Buffalo chip to growing student loan debt

Talk about it

The Jamestown Sun hands out these bravos and a buffalo chip this week:

*Bravo to Stutsman County for providing opportunities for residents to vote early. Residents can vote from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday through Nov. 5. They can also vote early today and Nov. 3 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Having early voting can ease the crunch on Election Day (Nov. 6) and help residents vote at times that might be more convenient.

*Bravo to Norman Kidd, better known to many as Ole Olson of KSJB, who retired from full-time work in radio after 48 years but is keeping a part-time presence on the air.

*Buffalo chip that national student loan debt is up 5 percent. The Institute for College Access and Success said in a report last week that two-thirds of the national college class of 2011 finished school with loan debt. That debt averaged $26,600. It’s good that people are attending college; it’s troubling that they must be saddled with so much debt by the time they finish.

*Bravo to those people who are helping residents of the small town of Bucyrus, N.D., clean up and deal with the aftermath of a fire that destroyed much of the town. The blaze that started on Oct. 17 destroyed 24 structures and burned about 6,000 acres.

*Bravo to candidates for Stutsman County Commission and District 12 in the North Dakota Legislature for answering questions “On the Issues,” which appeared in this week’s Sun. This gives voters more information as they go to the polls.

*Bravo to Cole Musland and Patrick Swift of Jamestown, who were elected to the Farmers Union National Youth Advisory Council.

*Bravo to the late former Sen. George McGovern, who died Sunday at age 90 and whose funeral was Friday in South Dakota. McGovern, a veteran who served in World War II, focused his life on public service as a senator and in fighting world hunger.

*Bravo to Jamestown College students who took part in “trick or can” this week. Students collected 1,875 nonperishable items for the food pantry in Jamestown. And bravo to those people who donated items, which will be put to good use by those in need.

(Editorials are the opinion of Jamestown Sun management and the newspaper’s editorial board)

Tags: opinion, editorials, bravos