>However, I find that statistic of yours unsettling. I always thought of higher education as something you worked for, something granted to those striving for more than a high school education.

I have lost faith in the educational system of America. Not just public school, but universities.

I graduated high school in 1995. At the time, my health problems, which I'd had for many years, were compounding themselves, and by fall I simply wasn't well enough to attend college...I'd decided to put it off until either the spring, or the fall of 96.

In the fall of 96, that was all shot down by the discovery that I had cataracts in both eyes and a retinal tear in my right eye.

In 97, I had to pay for two cataract operations out of my own pocket when my health insurance cut me off because...get this...I wasn't in school.

In August 97, a month after I had the second cataract (left eye) removed, I lost my right eye. The retina pulled itself apart. My left eye healed poorly as a result, and I still have trouble with eye strain. Other health issues continued to compound, and it became clear to me that my chances of ever attending college were basically down the toilet.

In the time since then, I've had an awakening to the way the world works, and I've discovered two ugly truths about our society:

1. If you don't have a college degree, you don't work.

2. A college degree is as much a sign of an educated person as a fresh paint job is a sign that a car is in good condition.

Now, I don't claim to be some kind of genius or anything, but I'm far from being a stupid or ignorant person. In browsing (unsuccessfully) ads for work-at-home jobs, I've seen a lot of jobs I'm overqualified for (IMHO) saddled with a stipulation that one must have a college degree, or one need not apply. On the flipside, jobs which should require a good deal of intelligence and common sense are being filled by...well, look at Computer Stupidities and Things People Said. THOSE are the people who are taking the jobs away from the people who truly deserve them...and the only difference is that those people BSed their way through "higher learning" and got there first.

Okay, end of rant...I'm just a rather bitter and cynical person when it comes to the whole subject of college and employment.

-Trunks (uneducated writer for hire)