In every cloud a silver lining.

Greek Students Fight Stray Dogs and Despair Amid College Cuts

Tear jerker setup, right? Gets worse:

Higher education in Greece, as in much of Europe, has been battered by the recession and austerity measures. Budget cuts of 23 percent since 2009 mean buildings aren't heated in the winter, schools have slashed faculty salaries and newly hired professors can wait more than a year to be appointed. Students say it's hard to be hopeful with youth unemployment surpassing 50 percent and protesters seizing university buildings.

...

Elizabeth Iounnou, 22, an architecture student at the National Technical University of Athens, said that many of last year's graduates don't have permanent jobs and that she worries about her prospects. Her parents are suffering after a 20 percent pay cut "and when the time comes for us to work, it will be worse," she said.

The blame lies with politicians, and those that benefitted from a corrupt political system, who stole her future, Iounnou said.

"It is unfair," she said. "I am angry and most of all I am disappointed."

Its all just so SAD. Boo hoo.

But if you go waaaaaay down to the bottom you discover Greek students pay no tuition. And then there's this gem of knowledge here:

The higher-education system is a legacy of the student-led revolt against the 1970s dictatorship, said Dimitri Sotiropoulos, an associate professor of political science at the University of Athens.

"In Europe, and in southern Europe in particular, universities were always the hub of reform movements and even revolutionary movements," Sotiropoulos said in an interview. "It was the only space where antifascist intellectuals could express opinions."

As a result, Greek students have a significant role in the governance and administration of the universities, including a say in the hiring of the rectors in charge, Sotiropoulos said. That power is often exploited by political parties, which have large and active youth branches, to fight reform, he said.

Borrow more money to pay for free beer at Frosh Week? Hell ya, great idea! 

Then there's this:

Another legacy of the 1970s youth movement was a prohibition against police entering campus. Originally intended to protect student protesters from police brutality, it meant drug dealers and users could find asylum on campuses, Sotiropoulos said. While that law was overturned last year, the deans must invite police on campus, and because the deans were elected by students, they are loath to do so, he said. 

So in truth its not really a school. Its more a hive of anarchists and communists pretending to be a school. Full of "students" who are mostly there for the welfare money and cheap drugs. Talk about yer higher education.

And now its going broke. Silver lining! Toldja.