When talking about starving students, let's dish out some honesty
For instance, we should note upfront that these citadels of higher learning are, by definition, places of privilege -- because, while a high school diploma may not get you far in a global economy, a college degree is not what Thomas Jefferson conceived of as an unalienable right.
It does seem as if every generation feels as if it is going through something truly awful that no other generation has ever had to endure.
Right. You don't suppose the members of the World War II generation who grew up during the Great Depression knew anything about hunger pangs?
We were all starving students -- from baby boomers to Generation X to millennials. We all smuggled apples, cookies and cereal boxes back to our dorm rooms from the dining hall, or lived on ramen as we plowed through unpaid summer internships that would supposedly pay off in the future.
I spent a summer in New York before my senior year, where -- after paying rent -- I lived on $10 a day and walked home from work 60 blocks in awful humidity rather than surrender the lone subway token in my pocket.
OK, Gen X'er. That's different. Those were rites of passage. For members of so-called "Generation Z" or "iGen," empty stomachs are suddenly a matter of life and death.
I'm reminded of a funny line from the 1990s television show "Ally McBeal," where the lead character -- a narcissistic young lawyer in Boston -- is asked: "What makes your problems so much bigger than everybody else's?" Ally responds matter-of-factly: "They're mine."
Nonetheless, we are told by the media that the latest batch of starving students have it worse than anyone else has ever had it in the history of higher education. Paying exorbitant tuitions, and forced to choose between buying books or food, many students may fail out because they're famished.
Many colleges and universities now have on-campus food pantries where hungry students can drop in for a snack between classes.
That's a great idea, and a much-preferred alternative to proposed federal legislation to pay off student debt or make college free for everyone.
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