Are College Students Selfish Research

In “Too Many People Are Going to College”, the author, Charles Murray’s main purpose is to encourage people to rethink college. He clearly gives very valid and educated reasons on why college isn't for everyone and how society has made everyone think that college is a norm and, in a way, a rite of passage into adulthood and citizenship. Murray is given the difficult task of proving to the people that society has marred and distorted the views of college. He does an exemplary job of executing this task. Murray presents his argument that college is not all society says it is by presenting counter arguments and either giving rebuttals or conceding.

The article “What’s the Matter with College?”, written by Rick Perlstein, presents a negative narrative on how college campuses and students are rapidly changing. Perlstein states that colleges today supply an exceptionally different atmosphere than it once did (2). His main argument throughout the entire piece is that college students are no longer revolting in many different facets of college life. Perlstein states the question of why college students don’t have as much influence on society as they did in the past (2). I cannot agree with many of Perlstein’s arguments he presents in this article.

In Freeman Hrabowski’s piece, “Colleges Prepare People for Life,” he mentions the differing opinions between going to college and choosing another path. Many people find college too expensive, and once a student graduates, he or she will face enormous debt and potentially risk still being unprepared for the working world. Hrabowski acknowledges this, and also notices that many students who do attend college occasionally make the wrong decision in terms of choosing a school and major. But while the stakes are high, he argues that college not only provides financial stability, but also allows students to become more virtuous citizens in the long run. He does this by providing information to backup his claims, using a passionate tone to explain his beliefs, and paralleling college attendance with good intentions.

Andrew Delbanco’s essay “A college Education: What is its purpose?” gives three reasons why college still matters. Delbanco teaches at Columbia University, where he’s the director of American studies and has written several books on the meaning and benefits of college. Delbanco, begins his essay by discussing what college means to each individual student. He states, “For many more students, college means the anxious pursuit of marketable skills in overcrowded, under resourced institutions. For still others, it means traveling by night to a fluorescent office building or to a “virtual classroom” that only exists in cyberspace.” (1) Delbano successfully uses pathos to appeal to his audience’s emotions, his personal experience and anecdotal combine to persuade his readers to consider or realize the importance of receiving a college education, however his essay contains minor flaws that can counteract his claims.

In his article “What’s the Matter With College?” Rick Perlstein describes how college is different now than it was in the 1960’s. His essay includes numerous interviews with people who attended college in the 1960’s. With several diverse quotes from people who had different experiences in college, he composes multiple points. These range from how college used to serve as a time when the student established independence, to how students’ only means of communication was a weekly 30 second phone call.

In Frank Bruni’s article “The Real Campus Scourge,” the main argument that many college freshmen are extremely lonely at the start of their college careers is supported by numerous testimonials and statistics, which add to the credibility of the argument and ultimately make the argument very believable.

In her article “Is College for Everyone?” blogger and college professor Pharinet discusses the value of a college education and debates whether or not it is worth it to pursue a continued education. The author’s purpose for writing this article is to attempt to change a popular societal opinion that it is necessary to attend college in order to succeed. She argues that there are students who are often unprepared for the challenges and responsibilities of attending college, but attend simply for the reason that they are expected to. She challenges the idea that “college is for everyone” and encourages college students to question how beneficial a college education is for them personally.

College is the next stepping stone to better or advance ones social standing in life, whether it is moving from a blue collar lifestyle to white collar, or to continue to further their career path. However, it comes with an “unavoidable result.” Alfred Lubrano discusses this “unavoidable result” in his text “The Shock of Education: How College Corrupts.” Lubrano discusses the topic of how furthering ones education opens more possibilities but at the same time distances those held most dearly. He explains that the more knowledge gained, the bigger the gap caused between friends and family due to differences in levels of knowledge. That distance is greatly increase if one comes from a poorer region where blue collar workers are the social

Higher education law attorney Dana L. Fleming voices her controversial opinion in favor of institutionalized involvement in social network protection in her article “Youthful Indiscretions: Should Colleges Protect Social Network Users from Themselves and Others?” (Fleming). Posted in the New England Journal of Higher Education, winter of 2008 issue, Fleming poses the question of responsibility in monitoring students’ online social networking activities. With a growing population of students registering on social networks like Facebook and MySpace, she introduces the concern of safety by saying, “like lawmakers, college administrators have not yet determined how to handle the unique issues posed by the public display of their students’

Nowadays, seniors students in high school are qualified to graduate and peregrinate to college to get a degree for their future jobs. There is an author, Pharinet, who verbally expresses that, “That there are too many students enrolled in school who simply don’t belong there” (680). Pharinet says that in her article, “Is College for Everyone?” She argues that college is not for everyone and that students should think deeply afore enrolling. She claims that students who are not academically ready and financially stable are the most mundane in college. Pharinet commences her credibility (ethos), logically (logos), and emotionally (pathos) with broad facts and statistics, a real-life situation, and word of mouth on why college is not for everyone.

Studies have shown that social media has a direct correlation to a college students social life. Teenagers in this time

Desiring to have a better life in future inclines people to focus on their academic career. Schools, exams, busy schedules and a pile of work are quintessential this goal. Therefore, students who want to achieve a better future prefer undergoing hard work instead of engaging in social activities. However, social sides of college do not only occupy a big role, but also has plenty of benefits. Social life in college becoming increasingly essential in today’s world triggered an acceptable consideration: Social parts of college should be considered as equal as the academic parts because of psychological, social reasons and its benefits in terms of future.

In addition to the social aspects, college teaches how to develop independent thinking. It also “exposes future citizens to material that enlightens and empowers them, whatever careers they end up choosing” (Menand, 3). However, most students today perceive college fundamentally as a party scene and various forms of entertainment instead of focusing on school work. They have forgotten about the academic freedom provided by receiving a proper college education.

All the people I questioned perceived selfishness as being a bad personal quality to hold when they were first asked what they thought of selfishness. Though when the

Most of us assume that some selfishness is healthy, but "too much" selfishness will lead to loneliness and despair. This idea rests on an incorrect definition of selfishness. Selfishness means acting in one's rational self-interest. By " rational" I mean that one can logically prove that an action is in one's self-interest—in the long run as well as the short run.