Politics continued from page 1 But Jarret White, recently-elect ed chairman of the University Col lege Republicans, said while hand outs might decrease, students aren’t likely to suffer. “I don’t think Republicans are going to force any issue that’s going to be detrimental to students,” he said. “Students can look forward to see ... secure borders and winning the war on terrorism.” College Democrat Co-Chair man Mike Linman said he was concerned with what he feels is a lack of checks and balances in power with Republicans control ling both the executive branch and the legislature. “I don’t think it accurately repre sents the voting population,” he said. “I wouldn’t want total Demo crat control either.” Medler added that Congress is n’t likely to do much in the next two years, even with the leader ship of Republican President George W. Bush. That’s because national government is often a hobbled-together coalition of Southerners, Northerners, rural, urban and just about every other group who happen to see eye-to eye on certain party issues. “So while you have a Republican House and Republican Senate, you don’t necessarily get better of more unified legislation,” he said. Student and University groups are now trying to enlist the uni fied support of Democrats and Re publicans. The Higher Education Act, a blanket group of issues that affect higher education funding and policies, is up for reauthoriza tion for the next congressional session, and billions of student aid dollars are at stake. Higher Education Act Mary Cunningham, legislative director for lobbying group the United States Student Associa tion, said the USSA will be push ing four key components of the act in the 108th Congress, and added that the group is putting pressure on both political parties. “You have to work with all the members of a (congressional ) com mittee, and they aren’t all Republi cans,” she said. “Now the balance of power is different, but we have relationships with people on both sides of the aisle.” The lobbying group aims to in crease student grant money, re duce the maximum student loan amount so students don’t go as far into debt, keep voter registration language intact and eliminate a controversial drug question from federal student aid forms. University federal affairs Direc tor Betsy Boyd said when Congress convenes in January, the fate of the Higher Education Act will be a cen tral focus for university lobbyists. “It’s an opportunity to beef up or change programs that directly af fect student access to higher edu cation,” she said. Local efforts The ASUO is beginning its own efforts to push for higher educa tion. ASUO legislative associate Stefan Myers said it’s difficult to figure out what issues might change at a national level, as con gressional elections were held so recently and some seats are still up in the air. “As we’re looking at it, we can’t even guess actually how partisan ship will affect higher education,” Myers said. Looking to Congress for help is difficult for students, because most funding issues are decided at the state level. But through ties with organizations such as the USSA, Myers and other interested stu dents will have a chance to travel to Washington, D.C., for a lobbying trip in the spring. College Republicans and Col s#t«Sn®B’as ®H&38sa»sM VIE? Portland.?’*0— GateSOPava.lab^f!^^-^godwfe^ _, ^UegameandgetyomoW^2^ ’“mbM y°“ "'" e'1 Wet!io ev«V horoe S^°“are * WBh