editorial
Loan plan eyed
The Oregon Student Lobby, a group representing the stu
dent governments of seven state colleges and universities, ap
pears to be making some headway in its plan to make student
loans repayable as a percentage of the student’s income after
graduation. OSL executive secretary Dan Gamer travelled to
Washington D.C. to present the plan to a conference on student
financial aid, as well as other education specialists in Washing
ton. The conference, in turn, has recommended the plan to the
U.S. Office of Education.
The initial rumblings for reform of the student loan program
began long ago, and they were aggravated by news reports of a
$400 million loss to loan defaulters between 1968 and 1976.
About six per cent of the total amount of money loaned to
students in those eight years was lost to default. At the Univer
sity, the National Direct Student Loan program has shown
about a 24 per cent default rate since 1975, according to State
Scholarship Commission statistics.
With these default rates, which are far above the normal
bank loan default rate of one-half of one percent, someone is
going to step up soon to suggest severe restrictions on the
student loan programs — unless, of course, someone steps in
with an excellent suggestion on how to make student loans more
easily repayable, which would greatly reduce the amount of
defaults. The OSL has done exactly that.
To examine one program, the National Direct Student
Loans, assume that a student borrows the maximum allowable:
$5,OCX) for an undergraduate. The minimum payment is $30 per
month, and the entire amount must be repaid within ten years
with three per cent interest. So $5,150 would be calculated to an
average monthly payment of $37, which doesn’t seem like a
whole lot, unless you’re trying to live on paltry wages.
In another program, the Guaranteed Student Loans, a max
imum of $6,000 may be borrowed for a twelve-term program. At
seven per cent interest (after a nine-month grace period) the
student would be paying about $6,420 over the ten years, or $53
if the student loans were combined, and the student paid a
percentage of his or her income on the total of the loans, these
figures would be reduced to a payment that the student could
afford over the term of employment, no matter what the position
pays. The point is that the loan programs rightly justify a guaran
teed return for the loaners, but guarantee the student no secunty
whatever after graduation. No student knows how much that all
important first job will pay, or even how long it will take to find a
first job in a chosen profession. In effect, the student is gambling
by taking a loan: gambling with his or her future and with his or
her ability to repay the loan.
The OSL plan would take the gamble out of the student loan
programs. If such a plan is implemented, and it surely should be,
the student would know from day one that the percentage of
income could be affordable — easily more affordable than a flat
dollar amount.
The worst-case possibility presented here would most likely
be a student from lower-middle income brackets, who are most
likely to need these kinds of loans. The poor can get grants, the
rich can afford the price of an education; but these lower-middle
income people are hurting more than any other group.
The OSL plan might just give the kind of relief that is desp
erately needed. If all goes well, the OSL plan won’t get lost in the
bureaucratic shuffle in Washington. Let’s hope it doesn’t.
editorial
City should denounce gold
The Eugene City Council should follow
the example set by the Portland v^tty
Council in denouncing the sale of the
Krugerrand, a gold coin minted in South
Africa. The council, which tabled an anti
Kruggerand motion in October, is now
bringing some life back into the proposal
in response to the petitions circulated by
the People for Southern African Freedom.
As things stand now, the freedom group
and the Commission on the Ri9hts of
Minorities, part of Eugene s Human
Rights Council, will mull the issue in a
Thursday, Jan. 12, meeting The counci
apparently hopes to get that
commission's recommendation before
the petitions are brought to the council
chambers.
Routing the petitions through the
V,
human rights commission may help revive
the interest in the issue on the City Council
itself. With the combination of a recom
mendation by the rights commission and a
wad of petitions, the council may support
a denunciation of the sale of Krug
gerands.
The Commission on the rights of
minorities should recommend to the
council that it urge the citizens of Eugene
to boycott the Krugerrand.
Apparently the People for Southern Af
rican Freedom are encouraged by the city
Council’s latest motion, and they indicate
some support on the minorities commis
sion for the proposal. With the Portland
decision to denounce the sale of the coins
and the support for such an action here,
the council should reverse its October de
cision.
J
Letters
Publish and perish
Publish or perish? After years of
60-hour weeks, work weekends,
red-eye specials, lost vacations,
and deadlines, I’ve learned that
the motto isn’t publish or perish.
It’s both!
Barak Rosenshine
Visiting Professor of Education
Heroic struggle
The last issue of the Emerald for
Fall term contained a letter attack
ing Iranian students and the Iran
ian student movement. The
ideas presented in it in no way
reflect the interests of the Ameri
can people. Our interests lie with
the struggle of the Iranian people
against the fascist regime of the
Shah.
The letter displays total ignor
ance of the situation in Iran. The
reality of brutal oppression and
vicious exploitation is well
documented and well-known the
world over. That the Shah is a de
spotic dictator is quite evident
from the 100,000 political prison
ers; the arrest, torture and execu
tions going on daily; and the total
absence of even the most basic
political rights. The Iranian people
have never accepted these condi
tions and are today waging a
widespread and heroic fight
against the Shah’s regime. This is
a just struggle against oppression
and deserving of our active sup
port.
But that’s only one part of the
situation. The other part is the fact
that the Shah was put into power
by the United States and is main
tained in power by the United
States. This is well-documented.
A democratically-elected gov
ernment was overthrown by the
CIA and reactionary elements in
Iran in 1953 and the CIA returned
the Shah to power on a throne of
death and brutality. Ever since,
the U.S. has supplied him and his
regime with all the necessary
support — billions in arms, tens
of thousands of advisers,
economic assistance, etc.
In return, Iran has been a
source of tremendous profits for
the U.S. oil companies and other
U.S. corporations, and has served
the U.S. throughout the Persian
Gulf, sending its troops where
needed to protect U.S. interests
(such as Oman). When the Shah
came to the U.S. last November to
pay homage to his masters,
Jimmy “human rights” Carter
spoke of the “special relationship"
between the U.S. and Iran. It’s a
relationship of exploitation and
oppression. It’s called im
perialism.
That’s what the Iranian students
— and their thousands of Ameri
can supporters — are opposing
when they demonstrate here and
around the world against the Shah
and the rulers of this country. Not
against the American people —
they don't call us “decadent
capitalist pigs" or any hogwash
tike that.
Here’s what an active member
of the Iranian Students Associa
tion recently told the newspaper.
The Worker: “We are putting a
great distinction between the
American people and the Ameri
can government. Our struggle is
the same as yours, on different
battlefronts. We believe the
American people will be happy
when our country is emancipated
as we will when America is free of
the imperialists who rule it.”
The heroic struggle of the Ira
nian people is an inspiration to
people all over the world to fight
back against the abuses and at
tacks they face. The Iranian stu
dents movement deserves our
continued and redoubled support.
John Kaiser
Revolutionary Communist
Youth Brigade
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