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Paid Student Leader's 32 Years in College May End
Bolivia judge orders investigation of 52-year-old student with government salary
Bolivia Jails Paid Student LeaderHe's 52
Max Mendoza has been a remarkably persistent studentand a profitable one: He's been enrolled at a public university in Bolivia for 32 years but never graduated, much of it while being paid a government salary to serve as a student leader.
On Monday, though, he was detained and sent to jail after a judge ordered a six-month investigation into allegations his tenure as a state-paid student leader constituted a crime.
Mendoza, now 52, has unsuccessfully tackled a series of majorsindustrial engineering, agronomy, and law among themsince enrolling in 1990, the AP reports. But he has held a series of student leadership posts, and since 2018, he has been president of the University Confederation of Bolivia, the country's top student representative.
Mendoza has been earning $3,000 a month10 times the national minimum wage. Prosecutors say he used the closure of schools for the pandemic as an excuse to extend his position. "He didn't meet the requirements. He didn't have a bachelor's degree (needed) to hold the post," Judge Javier Vargas said Monday.
Prosecutor William Alave said other long-serving student leaders were being investigated. Some complain that those leaders have taken advantage of the autonomy granted public universities to hold onto government pay granted to student leaders. Public anger rose after somebody threw a gas grenade into a student assembly in the city of Potosi this month and caused a stampede in which four students died. Many suspect the attack was meant to head off new student elections.
https://www.newser.com/story/320895/bolivia-jails-paid-student-leader-hes-52.html
Thtwudbeme
(7,737 posts)at least 20 degrees by now.
Ms. Toad
(34,062 posts)But now I have the next best thing . . . as a retiree from the University, I get to take two classes (or 6 credits), whichever is greater, for free as long as I want for the rest of my life!
Thtwudbeme
(7,737 posts)Preferably one with strong graduate programs. At age 62 in NC, one may take free classes also- but, I'll also be able to volunteer in the library!
UNCG really fits the bill- smallish town, good school, not too much traffic- and can be walkable in the right locations.
Chapel Hill can be a bit of a zoo, and UNC Wilmington is nice, but I don't want to deal with hurricane season.
Ms. Toad
(34,062 posts)As a retiree, I can actually get credit for the courses I take and can earn another (or perhaps more than one) degree for free.
Unfortunately, they killed the graduate program I had planned to pursue. So I'll just have to explore other things.
Thtwudbeme
(7,737 posts)I would like to have degrees in anthropology (focus on Native American studies), and a degree in biology with a focus on dendrology.
I am a librarian with undergraduates in history and religious studies.
Ms. Toad
(34,062 posts)The no longer even offer a bachelor's degree in mathematics, and wiped out most of their PhD programs. They still have an engineering/computer science degree - but I don't have the engineering background.
I have a Bachelor's degree in math and physics, a Master's degree in applied math, and a JD. I have enough religion courses to have earned a minor in religion . . . if they had offered one.
I think I'll start in the fall with an art class (likely B&W film photography), and maybe a computer science course. I'm certified to teach computer science (and math and physics) as a secondary teacher, but my background is primarily in languages - and languages no one uses any longer. It's hard to tell how many courses they would let me jump over.
Thtwudbeme
(7,737 posts)It's such a pleasure to chat with people that do not view education as a commodity but rather as an opportunity for personal growth which ultimately benefits society as a whole.
Patterson
(1,529 posts)Leghorn21
(13,524 posts)PJMcK
(22,031 posts)The old joke was this:
College isn't the best four years of your life. If you do it right, it's the best five years!
But this guy Mendoza has taken this idea to a whole new level. Brilliantly played, sir. Now go to jail.
brush
(53,764 posts)keithbvadu2
(36,775 posts)Response to Demovictory9 (Original post)
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