I'm about a year away from a bachelor's degree in journalism, however with the economy and the research I've done into private student loans, I don't want to continue at the university. It's just too expensive.

The option I am considering is getting two associates degrees at a community college: one in English and one in communications.

With those degrees would I be able to find a job in the online journalism field, or should I just suck it up and go further in debt to the corrupt institutions that hand out private loans like candy?

Thanks for your help.

I'm a student and I work part-time in a section of the library of my university reserved for assisting and supporting students with academic problems/issues. I'm a white guy, and for quite a while I've been working hard to understand the power I hold and how it affects others who I interact with.

A few months ago a student came into the space while I was working and asked for "a quiet place" where he could be for a while. He had a prayer mat rolled up under his arm and he was brown skinned. I took a guess and asked him if he needed a place to pray. He said yes. I showed him an office that he could use. Fast forward to a few days ago, when another student came in (also brown) who asked the same question. He didn't have a prayer mat, and didn't have any other "visual cues" that would indicate he's Muslim. I told him that this wasn't a general study space and sent him away.

My question is, should I have asked him if he needed a place to pray? 

My boyfriend and I have been living together for two years. This past September he's recently returned to school and has made lots of new friends which I’m really happy about.

The problem is one particular friend, let's call her T. A few months ago we invited T and some of his other friends/classmates for a small dinner party. During the course of the evening T made a number of sexist and racist comments, which nobody said anything about, but myself, my boyfriend and a friend of mine noticed. After everyone went home he said "So I guess we won't be inviting T over again" and I agreed.

Since that happened, I now don't like her at all (that night was the first time I met her) and I don't want her in my house. As well as being offensive at times, she takes up a fair bit of emotional space and will say anything that comes into her head, which is often inappropriate. I really don't feel like I can talk to her about this, as she's not my friend, and my boyfriend might stay in touch with her after school is over.

So what's the problem? She is getting invited to our place by mutual friends/classmates who I guess feel like if they are welcome, and T was welcome in the past, then it's fine to include T without asking. The most recent time it happened I actually left the house for the evening. I felt driven away by her, which really pisses me off. I don’t want to have to do this every time she, or someone else, invites her over, but I really get so angry and anxious when she's around and I don't see any other choice. Please help me.

Oh, and in case you're wondering if she's young and doesn't know better, she's in her late 30s and my boyfriend and I are in our 40s.

--Difficulty Socializing

I am a student journalist working with a controlling partner. Although she insists that we are both equal partners, she constantly insults me in front of others in frequent emails, despite the fact that I have told her time and time again to not do so. She likes to play the blame game and is unappreciative of the work that the volunteers have taken time to do. Some people and I have already tried to tell her how we feel, however, she has just disregarded our comments. What can I do when she refuses to listen to reason and is too proud to admit that she was wrong?

--bitter & at wit's end

We are two high school students who just recently attended the "Global Day of Action" in Vancouver. To our disappointment, it was not a rally but instead it turned out to be more of a volunteer orientation.

We then decided to jump in and be volunteers and we tried to hand out fliers to pedestrians and educate them about the Tar Sands. Might as well, right? However, since we are youth, the adult volunteers did not take us seriously or acknowledge us. Yet, we thought that people our age would be more welcomed, if not by the pedestrians, at least by these activists. If this situation were to happen again, what should we do?