Lots of different stuff

I haven't written in a while, mainly because I have been busy doing a bunch of stuff. I also saw some articles on Friday that I thought were significant enough to post about, so here I go. Both articles have to do with the availability of higher education to the average American. According to demographic studies, 39% of Americans have at least Bachelor's Degree, but because of the increasing cost of education, many people are being priced out of college. The bottom 40% of the population are having to pay more than half of their median income for a year of college because financial aid has been falling. For those people that are able to go to college, many colleges have changed their suicide policies to evict those students that admit to being suicidal. Colleges want to avoid legal liability while claiming that they are allowing the students to ge tthe help that they need. While someone that is having problems such that they think that suicide is the only way should be given some time off from classes to let them get themselves together, evicting them from school altogether may push them over the edge. Schools should have the resources to give students the help that they need.

Over the weekend, I went to the Touch & Go 25th Anniversary at the 10th Anniversary of the Hideout Block Party. The Hideout every fall does their block party to benefit Tuesday's Child, Literacy Works, and Drummond Elementary School. I have been volunteering for the last three years and coming only on Saturday. Because this was such a big event, I decided to come all three days (although I wasn't there from beginning to end on all three days). Touch & Go started out as a Hardcore label in Detroit but has evolved over the years to include regular punk and Indie Rock. Friday went from 5-10PM and featured among others, Girls Against Boys, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, and !!! GVsB played one of their classic albums in its entirety plus a couple of other songs, Ted Leo did a bunch of new songs and did a high energy show as usual but he didn't bleed this time like he did at Pitchfork, and while I like !!! somewhat, I actually like the band that they came from more (Out Hud) and to me, they seemed to be off. Saturday was mostly about punk rock and their were many bands that got together strictly for this event . While there were a lot of good bands, the last three were something to be seen. Surf-punk band from Birmingham, Alabama, Man or Astroman, post-hardcore/noise rock band Big Black got together for the first time in 17 years played4 songs and Shellac, the present band of former leader of Big Black, Steve Albini all played incredible sets in their own right. Sunday was Indie Rock day and while it was pretty dreary, it was also my favorite day. I liked Enon, Three Mile Pilot, Seam, The Black Heart Procession, Pinback, and especially Calexico, who put on a much more hard-rocking set than I have previously seen them do.

Monday was 9/11 and while it was the 5th anniversary of the tragedy in New York and Washington DC, it was also the 100th anniversary of Mohatma Gandhi's declaration of nonviolent resistance. The Chicago Humanities Festival in conjunction with Peace Journey, The Peace Alliance, and The American Friends Service Committee held a screening of the 1982 movie Gandhi, starring Ben Kingsley. I thought it better to dwell on peace than war so I attended this.

I am going to stay busy but I will write again when I can.