national conferences and college students

[Guest guest]

and all....

While I can understand your frustration in college expenses....One thing

that baffles me... as a former LPA Scholarship winner... a former college

student.... and now a parent of a college student is ....HOW DO COLLEGE

STUDENTS AFFORD TO COME TO CONFERENCE AND WHY AREN'T THEY WORKING?

When I was in college... I couldn't afford to come to conferences...

because I had work all summer... not because it wasn't important to me

.... but there certainly wasn't money to come to conference... and my

parents valued work and paying the most that I could of my expenses...

Secondly... College students come to conference.... and then win LPA

Scholarship money.... in some ways I look at this as we just paid for

those kids to come to conference...not for their educational expenses...

I don't get it!

I'm on my soap box on this one....

marge

[Guest guest]

As a mother who has raised about a half a million kids..... lol

I do not believe in giving in to every whim and spoiling a kid silly with over

giving. I think there are some activities/things which are so important in a

child's life and for their personal, educational and social growth that they

should be afforded without stress or obligation to self pay. That because a

particular trip or activity is more important to one child or another depending

on specific circumstances and to be in proximity with others of that same

circumstance allowances and sacrifices should be made by all involved.

An example would be a tennis camp for a gifted tennis young player.... a

diabetic event if a child is facing that challenge... A camp for children who

are coping with cancer or a summer seminar on dog handling if that is their

passion and/or deep desire. Whatever it take be to be around people who have the

same desires, interests, afflictions or condition should be looked at seriously.

Some things are important enough for the parents and famlies to " pony up " and

sacrifice for their and LPA conference would be one of those incidents to me if

my granddaughter needed to go.

It might well be a huge financial sacrifice for a family or parents but that is

what parents are all about and yes I know that not all will be able to afford it

at any rate every year and that might be when we get creative and possibly go

to community services for help. When possible I believe the child SHOULD

help... One week out of a summer job will not break the child's bank account

when they are a teenager. They can go back to work after all the tears have

dried from the annual goodbyes.

Everyone deserves to be around their peers as often as possible especially when

they are such a minority as those in the dwarf community. Anyway that is my

opinion and I am sticking to it!

Cheers,

Karolyn

national conferences and college students

and all....

While I can understand your frustration in college expenses....One thing

that baffles me... as a former LPA Scholarship winner... a former college

student.... and now a parent of a college student is ....HOW DO COLLEGE

STUDENTS AFFORD TO COME TO CONFERENCE AND WHY AREN'T THEY WORKING?

When I was in college... I couldn't afford to come to conferences...

because I had work all summer... not because it wasn't important to me

... but there certainly wasn't money to come to conference... and my

parents valued work and paying the most that I could of my expenses...

Secondly... College students come to conference.... and then win LPA

Scholarship money.... in some ways I look at this as we just paid for

those kids to come to conference...not for their educational expenses...

I don't get it!

I'm on my soap box on this one....

marge

===

[Guest guest]

Oh wow! As a former LPA scholarship winner I

--- Marge E Carlisle <MargeClpa@...> wrote:

> and all....

> While I can understand your frustration in college

> expenses....One thing

> that baffles me... as a former LPA Scholarship

> winner... a former college

> student.... and now a parent of a college student is

> ....HOW DO COLLEGE

> STUDENTS AFFORD TO COME TO CONFERENCE AND WHY AREN'T

> THEY WORKING?

>

> When I was in college... I couldn't afford to come

> to conferences...

> because I had work all summer... not because it

> wasn't important to me

> ... but there certainly wasn't money to come to

> conference... and my

> parents valued work and paying the most that I could

> of my expenses...

>

> Secondly... College students come to conference....

> and then win LPA

> Scholarship money.... in some ways I look at this as

> we just paid for

> those kids to come to conference...not for their

> educational expenses...

>

> I don't get it!

>

> I'm on my soap box on this one....

>

> marge

>

We dream, cry, laugh, shout, fall in love, and make mistakes. We are no

different from you. -- Barty

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Oh wow! As a LPA scholar

--- Marge E Carlisle <MargeClpa@...> wrote:

> and all....

> While I can understand your frustration in college

> expenses....One thing

> that baffles me... as a former LPA Scholarship

> winner... a former college

> student.... and now a parent of a college student is

> ....HOW DO COLLEGE

> STUDENTS AFFORD TO COME TO CONFERENCE AND WHY AREN'T

> THEY WORKING?

>

> When I was in college... I couldn't afford to come

> to conferences...

> because I had work all summer... not because it

> wasn't important to me

> ... but there certainly wasn't money to come to

> conference... and my

> parents valued work and paying the most that I could

> of my expenses...

>

> Secondly... College students come to conference....

> and then win LPA

> Scholarship money.... in some ways I look at this as

> we just paid for

> those kids to come to conference...not for their

> educational expenses...

>

> I don't get it!

>

> I'm on my soap box on this one....

>

> marge

>

We dream, cry, laugh, shout, fall in love, and make mistakes. We are no

different from you. -- Barty

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

And we had to walk 2 miles each way to school in the snow everyday.

warming up the violin here.

>

> and all....

> While I can understand your frustration in college expenses....One

thing

> that baffles me... as a former LPA Scholarship winner... a former

college

> student.... and now a parent of a college student is ....HOW DO

COLLEGE

> STUDENTS AFFORD TO COME TO CONFERENCE AND WHY AREN'T THEY

WORKING?

[Guest guest]

Marge et. al....

I have to second what Karolyn and Leigh Ann said---LPA scholarship money

(speaking as a past recipient and one who really has needed that money to be

able to attend where I wanted to) never touches the winners' hands (I'm sure

Lois can back that one up)- it always goes directly to the school. Some

scholarships, I do realize, are made out to the winner, with the " hope " that

it will go toward their education- LPA's isn't- it bypasses the actual

winner, wihch is what it should do.

I do agree summer work is important (I've worked the last two summers

post-graduation and will this summer as well), but I also have to agree with

Karolyn in the sense that it's both the social/medical/insert adjective here

experience that only happens once a year and it's also become the summer

vacation at the same time. Maybe I misread this, and I apologize if I did-

but it seemed like college students shouldn't come to nationals at all

because " we can't or shouldn't be able to afford it " ---what kind of message

does that send?

Let me clarify my original point- I never brought scholarships into this

picture, and I never brought in who goes to what college, who has more money

to spend, or anything like that- all I really asked was why hasn't it been

explored that for purposes of national registration, NOT MRFs (whole other

issue entirely), all singles (especially college students) that are rooming

together can pool their money and register as a family registration---if

LPA's really about increasing it's attendance and membership at nationals,

let's start by making it affordable to all of it's members (families,

college students, and others alike), not just those who have the money to be

able to spend almost more than one spends on birthday and holiday gifts for

the whole year (rough estimate). In the grand scheme, isn't it worth having

more people even if it means you have reduced prices in the same operation?

[Guest guest]

Marge,

I can see the argument you are making, and from my own personal

experience I can appreciate its value. I won a scholarship for my

senior year of undergrad and was able to attend conference despite

being a full time student because the conference was in my back yard

(Boston). This was the first conference I had been able to attend in

about 6 yrs because of the financial strain and sacrifices my entire

family had to make to send me and my AP siblings to private colleges

and universities. I would have liked to attend those missed

conferences, but in retrospect see not going as one of many sacrifices

my family made for the long term good. I am immensely grateful that we

all made those sacrifices, as I am now financially independent and,

until I return to school full time in the fall of 07, able to attend

conferences regularly.

With that said, I think your argument has some major flaws.

First, it makes the very dubious assumption that students attending

conferences are not working. Do you attend conference? Do you have a

full time job? I know I am able to do both. Many people manage to get

the week off and I would never just assume that students who are at a

convention a single week of the year sit on their bum playing XBox and

eating doritos the other 51. Because I had such a great time in

Boston, I attended the SF conference the summer immediately after my

senior year on my own coin and I did this by simultaneously working 2

PT jobs as a philosophy teaching assistant and telephone switchboard

operator while taking a full 15 credit course load, editing the op-ed

section of my college's weekly newspaper, and writing a 109 page

philosophy honors thesis. In some ways, you may argue that recieving

the scholarship the year before partly or mostly funded my trip to SF

" indirectly " by letting me use my earnings from my jobs for a

conference and not other expenses. However, does it sound to you like

I was not making other sacrifices so that I may graduate AND attend an

LPA national?

The second flaw is that your argument is completely impossible to

impliment. Even if we agreed that college students attending

conferences is somehow a grave injustice, what kind of policy would

LPA have to craft to ensure this doesn't happen? It would be very

draconian I would think. Shall we make students applying for the

scholarship sign a contract promising not to attend national? Shall

we take social security numbers at check in and match them to the list

of scholarship winners to see if anyone snuck in?

The final and most glaring flaw of your argument is that there is more

to the LPA scholarship (or any scholarship) than just the dollars and

cents. When I won the scholarship, I was definately grateful for the

money and it did make in impact on my situation, but realistically, it

was a drop in the bucket. Private colleges and universities are now

charging upwards of 45,0000 a yr in tuition and expenses. For many

students, like myself, that is funded by a combination of federal

grants, loans, scholarships, part time work, and help from family. In

other words, the purpose of the LPA scholarship is not necessarily to

JUST fund college tuition, but to ENCOURAGE SCHOLARSHIP. In my mind,

the most important thing the scholarship does is send a message to the

youth of the organization: knowledge is power. There is an award

ceremony AT the national conference where the scholarship winners are

called on stage because this scholarship is more than just money. It

is a celebration and recognition of academic ambition and achievement.

In my mind, this is the most important function of the scholarship.

This encouragement and outlook IS THE FUTURE OF LPA. I think it was

monique that said the more professionals we have the better (forgive

the paraphrase). It is absolutely true that any potential LPA has to

be a positive force in our society hinges on the education of our

membership and the scholarship promotes that interest in more ways

than mere dollars. In your utopia, college students wouldn't even be

at the banquet to recieve their scholarship.

Aparently, I am also on my soap box.

Cheers,

Joe

>

> and all....

> While I can understand your frustration in college expenses....One thing

> that baffles me... as a former LPA Scholarship winner... a former

college

> student.... and now a parent of a college student is ....HOW DO COLLEGE

> STUDENTS AFFORD TO COME TO CONFERENCE AND WHY AREN'T THEY WORKING?

>

> When I was in college... I couldn't afford to come to conferences...

> because I had work all summer... not because it wasn't important to me

> ... but there certainly wasn't money to come to conference... and my

> parents valued work and paying the most that I could of my expenses...

>

> Secondly... College students come to conference.... and then win LPA

> Scholarship money.... in some ways I look at this as we just paid for

> those kids to come to conference...not for their educational expenses...

>

> I don't get it!

>

> I'm on my soap box on this one....

>

> marge

>

[Guest guest]

Marge,

I'm going to have to agree with your critics here. I believe every college

kid SHOULD attend national conferences whenever possible, and LPA and their

families should make every effort to make it financially possible for them

to do so. It such a valuable and life-enriching experience (just being able

to dance with someone your own height is worth the trip). Plus, they get to

meet old farts like us, and (hopefully) be encouraged in their professional

pursuits.

And no, despite some of the rumors (and a few bad apples) it is not a

week-long " Dwarfs Gone Wild " party.

I liked Matt's response to about the Seattle 07 conference. I think we

(the EC and BOD) should explore creative alternatives to helping college

kids afford the conferences.

What about an " adopt a collegiate " program, in which the more affluent

members can help defer the costs of the conference for college kids who

demonstrate financial need? (One of the ideas I might bounce off the BOD

when I take office.) I'm definitely going to talk to my predecessor (Lois)

about this, and I invite others to send me their input.

Bill Bradford

Candidate-elect, VP of Programs.

On 4/25/06, Marge E Carlisle <MargeClpa@...> wrote:

>

> and all....

> While I can understand your frustration in college expenses....One thing

> that baffles me... as a former LPA Scholarship winner... a former college

> student.... and now a parent of a college student is ....HOW DO COLLEGE

> STUDENTS AFFORD TO COME TO CONFERENCE AND WHY AREN'T THEY WORKING?

>

> When I was in college... I couldn't afford to come to conferences...

> because I had work all summer... not because it wasn't important to me

> ... but there certainly wasn't money to come to conference... and my

> parents valued work and paying the most that I could of my expenses...

>

> Secondly... College students come to conference.... and then win LPA

> Scholarship money.... in some ways I look at this as we just paid for

> those kids to come to conference...not for their educational expenses...

>

> I don't get it!

>

> I'm on my soap box on this one....

>

> marge

>

>

> ===

>

[Guest guest]

> I liked Matt's response to about the Seattle 07 conference. I

think we (the EC and BOD) should explore creative alternatives to

helping college kids afford the conferences.<

Has anyone ever done a breakdown (by age) of those attending the

conferences? I don't remember seeing one, but then LPA has so few

employees.....

> What about an " adopt a collegiate " program, in which the more

affluent members can help defer the costs of the conference for

college kids who demonstrate financial need? (One of the ideas I

might bounce off the BOD when I take office.) I'm definitely going to

talk to my predecessor (Lois) about this, and I invite others to send

me their input.<

That's a nice idea. Perhaps (based on 's concern) there can be a

different registration payment tier for college students?

[Guest guest]

I think a graduated or tiered registration system could be implemented. I

think extraneous costs (sight-seeing trips, off-site activities, etc., could

remain the same price-wise), but the availability of workshops, medical

advice, socialization, etc., should be made more affordable to the 18-25

crowd.

Bill

On 4/26/06, M <petite_isla@...> wrote:

>

>

> > I liked Matt's response to about the Seattle 07 conference. I

> think we (the EC and BOD) should explore creative alternatives to

> helping college kids afford the conferences.<

>

> Has anyone ever done a breakdown (by age) of those attending the

> conferences? I don't remember seeing one, but then LPA has so few

> employees.....

>

> > What about an " adopt a collegiate " program, in which the more

> affluent members can help defer the costs of the conference for

> college kids who demonstrate financial need? (One of the ideas I

> might bounce off the BOD when I take office.) I'm definitely going to

> talk to my predecessor (Lois) about this, and I invite others to send

> me their input.<

>

> That's a nice idea. Perhaps (based on 's concern) there can be a

> different registration payment tier for college students?

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> ===

>

[Guest guest]

Hiya Bull,

Is LPA and the convention an elitist group geared toward the affluent? It might

appear so to some.

Not everyone who is a dwarf or has a dwarf in their family can afford to attend.

Many cannot even afford to pay the annual dues.

It is not just college kids but finances also play a major part in the lives of

" regular " people who should be there also. It is not just college kids who are

poor but many famlies would dearly love to come but cannot even afford to

register much less get there and stay there!

Not trying to get anything started just making an observation and making an

inquiry.

Cheers,

Karolyn

Re: Re: national conferences and college students

I think a graduated or tiered registration system could be implemented. I

think extraneous costs (sight-seeing trips, off-site activities, etc., could

remain the same price-wise), but the availability of workshops, medical

advice, socialization, etc., should be made more affordable to the 18-25

crowd.

Bill

On 4/26/06, M <petite_isla@...> wrote:

>

>

> > I liked Matt's response to about the Seattle 07 conference. I

> think we (the EC and BOD) should explore creative alternatives to

> helping college kids afford the conferences.<

>

> Has anyone ever done a breakdown (by age) of those attending the

> conferences? I don't remember seeing one, but then LPA has so few

> employees.....

>

> > What about an " adopt a collegiate " program, in which the more

> affluent members can help defer the costs of the conference for

> college kids who demonstrate financial need? (One of the ideas I

> might bounce off the BOD when I take office.) I'm definitely going to

> talk to my predecessor (Lois) about this, and I invite others to send

> me their input.<

>

> That's a nice idea. Perhaps (based on 's concern) there can be a

> different registration payment tier for college students?

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> ===

>