ILLEGAL TUITION: THE REAL COST OF "HIGHER EDUCATION"

VANCOUVER (CUP)-Kate is 21 years old. She's a second-year Vancouver
Community College student, and she's part of a growing trend.

Kate (names have been changed to protect privacy) recently posted an
ad on Craigslist searching for another female to team up with her as a
"partner in crime," as she put it. She wrote that she was looking for
another girl to participate in sexual acts with her, and potentially a
multitude of other men, in hopes of making some quick and easy cash to
help pay for some of life's necessities. Her thinking was that two
women would be safer and perhaps more profitable than one.

Unconventional defrayment

Despite the full swing of the recession, life waits for no one, and
neither do life's costs. Many people are finding it hard to get by in
today's world where unemployment and inflation dominate in solidarity.
Kate is no exception. A self-sufficient student who attends full-time
classes while juggling a part-time job, she is but another victim of
the vicious economic downturn. Like many others her age, she has had
to look beyond the conventional means of earning an income to find an
alternative, so-be-it illegal, way to earn a decent living.

"The economic position of the world has made it hard for me and my
boyfriend to make enough money to pay for the basic necessities of
life, and pursue future career goals," said Kate who added, "I am a
very smart, intelligent person. I received honours and
top-of-the-class (recognition) in many of my subjects, but times are
tough, and this will allow me to make a lot of money without
sacrificing a lot of precious time."

Kate said this is the first time she has ever done something like
this. She said she's never before solicited her body for any reason
and admits that even given the circumstances, it is a very difficult
decision to make. While she has yet to act on her ambitions, she said
there is a 70 per cent chance she will go through with the deed.

Kate is not alone. Currently there are dozens of girls posting similar
ads on Craigslist and other free ad sites in Vancouver alone. After
describing their smile, body type and breast size, most girls express
that they are willing to perform a rainbow of sexual acts in return
for cash to help pay rent, tuition and general living costs. Kate
herself confessed that it is out of pure need that she has ultimately
turned to prostitution.

A story published by the London Times in 2006 wrote that prostitution
among female students went up 50 per cent from 2000 to 2006. One in
ten students in the U.K. are likely to know someone who has performed
sexual favours in return for tuition payments. The group that did the
research said the results were in accordance with what they expected
given the growing financial difficulties students are facing.

Dime bags

Selling your body is not the only alternative. Illegal money comes
fast and in abundance no matter what the source, and more and more
youth are willing to risk a criminal record to get it in their pockets.

Blair has been selling weed in the Vancouver area for three years.
Even before the economy began its decline, the 22-year-old found it
difficult to live on his own and pay for basic needs on his paycheques
alone. Blair, who works full-time at a model restoration company, said
the money he makes off selling marijuana is enough to pay for all his
basic living costs with money to spare for extras. He said his average
$1500-a-month paycheck helps, but is not enough to support him on his
own.

"Rent alone is $840 a month," said Blair. "And then I've got
groceries, Muay Thai (boxing classes), gas, insurance. . . . My
transmission blew up twice last year and that cost me $5,000, but I
need a car for work."

Blair says he enjoys dealing drugs on the side but admits that he's
not proud of it.

"If you can do it, it's too easy and it's good cash," said Blair. who
pointed out the similarities between selling weed and other illegal
quick-cash schemes. "My house was broken into last month and I was
robbed for everything. I was pissed, but then in the end I'm no better
than the people who did that shit. It's bad, man. But you do what
you've got to do. That's just life sometimes."

Blair's a seasoned veteran at doing what he feels he's got to do he
can get by. Ever since he held a previous job at a gas station, he's
been in on a scam that allows gas station attendants to exchange full
points cards with empty ones, stealing the full cards and returning
the empty card to the patron who actually earned the points. The
points are then redeemed for gift cards and sold at a discount to
friends, who in turn redeem these gift cards for cheap gas. The
employees profit from every stolen gift card that is sold.

Blair also admits to having scammed credit cards at one
point.

"When times were tough a little while ago, I learned how to scam money
from credit cards. At first it helped pay the bills, but when I
started pulling in more money I was actually able to save it.
Actually, I got to Europe by scamming credit cards," he said.

When asked if he had ever contemplated asking his family for money
when he falls on hard times, he said he would never consider asking
anybody for a dime. "It's just not in my nature. What's the point of
living on your own then? I don't want to go home. That's a step back
for me."

Desperate times, desperate measures

Similar tales include that of a 22-year-old man who admitted to
stealing cash out of the register at a Tim Hortons because his minimum
wage paycheques and progressively fewer shifts were not enough to keep
him afloat in the sinking economy.

"Anyone who would give me exact change, I'd just open the till without
punching in an order and remember how much extra I put in. At the end
of the night, sometimes I'd come out with an extra 40 or 50 bucks,"
said the man. "It's what you've got to do sometimes."

Another 18-year-old girl used Craigslist to advertise her "need of
financial help, big time." Her post boasts her "5 ft 3, 106 lbs, very
petite and sexy body, great ass, small but perky breasts, soft skin,
full lips, great smile and awesome personality" to men all over the
Vancouver area who are willing to help her out with her $500 rent bill.

After a couple of emails back and forth, in which she wrote, "have I
got a story for you," the barely-legal teen stopped returning mail and
backed out of an interview.

Any of the above may be good, quick cash, but all interviewees openly
expressed a sense of shame in participating in criminal activity to
earn enough of an income to live a normal life. In the end, the
economy is what it is and the choices these youth are making are still
choices. There are many alternative yet law-abiding places to turn to
in times of financial need, but perhaps none quite as lucrative as the
business of crime. For many, though, the legality and morality of the
issue has taken a spot on the back burner right now. After all, a man
must eat before he has enough energy to worry about personal ethics.