News today tells us that Claiborne Pell has passed away in his Newport, RI home. For those of you poor enough (like me) to recognize the name Pell, you'll put "grant" on the end of that. Yep - the guy that gave us the Pell Grant. When it was begun a student could count on 75% of grants and about 25% of loans to cover an education. Today, it is just the opposite. Without Pell money, I never would have finished my first year of school. Pell may have been a complete rolling in the money patrician snob, but he was from an older, wiser set of public servants that felt that the nation as a whole could benefit from the wise distribution of wealth rather than the selfish hording of a few. "And there was no poor among them... . "
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