In a stunning editorial, Miriam Weeks peels off even more layers to expose the seedy underbelly of adult education!
Miriam Weeks is not your typical college student. By day a Duke University student with every day college kid problems (tuition, being away from home, balancing a job and a college curriculum), by night one of the most talked-about adult superstars and touring feature dancers in the entire world. After a mind-numbing blaze period of national, indeed international publicity, Weeks aka Belle Knox thought she could settle in on her dual lifestyles. Then the other stiletto dropped. In a riveting essay posted by TIME MAGAZINE, America’s most fantasized-about college girl wrote This year, even after student aid, I faced a $47,000 bill to attend Duke University. My turn to porn to close the gap was so famous, in part, due to my reasoning. Faced with either a degree from a less prestigious school or decades of crushing debt, a few hours of work on a porn set revealed itself to be the best way to avoid getting screwed.
OK, so she also has one helluva sense of humor. Even about a serious subject. Though she is reportedly not majoring in economics, her dissertation could certainly lead one to believe this young lady could have a big future on Wall Street. She continued: To make matters worse, my income now makes me ineligible for the $13,000 in aid I was receiving. My bill for next year will be a staggering $62,000. And I will pay this all on my own; the financial aid office does not care that I am legally financially independent. They view it as my parent’s responsibility to foot the bill. But my porn work pays the exorbitant tab for one simple reason: Demand for porn actresses, especially extremely young ones like myself, far exceeds supply. How interesting that the same basic principle explains why my tuition bill is so high in the first place. Demand for education, kind of like demand for porn, is pretty inelastic. Kids like me have been told our whole lives that higher education is the only way to be successful in America. President Obama made it clear he wants to keep that demand high in a speech in Austin, Texas.
Invoking the name of President Obama would be scandalous coming from the mouth (or pen … or keyboard) of an adult superstar (even Presidential wannabes like Sarah Palin can be the subject of a global controversy when taken on by … oh …. just for example … LISA ANN). But Weeks / Knox makes a very strong point.She writes:
“I want us to produce 8 million more college graduates by 2020, because America has to have the highest share of graduates compared to every other nation,” Obama said. Toward that end, he increased the amount and number of Pell Grants. Further boosting demand for a college, a moribund economy has made delayed entry into the workforce attractive and competition for jobs fierce. For years, lawmakers have worked toward the clear goal of making sure every American kid enrolls in college. Pell Grants aren’t the only method. Guaranteed loans have ensured every kid, regardless of credit score, parental income, or likely ability to repay, can borrow money to go to school. The federal government has for decades effectively subsidized college education through grants and loans, with predictable effects. Colleges today have zero incentive to lower tuition or make college more affordable. Either way, demand is high and the money will keep flowing. So why bother with thrift?
The manner in which Weeks / Knox articulates her plight is worthy of one’s attention. She laments:
I have considered dropping out of Duke. I have sacrificed more than my squeaky clean reputation to finance my education. Flying to shoots during breaks means I rarely see my family. And, of course, my choice to finance through porn has meant intense ridicule and harassment. I cannot tell you how difficult it is to hear my wealthy friends talk about all of the exciting summer plans in Greece or London they have, while I know I’m going to be working. I’m in that middle-class bind where many students find themselves. My parents make too much on paper to qualify for sufficient aid, but not enough to afford $47,000 a year. Alas, the plight of a middle-class student. I’m hardly the only student who’s struggling with these sky-high bills. Experts predict a massive student loan default on the horizon, on par with the last major mortgage crisis. And, like the mortgage crisis, it’s likely the banks and lenders will be bailed out, while the students will be saddled with wage garnishments and ruined credit. Government must stop the flow of money to schools in order to get tuition rates under control again. That means being honest about the fact that not every child should go to college. Only 59% of full-time, first-time undergraduate students who began their pursuit of a bachelor’s degree at a 4-year degree-granting institution graduate in four years. That also means making students who can’t afford tuition out of pocket find funding in the private market, where lenders are too judicious to lend someone $150,000 to get a BA in underwater basketweaving.
In perhaps the most compelling portion of her argument, she opines: Everyone is focused on my decision to perform in porn to pay my tuition. Let’s start paying attention to what got me here. Sky-high tuition bills result from a culture, from our President on down, telling every kid to go to college, regardless of their future plans or ability to graduate. And they result from schools being all-too-happy to raise prices to catch all the money flowing from the federal spigot.
We here at THE HEYMAN HUSTLE give Ms. Weeks / Knox an A+.
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