended a graduation ceremony at Merced Community College District, at which Martha Kanter, United States Undersecretary of Education, spoke.

First and foremost, I was surprised she was even in Merced, Ca. The town is, roughly, 80k people who are primarily employed in the agricultural field; 20% of the citizens of Merced County are unemployed.

Last year Michelle Obama spoke to the first graduating class of UC Merced, but I never got the impression this added Merced to the political map. MCCD’s chancellor stated he was “good friends” with Dr. Kanter, and he may be using that phrase in its seldom used, literal sense.

The pretense that Kanter spoke as a favor to MCCD’s chancellor wore a bit thin as her oration progressed. She neatly, and completely, stated the current talking points of the Obama administration. The administration’s student loan takeover was mentioned as an attempt by the President to make student loans and PEL grants easier to obtain. She also mentioned Obama’s plan for increased college graduation by making it “accessible” to more students, and she pointed to the allocation of $12,000,000,000 for community college projects.

With the student loan takeover killing 2500 jobs from Sallie Mae alone, her topics seemed a bit off for such a depressed region. She was also telling a graduating class that more money was on the way…for the students who came along after them.

Obama is cautiously campaigning for Democratic candidates, and I feel Dr. Kanter’s speech is part of that strategy. By going to many small venues, for legitimate reasons, administration members can get the party message out without the President’s direct involvement.

The whole graduation became a dog and pony show after she agreed to come, and we were subjected to two songs, four speeches, three role-calls, and a guy with an amplified ukulele, before the diplomas were finally handed out. By the end of the 2.5hr ordeal I had been chilled to the bone, my posterior was aching, and I was fuming with the unnecessarily long and boring speeches.

I disagree with most of the administration’s policies, but I do applaud this quite campaigning. The propaganda was a bit annoying to hear, but I’ve got an ear for it. The increased funding for community colleges will help Merced, thoughMCCD (Merced Community College District) employs far fewer people than, say, the AT&T call center they built on the corpse of Castle Air Force Base. The students receive much federal aid, and I’ve seen the lines on grant distribution day lead out of the Financial Aid building and well into the quad. So PEL grant money will stimulate local economies, but it remains to be seen if they will stimulate the economy more than the taxes collected to create those checks stifle it.