Students Rob Bank to Pay for Tuition

Except maybe for death, it’s impossible to find a greater fear of men than being bound for a lifetime by shackles - whether made of iron or manufactured in the mind.

Two Cincinnati, Ohio university students are “facing 20 years in jail… after staging two armed robberies - in order to pay their tuition fees.”

Andrew Butler, a theatre student at University of Toledo and engineering student Christopher Avery from University of Cincinnati “donned masks and held up bank staff in two Ohio towns at gunpoint.”

“They made off with more than $130,000 (£63,000)” on day two of their ill-fated act of desperation, after their first attempt the day before, failed to net them any cash.

Judge Steve Martin (not the actor, I hope, :P) seemed baffled by the students’ motive. Prior to the robberies neither one had a criminal record.

Reports in the Cincinnati Enquirer claim Butler’s scholarships and financial aid were insufficient to meet his rising tuition costs.

I sympathise with Avery and Butler. I don't condone what they did but it's easy to understand why they felt they had no other choice. Education shouldn't be for the privileged few who can afford it but sadly rising tuition fees, and limited resources for financial support seem to make it that way for many people.