The Paw Print

A news publication created by Baruch's College Now high school journalism class

MALCOLM COLSON

A Benevolent Gift

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Paying for college in our modern world is hard. Young people often have to rely on scholarships to get the money they need and those are becoming harder to come by. However, thanks to Amy Hagedorn, it just got a little easier.

Last month, she donated $1 million to Baruch’s School of Public Affairs. She had previously donated money for scholarships and internships. Because of this, The Wall Street Journal named her the “Donor of the Day” of July 1st. Manuel Romero, the Director of Public Relations at Baruch interviewed through email said, “This program was established by Ms. Hagedorn and it has been a passion of hers since it was established.”

In addition to the general financial aid of students, this money is going to fellowships, paid internships, and scholarships. She is concerned about the rising costs students these days must face and how they must juggle getting an education with family obligations. They deserve a “Break,” she said to Melanie Grayce West, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal.

She is a well-known philanthropist who has spent her life helping others and enjoys drinking milkshakes.

Hagedorn was born in Queens, New York. She graduated from Baruch College in 1958. She spent over two decades teaching pre-k. Currently, she runs the Hagedorn Foundation. While in retirement, she focuses on providing money for student internships. She and her husband, Horace Hagedorn were co-founders of the Company, until he died in January 2005. Horace Hagedorn was a businessman for Miracle-Gro Company and he is often credited for the company’s success because of his marketing prowess. The Scotts Company merged with Miracle Grow and the Hagedorns ended up multimillionaires. After Horace’s death, Amy continued his legacy of providing money to well needed causes, and becoming President of the Company.

The Foundation supports organizations that help immigrants become adjusted to life in America. It also supports projects that ameliorate public education and improve public initiative in community projects.

As an example of how Hagedorn has made a positive impact on people’s lives, in 2011 and 2012, Angelo Cabrera, a graduate of the School of Public Affairs and an immigrant, received support from the Hagedorn Graduate Scholarship. Using the money from the scholarship, he, working with Professor Robert C. Smith of the School of Public Affairs, competed in an international contest created by Iniciativa Mexico to cause meaningful change to the lives of Mexicans living in Mexico and out of the country. Out of the 57,000 ideas, his one, the Mexican Mentorship Project, received the top prize, 1.5 million pesos. His project increased Iniciativa Mexico’s ability to promote education among Mexicans. “Your generosity has transformed my life,” Cabrera told Hagedorn.

In addition to giving money to help students, Hagedorn is also a strong supporter of Erase Racism. This organization helps Long Islanders whom have suffered or are suffering from racial discrimination. Erase Racism is trying to equalize housing, education and health care for everyone.

Also, Erase Racism has many programs that are designed to help high school students and people of any age fight racial prejudice. The Student Leadership program, for instance, uses multiple workshops to teach students about racism, how it affected history and how it affects Long Islanders today.

Hagedorn’s efforts to improve the conditions of not only students but also people suffering from other problems serve as proof of her generosity. Romero describes her contribution as,“An outstanding gift for the School of Public Affairs (SPA), and the largest in its 15- year history. Her gift supports scholarships and paid internships for undergraduate SPA students, it also provides support for internship faculty and for the School of Public Affairs and for the College.”

How Companies Are Trying to Conquer Your Web

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The Internet is not perfect. It has its problems, such as trolls who get everyone steaming mad, connection failures that mess up your day, harassment, fraud and many other complications.

However, it’s still an interesting and fun place to be with many perks, since you can watch shows, movies, etc and have discussions with people thousands of miles away, just to name a few. But an all-new issue may threaten your Internet experience. Companies like Verizon and Comcast want to abolish Net Neutrality, which would change how everyone enjoys and uses the Internet.

Net Neutrality is a complex subject that many people don’t understand. Simply put, Net Neutrality is the practice of ISPs (Internet Service Providers) treating all data equally. The ISP can’t discriminate based on the website or its content. They have to send out the data regardless of its origin. But without Net Neutrality, companies can pay the ISP an extra fee to have their data put on a “fast lane” while others have to have their content delivered slowly. This means that big corporations can crush small businesses who can’t pay the extra price of having their content delivered at a reasonable rate.

So, who will ultimately decide whether or not the Internet will remain open for all? Who has the power? The Federal Communications Commission regulates business over the Internet, radio, TV, cable and satellite throughout the United States, run by Chairman Tom Wheeler. The FCC will ultimately decide the fate of our Internet.

But, the common man is not without power to change the course of this issue. Hundreds of thousands of Americans used the Electronic Comment Filing System to voice your opposition to or support of the preservation of Net Neutrality until midnight July 17th, 2014. On the 15th, the FCC received “around 780,000 comments – which goes to show the strength of feeling over the issue” (Woollacot, Forbes) so much so that the site crashed. Most of those comments are in favor of Net Neutrality.

One of the arguments opponents of Net Neutrality use is that ISP could use the extra money to develop more advanced networks to improve Internet quality for everyone. John Thorne, the senior vice president of Verizon, said the company has no reason to develop advanced networks if it can’t charge companies who would want to use them. While that is certainly possible, the question is: Will they do that? They say they will do that, but after Net Neutrality is gone, will anyone be able to keep them to that claim?

Another argument is as the Internet gets more advanced and more data is transmitted, the companies will need more money from investments to ease the strain on the network. Companies won’t be able to handle all the new data they have to distribute by keeping Net Neutrality. As a result, many vital aspects of our lives will be affected such as security, education and communications. This is definitely a valid argument but we should find a way to increase the capabilities of networks without giving companies control of what quality they can provide.

The abolition of Net Neutrality is just another way for industries to establish monopolies in modern age by eliminating their competition. Not only small businesses, but even other major companies will lose money because of people’s unwillingness to wait for long buffering times. Despite what one may think, this is not completely a conflict between people and corporations. Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google are all companies that oppose the abolition.

Ultimately, the fate of the Internet will be determined soon and we will have to fight for what we believe in. Today, a country like China, which doesn’t have Net Neutrality, has a government that is able to repress public opinion because the government can control how information gets to the people by using surveillance and regulation. Do we want to follow suit and live in a society where the people in charge can censor us? Companies like Verizon and Comcast will take over if we, as Internet users, let them.