Editorial
Restrictions on aid
are absurd solution
Kariier this year. Congress approved changes in higher
education funding, increasing restrictions on Pell Grants
and guaranteed student loans 'I he new restrictions are bad
Many students who applied for federal pell grants this
term found they were no longer considered "independent"
unless they were 24 years old or earned more than $4,000 a
year.
This w ill limit severely many students' ability to attend
the University, because their eligibility for financial aid will
have changed, regardless of whether their parents included
them as dependents in their tax returns, or whether their
parents have contributed anything to their college expenses
Students will also find that in order to receive
guaranteed student loans, they must prove financial need, a
strategy Congress adopted from White House proposals
This change in the guaranteed student loan program,
w ith others passed by Congress in September and approved
bv Reagan, reduces projected outlays by $445 million over
three years.
This amount is more than the S.1S5 million cut man
dated by the fiscal lt*87 budget resolution The obvious
question is. of course, why is spending on education being
cut at all.
Higher eduction affects everything from the balance of
trade with other nations who have made a greater committ
ment to education to the basic standard of living of
American society
The growing awareness in the country is of the need for
access to higher education, rather than the opposite. Only in
the White House and on Capitol Hill is reducing support for
higher education a good idea
The Reagan administration's assertion that the students
themselves are the principal beneficiaries of financial aid ig
nores that one of the basic strengths of American society —
social mobility — is based on education
The new restrictions are another blow, in particular, to
middle class students' ability to afford a college education
The Reagan administration intends to go to work on more
students next year by wiping out the $882 million
\ocatlona 1 -education program and making loans even more
inaccessible and expensive
Allan Ostar. president of the American Association of
State Colleges and Tniversities was right on mark when he
commented that the administration was trying to “shift
responsibility to college students for bringing down the
federal deficit."
Our representatives in Congress must be made aware of
the high price the\ are paving to make a small dent in the
deficit As a long-range solution to the deficit, cutting
higher education funds is absurd
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JSigvf "
YUPPIES
Letters
Scrutiny
Invariably. the serious in
tellectual scrutiny of traditional
religious beliefs tends to
generate a 'fork in the road"
choice-point When that
awareness juncture ts reached,
one has the option erf remaining
loyal to irrational faith asser
tions or changing one's
perspective m the direction erf
carefully reasoned inferences
For example some of us w ho
were born into Christian
families have since become
"post-Christian agnostics ** As
we learned to think critically for
ourselves the irresolvable con
flict between religious faith and
secular reason gradualty
fosterrd our turning awra> from
the implausible doctrines ot
Christianity
The modes of inquiry we n
come to rely on in our efforts to
better understand the human
condition lrnolve the scientific
study of the natural world and
critical historical analysts
I found my self thinking about
all of this upon reading the
featured Oinstmas-time article
on the modem studs of Jesus in
the December 1986 issue of The
Atlantic Monthly
Among the questions posed
in that rather comprehensive
overview is Was Jesus simply
another of those charismatic*
who appear horn time to time,
destroy some complacency, do
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some good and bequeath to the
human race the symbol of an ex
emplary life?"
Dispassionate intellectual
analysis suggests an affirmative
reply to that query, since there
are no substantiated grounds for
holding that Jesus was other
than human.
The point of this brief discus
sion is that liberal higher educa
tion should encourage consis
tent critical analysis. If the
realm of religious belief
represents an exception, then
surely 'psychological compart
mentalization" will be the
undesirable consequence.
Ron Rousseve
Counseling psychology
professor
Proud
I am proud to live in America:
however. I see a trend happen
ing we must all 1* aware of.
The Bagwhan Shree Rajneesh
gave us a good example on a
local {statewide) level: Move in
to an area, with much needed
mone> as bait and a very well
organized master plan and tell
the people what they want to
hear Once they are in they can
and w ill c hange the rules
We do have problems: the
huge national debt, the huge
personal debts we each have
and the trade deficits for our
country To buy a product (with
perhaps iess shiny paint, and a
higher price maybe). 1 believe is
cheaper in the long run We
need our people working
We are having prime land
bought up at an alarming rate,
tc be put to use and of course
providing some much needed
tabs bounds great' Already the
rules art- changing., we are los
ing more including our
dignftv
W e must do these same things
— within our great country —
somehow Mo one » going to
ions after us w< have heard the
same promises over and over,
we mur each kiok out for
ourwrtves and wort together
I love line rising sun
however i would uut want to
see r ut uur flag
<j«orge 5-> Mer^sci
Traffic
One year ago I asked Presi
dent Oium to consider placing
benches along 13th Avenue so
students could sit instead of
relaxing at the edge of the
gutter.
1 think the problem and the
solutions are obvious.
Secondly, I think that a study
could be done to close the area
of 13th to automobiles There
are just too many people in the
streets here.
Last but not least, the Univer
sity could build a ramp north of
the Department of Motor
Vehicles on Franklin Avenue or
over it. It's just bad news trying
to cross there to link up w ith the
trail systems.
Dennis Stankie
Graduate student
Human race
Through all recorded history
humanity, as a general form of
life, has been engaged in
destroying Karth
I refer to probably all racial or
ethnic groups. For while it's
true some racial and ethnic
groups traditionally brought
less harm than others, it hinged
more on technical capabilities
than principles and beliefs
As the technologies and
techniques of greater destruc
tion were introduced to these
folks, they all adopted them
with a vengeance
The human race is unworthy
of inhabiting this fabulous,
beautiful planet in a mobile,
physical form
The human race is willing to
kill or damage itself It does so
in order to acquire and or main
tain frivolous conveniences and
health-destroying luxuries
We have been converting the
Harden of Sanity and Abun
dance into the Hell of Want and
Disease
There are a few remnants of
the Harden remaining here and
there, therefore there are ra
tional grounds for hope and
continued efforts at battling the
forces of destruction and death
Work for peace and love for
life
Tommi Walen
Kugene