If you could sue people for wasting your time Neatorama would owe me thousands of dollars. It is a compliment, but seriously this site owes me a lot of money in wasted time.

Perhaps he takes the magic school bus to class

This is straight out of the book "Neuromancer" by William Gibson. Its a futuristic novel where people sleep in rooms described exactly like that and they are referred to as coffins. He also coined the word "Cyberspace" and describes hackers and the internet before it even existed. In the novel people upload info into their brain using "microsoft" chips.

Re: The Donkey Picture

"this is what happens when you overload your ass"

Fractional reserve banking has nothing to do with Sallie Mae. When you deposit $100 at a bank they can lend out $90 - this is fractional reserve. Sallie Mai uses Asset-Backed Securities, Commercial Paper, and issues Bonds backed by student loans. When students don't repay loans, these bonds (for instance) can default, they can be downgraded by bond rating companies such as S&P, and Sallie Mai incurrs a higher cost of funds. Not to mention investors are less likely to invest in these bonds leaving students high and dry. Pay your debt.

The family should continue to pay the debt, loan companies get the short end of the stick by being labeled as "the big bad lender."
These lenders represent real people and provide a valuable service that is the backbone of our economy.

Working for a loan company I've watched over 60 of my fellow co-workers be laid off in the last year because of higher than expected defaults and payment uncertainty. That 53 grand represents someones salary. That money was put up by investors who are out of pocket. Forgiving debts like that makes the system crumble by creating a fear of lending which is contributing to the credit crisis we are currently facing. The more student loans that default the harder it becomes for students to get loans.