Student loan default rates still high ((IPS) Tin* college student loan default rate hasn't improved after all. tier I S Department of lain i atiori admitted tilting a statistical error vvorlh $400 million, the Kducation Deparlmenl which overseas most federal ruling!! programs confessed about 17 percent of the student loans due in l'ltUt were ill default, nhout lire same rale as in 1087 I he government has fried everything from towing avvav Irorrowers' i ars, to garnishing deadbeats' pay (hecks, to crosschecking obscure computer lists to bring the default rate down In Mav. it cautiously announced some suitcss. re porting the default rate had decreased to la t> pen ent of the money (tue to he repaid in 1088 However, department officials now say they made a mistake by overlooking the $400 million in loans a portion of whit h were in default due to he repaid in 1088 Once overdue loans are figured in. the national default rate will l>e about 17 peri ent. neat l\ the same .is reported for fist al 1087 The error was dis< oveied by the ( albumin Student Aid ( ominission. a state agent v that approves federal guarantees tin student loans made by hanks Kmployecs there apparently noticed that default [.ill's ill .1 number of California schools had curiously dropped lo less than III percent Thin tracked the i hanges bat k lo a portfolio ol suspended loans, xvhic h were Inadvertently counted as being in repayment The loans all were serviced In United hducation Software a Ualifornia firm that last year drew attention for its mishandling of loans In Man h the l-.dtir a lion Department refused to bail out the company for $fc)(l million in loans that hadn't been repaid, bei ause the department ruled. 1 'oiled Education Software had failed to follow proper r ollei lion proi edures besides i overing up .i lai k of progress on the de fault problem, the error artifii iallv reduced the high de fault rates ol some trade schools and community col leges. making their students again eligible for Supple mental Student bonus ( (ingress last year excluded students at schools with default rates of more than it) percent from receiv ing Supplemental Student l oans I he I duration department still has not derided whether or how to recalculate tile default rates, and said it would rlr-r itie if .lifer ted sr hools are eligible for the supplemental loans on a r use by t use basis 1 prefer not to put the fault oil anybody said Ho berta Dunn deputy assistant set retary for student ti nancial assistant e "It s not anybody s fault National Two universities sell tobacco stock (Cl'S) Schools nationwide will soon he selling off shares in tobacco companies, anti smoking a< twists said Both Harvard I ’niversily and the City I 'niver sitv ol New York recently announced they would prevent their endow ment funds from investing in tohai on stocks in the future. In the first flushes of victory, anti smoking activists predicted such divestments would soon become as common as schools selling shares in companies that do business in segregationist South Afric a The campus divestment movement, in turn, generated enough political pressure to alter the I'nited States' policy toward the government of South Africa, the Americ an Committee on Afric a maintained "It's totally inconsistent to invest in the lead ing preventable c ause of death and disease. " said Bracl krevor. executive director of the newly formed Tobacco Divestment Project in Massachu setts Turn to TOBACCO, Page 8 HOW TO BUY TEXTBOOKS AND S/VE I MONEY COME TO THE SMITH FAMILY BOOKSTORE FIRST. Chances are you will find most of your books at half price BRING THE TITLE AND AUTHOR S NAME. It might take some time to find your books, but we will be glad to help you look, and the savings are worth the wait RETURN BOOKS YOU DO NOT NEED. If you buy the wrong books or drop a class, you can return the books lor a full refund SELL YOUR OLD TEXTBOOKS. After you buy your textbooks, bring in your old books and The Smith Family Bookstore will buy them for a very fair price SMITH FAMILY - bookstore 768 East 13th • 345-1651 1 Block from Campus " e M( s I MK( H :(iH ! Kll> s Luncheon Specials Phad Thai $3.95 CHINA BLUE RESTAURANT ( \C\t til l it ( ) H