Aid scams prey on students
Phony scholarships
reportedly cost families
millions each year
By Sara Lieberth
Oregon Daily Emerald
Added to the stresses of select
ing, applying for and accepting ad
mittance into a college or univer
sity is the financial burden often
placed on families and prospec
tive students.
A number of bogus scholarship
offers in recent years have made
the difficult process an even more
costly one for unsuspecting appli
cants.
More than $100 million is
bilked out of families each year on
scholarship scams, as many of the
offers require up-front fees or up
front tax payments for phony
scholarship “prizes,” said Martha
Pitts, director of admissions for
the University.
“The time-tested warning rings
true for academic scholarships: If
it sounds too good to be true, it
probably is,” she said.
Pitts also said these scams are
particularly unfortunate because
. they play on the existing fears fam
ilies have regarding the costs of
higher education and often pre
sent erroneous information about
such costs.
Students or families who be
lieve they might be victims of a
scam should retain all information
they received from the agency and
contact the Better Business Bu
reau, the state’s attorney general or
bureau of consumer protection of
fices or the National Fraud Infor
mation Center.
Among the tips Pitts offers to
avoid being scammed are:
■ Beware of any company ask
ing you to pay for services or ac
cess to information.
■ Programs that boast extreme
ly high rates of success for compet
itive scholarships are often false in
their claims.
■ Be wary of programs that al
lege they have access to millions
of dollars in “unclaimed” finan
cial aid or scholarship money.
■ Consult with either a guid
ance counselor or financial-aid of
ficer before applying for particular
scholarships you’re considering.
The University offers a number
of scholarships including a newly
fine-tuned Diversity Building
Scholarship that recognizes the
achievements of students who en
hance the campus experience for
all by sharing cultural experi
ences. Additionally, there are
Presidential scholarships, General
University, U-Lane-O and the
Western Undergraduate Exchange
Program, all of which may be ap
plied for at the same time and on a
single application.
One of the most important fac
tors in applying for financial help
is promptness, advise financial aid
administrators. The University of
fers an early notification program
with a November 1 deadline,
which allows students to lock in
their award money for the coming
year.
For more information on schol
arship scams, check out www.fi
naid.org/scholarhips/common.pht
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Student Senate drafts
support for OPEU
Senate resolution urges
OUS to agree to OPEU
demands to avoid strike
By Sara Lieberth
Oregon Daily Emerald
The ASUO Student Senate unani
mously voted Monday night to pass a
resolution in support of the Oregon
Public Employees Union (OPEU) as
if continues to bargain for fair wages
and benefits with the Oregon Univer
sity System.
• Drafted by
ADFC Student
Sen. Jennifer
Greenough, the
four-point reso
lution indudes
language sup
porting classi
fied workers as
they “are criti
cal to the func
tion of all state
universities,”
and acknowl
edging that a"
strike by these
workers, which
could take
place as soon as
September 11,
“would disrupt
several impor
tant services to
students and
staff.”
The resolu
tion states that
Senate
statement
“Beil resolved,
ttiat the ASUO
Student Senate
urge the Oregon
University Sys
tem to agree to a
two-year con
tract with the
wages and bene
fits requested by
the Oregon Pub
lic Employees
Union in the
hope that an
agreement is
reached before a
strike is called
that would crip
ple state univer
sities including
the University of
Oregon.”
theOUS’ proposed six-year contract
without guaranteed wage and bene
fit increases after the first biennium
is an unprecedented move because
it denies OPEU members “the same
basic protections provided to nearly
all other OUS workers.”
After minor amendments to the
precise wording of the text, the fi
nal Senate resolution read:
“Be it resolved, that the ASUO
Student Senate urge the Oregon
University System to agree to a two
year contract with the wages and
benefits requested by the Oregon
Public Employees Union in the
hope that an agreement is reached
before a strike is called that would
cripple state universities including
the University of Oregon. ”
Greenough said after speaking
Student
Senate
with representa
tives on both sides
of the bargaining
table and reading
all available infor
mation on the sub
ject, she felt com
pelled to draft the
resolution primar
ily because there
were no guarantees for classified
workers after two years.
“Our classified workers are very
important,” she said. “Without
guarantees for cost of living and
benefits increases, they have no
security. This is one way we can
show our support for them. ”
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