Friday, January 23, 2009

Carbondale Poverty 2

After looking at the figures more and considering some of the comments, something else became apparent. The student population at SIUC has remained pretty constant since the early 90s, fluctuating maybe a couple of hundred students a year or so. However, the Carbondale poverty rate increased by 5% during the period from 1999 to 2007, so whoever was getting poorer, it wasn't the students.

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Comments:
Nothing better than throwing around statistics, without really looking at them. So, how many people more are below the poverty line? In an ecosystem as small as Carbondale, it could be one employer who makes the difference. Maybe the call centers being outlawed, SIU paying Grad Students less, less tips for waitresses at Quatro's. This is silly, unless you really crawl through the numbers and understand them.

I do realize it is more fun to just complain and confuse things.
 
But it's not nearly as much fun as lobbing your poo at bloggers from behind a mask, is it?

Anyways, I disagree with the analysis of these stats as well. Even if the number of students has remained constant, the ratio of students above and below the poverty line still might have shifted, altering the percentage of total impoverished residents. Although tuition has increased over the same time period, SIUC still has one of the lowest in the state-- perhaps the perceived value of an SIUC education has not kept pace with the price, leaving Carbondale with students who can only afford to choose an institution based on economic factors.

Also, I said "poo".
 
I'm confused - I go to DaveX's profile and find he doesn't list his name - he is anonymous? What up with that? How can someone who doesn't use his own name, on his own blog, complain about someone else being anonymous?

On the topic - Carbondale is unique, as a town, with a large college and no other industry. If you are telling us that the black people in town are below the poverty line in greater numbers or that SIU is paying worse or there are more unemployed or more parents of students are below the poverty line (so the students are below too), I can see this statistic working in a logical way. Where else can the "poverty" come from. There was nothing left to give.

From an Anonymous who knows more about math, business and creating blogging content than you do. :)
 
I'm as anonymous as Mark Twain, Stan Lee, or Lewis Carroll-- all of whom use/d pen names.

I've maintained DaveX for broadcasting, blogging, writing, and releasing my own music for over 10 years. I'm also quite easy to find online. If you need anything more than that, you're either a troll or a stalker.

The difference between me and someone truly anonymous is that if I left a comment claiming to "know more about math, business, and creating blog content" than someone else, those reading my comment would have an opportunity to visit my site and decide for themselves. Furthermore, these same readers could use a tool such as Technorati or OpenID to search across blogs to see where I contribute to other discussions.

You, however, contribute nothing more than disembodied whispers.
 
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