What's Happening? Harry Potter's High Student Loans, Pelosi talks to youth fights for Pell

Not a lot going on this week - but a few notable things I thought I'd share.

• This week Markos over at the DailyKos wrote a piece about the GOP's attempts to win over young voters. Markos says ... good luck with that... He outlines their "genius plan" on the issues

  "The environment: Trash it.
  War: Wage it.
  Economy: Undermine it (for all but millionaires and billionaires).
  Education: Cut it.
  Freedom to marry: Hate it.

  And don't forget—nothing brings home the youngsters more than worshipping a guy who first got elected president 31 years ago. Fact is, as much as this granddaughter of the Founding Father of the Great Depression might want to talk about "individualism," it's Republicans who get in the way of the aspirations of the millennials.

• House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi met with Young Americans this week to talk about the debt crisis and hear their concerns. Video from Campus Progress:
  
• On the table for cuts in the budget is - you guessed it - Pell Grants. After an historic increase in the investment in youth in 2007 now we're looking at historic cuts in youth investment all to continue to subsidize the wealthy. Leader Pelosi and other Democrats are standing up to fight for it.
• Speaking of young republicans. Young Americans for Liberty - the Ron Paul Revolution offshoot is doing a co-conference this week that they'll be live streaming.
• You can read David Halperin's remarks from Campus Progress's national conference from last week. Amazing talk about our generation fighting for progressive victories.
• Reuters has a piece about the higher ed crisis titled Schooled in Austerity: Students Reluctantly Borrow.
  

  For many who came of age during the financial crisis and deepest economic downturn since the Great Depression, blindly borrowing for an education makes little sense, especially when they are not certain they will find work after graduation.

• Feel good Alert! Young voters and young elected officials are taking New Jersey by storm says this piece.
  

  ""It’s sort of a harbinger of things to come," said Elizabeth Matto, director of the Eagleton Institute’s Youth Political Participation Program, which has tracked younger political up-and-comers at the local, state and national levels for nearly a decade.

  Matto attributed the rise in participation to the so-called Millennial generation’s commitment to community, and a propensity to get and stay involved, which itself could be tied to current socioeconomic factors: a poor economy, high unemployment, ballooning national debt and growing angst tied to war and terrorism."

• If you've served in the armed forces - don't forget you can get college credit for that. An article reminds us tours of duty get you credit and save you money
  

  "The Lone Star State is luring her back to school in San Antonio with a pledge that her war-time tools can translate into college credits: Credits that could make her a “sophomore” her first year in school.

  “So, I guess about 60-credits hours? That would usually cost about 30-thousand dollars a year, or something to that effect. It’s a huge savings.”

• In the line item budget cuts in Virginia mental health services paid for by Medicaid for teens and children is on the chopping block. Seems like a good idea - I mean it isn't like mental health persists into adulthood right? There's no real chance of these problems getting worse and creating dangerous or violent adults that will be a greater drain on tax dollars, right? Great place to start Virgina... good luck with that.
• In religious news - young evangelicals are taking back their religion by "creating" this piece says, rather than "condoning."
• And finally this week began the end of Harry Potter. If you don't know how it ends - I'll fill you in. Harry quits school and creates a social network. Ron's twin brothers sue him, but if they had thought of it... they would have made it. The final book that I've heard is being written by JK Rowling (via Bill Maher) is Harry Potter and the Burden of His Student Loans.