My apologies, folks, but I don’t have any pictures or specific commentary from Wednesday night’s game. If you’re looking for a review of the game, then I would suggest heading over to the Monmouth University Athletics website and getting a recap there. Again, my gut feeling is that while Wednesday night’s victory was good (and one that the players really needed in front of the home crowd), this is still a season that needs to be forgotten as soon as possible.

Now, the reason why I don’t have any commentary from last night’s game is because I, along with some of my fellow Sigma Pi alumni, was invited to watch the game from President Paul Gaffney’s Box on the third floor of the MAC. Joining me in the box was one of our recent alumni (who occasionally guest blogs on JerseySmarts.com), one of our alumni from the mid 1990’s, and the national president of our Fraternity. We were also accompanied in the box by a member of the university’s advancement office and a whole host of folks that I met, but didn’t really know. It was nice to see President Gaffney again, though I doubt he remembers the previous times that we’ve met (I was actually one of the student members that interviewed him for the President’s position back in Spring 2003). Also, it was nice to meet the Athletic Director and some of the other university administration. We had a lot of fun conversations and covered a variety of topics (too many to go over on the blog). The whole experience up in the President’s Box was really fun and one that I hope I have an opportunity to repeat.

And while I don’t have much commentary on the game, I do have a few notes about being up in the President’s Box in comparison to my typical experience at the Monmouth basketball games…

First, the food in the President’s Box is really good. I think I’ve run the gamut of the various qualities of Aramark food that is served on Monmouth University’s campus. When I was an undergraduate, I was stuck with the portion of Aramark’s food where the quality was almost inedible. Seriously, when I was an undergraduate some of the food that was available for breakfast, lunch, and dinner was just revolting. In fact, I distinctly remember a few different occasions when I went into the dining hall and opted to not eat anything instead of forcing myself to have a meal of their gruel. Then – right before I graduated – I was invited to dinner at former President Rebecca Stafford’s house and I realized that Aramark actually could make a meal of phenomenal quality.

As a member of the Blue/White Club, I have access to the Varsity Club before the home football and basketball games. This season, the food up in the Varsity Club has been so much better than what it was last year. However, Wednesday night in the President’s Box reminded me that there is an even higher quality food at Monmouth – even if it was just boneless buffalo wings and pigs in a blanket.

Second, the view from the President’s Box is great. I still like my quasi-courtside seats because I’m a basketball fan and from my seats you can hear all of the nitty gritty stuff going on during the game, but I certainly have a new appreciation for the MAC after watching some of the game in the President’s Box. That MAC is pretty well put together.

Third and finally, the folks at Monmouth are really nice. Just like my experience with Aramark, I think I’ve also run the gamut in terms of dealing with the individuals who work on Monmouth’s campus. And, like the food services, the higher up you go the better it gets. I really thought that the university officials up in the President’s Box Wednesday night were really wonderful and very friendly – good people with engaging conversations.

And that’s the story of this past Wednesday night in the President’s Box. Hopefully, I’ll be invited up there to watch another game and I’ll be able to bring the fine readers of this blog a similarly positive report from the game. Until then, let’s hope the Hawks keep their winning ways going!

A few comments. First, I hate when there is a home game for Monmouth that I can’t attend. I really enjoy going to the games, hanging out in The Varsity Club before and after the game, and watching the Hawks compete against their competition. It’s a really good time (or at least I think so). Second, it’s amazing that the game wasn’t canceled (at least it hasn’t been canceled as of 10:00am today). And third – what’s the deal with all of the snow?! I heard from some of my friends in North Jersey that there are spots where the snow isn’t that bad at all. Meanwhile, down here in Tinton Falls we’ve got a foot and more to come!

My cousin was actually going to come down for the game today so he and I could celebrate our respective birthdays (he turned 29 yesterday – Happy Birthday, cousin!). Unfortunately, though, the pending snow storm canceled those plans for us. For those of you looking for some coverage of the basketball game today, you can check out the official online home of the Hawks by clicking here or check out Tony Graham at The Hawks Nest.

Anyway, since my plan for the blog today was to add a bunch of pictures from the Monmouth game that I won’t be able to attend now, enjoy some pictures from outside of my townhouse. The green arrow in one of the pictures is pointing to my car.

People need to realize that the current economic issues are all linked together. One of the reasons why there are so many houses for sale on the market is because graduating college students simply can’t afford to pay the crazy prices that are being asked. This is a two-headed problem – first, the prices are way out of sync with the value of the homes and second, college students aren’t graduating with a few thousand dollars of student loan debt any more. In today’s world, college students are averaging $20,000 in student loan debt. Some of us have broken six figures in these debts! From the article:

When Melissa Norelli graduates from Fairleigh Dickinson University three years from now, she’ll owe about $129,000 in student loans.

Her private loan officer told her to consider it like a car payment — for a BMW. Norelli, who is studying to be a teacher, said she’ll probably have to walk to work because she’ll have a $900 monthly student loan bill.

“I was naïve to the fact it would be so much money,” said Norelli, 20, of Langhorne, Pa. ” I love my school and my major. But, I didn’t think it was going to be so scary, so overwhelming.”

An annual study on student debt shows that the average debt of college graduates with loans grew by 6 percent in just one year from 2006 to 2007. The average debt rose from $18,976 to $20,098, according to the Project on Student Debt. The report also points out that the debt is rising faster than starting salaries for graduates, which only grew 3 percent in the same time period.

It’s all related. Ms. Norelli graduates with a six-figure debt in a really tough job market which cannot offer her enough compensation for her to buy a home so she spends more time living at her family’s home after graduation, which returns a small financial burden on the family. You have a home that cannot be sold, a college graduate that may not be able to find a high enough paying job, and a family that now has to spend money instead of putting it away for retirement. It’s a vicious cycle and the scary thing is – it’s only one, small cycle in this incredibly crazy market.

I wish all of my best to Ms. Norelli in her future endeavors. As I said in the previous entry, no one should be projecting their personal situations on the brave young people who are profiled in these articles. A few years ago I had the honor of being on the front page of USA Today as a profile in student loan debt. The most annoying thing to come out of that experience was the amazing amount of people who thought that because 50 years ago they could join the military and get a free education, that I should have done the same thing. Or the arrogant jerks who said that I should have worked through college to pay down my debts (I did). These people just LOVED to talk about their success in the wake of another person’s concerns – truly the lowest of the low.

There is only so much of a person’s story that can be told in a USA Today (or in Ms. Norelli’s case – Daily Record) article. And I, for one, wish Ms. Norelli the best and hope that she can find a great job which allows her to pay down her student loan debt quicker than the analysts think is possible. Good luck!

The young men at our Theta-Delta Chapter (based out of The College of New Jersey) hosted our events on Saturday and they did a magnificent job. After a full day of workshops, they allowed us to go to their home and have a BBQ where more than 100 of the guys were able to enjoy some food and drink before going home. Very hospitable of the guys to offer up their home and property!

On Sunday, my guests and I traveled to our colony at Montclair State University and our chapters at Fairleigh-Dickinson University-Teaneck, William Paterson University, the New Jersey Institute of Technology, and Seton Hall University. Visiting so many of the guys in a single day was both thrilling and exhausting, though I am glad that we were able to make the visits.

We have a good system for Sigma Pi Fraternity up here in New Jersey. For more on what we do in New Jersey with the Fraternity, feel free to visit our regional website!

On Career: Clean up MySpace and Facebook pages!
This is an excellent piece of advice! I know at least 3 dozen guys from my fraternity who graduated yesterday between William Paterson University, Fairleigh Dickinson University, and Monmouth University and they absolutely should start cleaning up their online profiles – today! I’ve even been thinking about contacting a few of them directly and telling them that they need to “de-tag” some pictures of themselves wearing less than full attire or making liberal use of alcoholic beverages!

On Spending: Have more money coming in than going out!
Though it seems like common sense rule #1, many college students don’t realize that sometimes you have to make sacrifices. I think this particular tip is going to hit New Jersey extremely hard in the next 12 – 18 months. A lot of college graduates in New Jersey are what the rest of this nation would call “privileged” in that certain standard expenses are taken care of for them (gas for the car, food, housing, etc). The prices in this state aren’t going down and (as sad as this sounds) a lot of people will be full functioning members of the economy for the first time ever now that they are college graduates. Of course this probably won’t apply to any of the New Jersey, Daddy’s Little Girl, Princesses – but for the guys out there…get ready for it. As Money Magazine says, you may have to drive that clunker of a car for another year or maybe not take that expensive vacation…

On Saving: Don’t let credit cards or your parents be your emergency fund!
Ugh. If I could drill one thing into every college graduate’s head it would be to break the cord from Mom and Dad! Understand me here, though. I don’t mind college graduates that move home – especially in New Jersey. This state is unbelievably expensive and unless you’re getting married straight out of college (also generally not recommended) or you’re loaded, you likely won’t be able to afford an apartment. But do NOT rely on Mom and Dad for YOUR expenses. In other words, when you want new clothes, BUY THEM ON YOUR OWN! When you need gas for your car, pay for it yourself! When your cell phone bill comes in…PAY IT! There’s nothing quite as pathetic as seeing a college graduate who doesn’t know how to be self-sufficient.

That’s the extent of the article and it’s common sense advice that all of today’s college graduates should follow. More advice (from the article) is to opt into your company’s 401(k) – 403(b) for teachers – on the first possible day that you can. A recent study (which I can’t find for the life of me) shows that if a 27 year old simply placed 3% of their lifetime salary in a standard 401(k) earning historical trends, you’ll have $1 million by the end of your working career. And that’s just at 3%!

Start an ING Direct Savings account as an emergency fund. By the way, I’m glad to talk to anyone about that since I have one of these accounts and I absolutely love it. Do NOT get deep into credit card debt! If your student loans are less than $60 thousand, pay them off as soon as possible. If they’re more than $60 thousand, sit down and devise a sound financial strategy to pay those loans back within a 10-year period. It goes back to that “s” word – sacrifice! Be confident enough to say no to your indulgences most of the time, but don’t be afraid to treat yourself only once in a while.

Good luck out there!