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NOV. 19,1997
Page A5
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( l î î h s r r u c r --------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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$5,000 for High
School Students
A w ards to ta lin g $ 5 ,0 0 0 are
availab le to high school age O r
egon stu d en ts th ro u g h the In d e
penden ce E ssay C o m p e titio n .
The 1997-98 Essay C om p etitio n
focuses on the fo u n d a tio n s o f
fre e d o m . E n try d e a d lin e is
M a rc h 4, 1998. T o r e c e iv e
gu id elin es stu d e n ts sh o u ld call
the Essay H otline (50 3 ) 224-
1737,
or
re fe r
to
w w w .C ascad eP o licy .o rg /essay /
essay98.htm .
The first one hundred en tran ts
w ill receiv e a co m p lim e n ta ry
copy o f F red eric B a s tia t’s T he
Law. The fo u rth annual E ssay
C om petition is sp onsored by the
C o n s tr u c tiv e
M anagem ent
F oundation (P o rtla n d ) and the
J a m e s M. Bo n a v i a F a m ily
C haritab le T ru st (B end).
“O regon stu d en ts have a great
opp o rtu n ity to earn an aw ard
b e c a u s e th e y o n ly c o m p e te
a g a in st th e ir in -sta te p e e r s ,”
notes K urt T. W eber, pro g ram
d ire c to r at C ascad e Policy In
stitu te in P o rtlan d , w hich o rg a
nizes the E ssay C o m p e titio n .
“F u rth e r, all h ig h -sch o o l age
stu d e n ts are e lig ib le to p a rtic i
pate, not ju s t c o lle g e -b o u n d se
n io rs. L ast y e a r’s w inners in
clu d ed a so p hom ore and tw o
ju n io r s .”
S u p r e m e C o u r t J u s tic e
S tew art P o tter once w rote, “ In
fact, a fu n d am en tal in te rd e p e n
d en ce e x ists betw een the p e r
so n al rig h t to liberty and the
p e rso n a l rig h t in pro p erty N e i
th er co u ld have m eaning w ith
o u t the o th e r .” S tu d e n ts are
ask ed to ex p an d upon Ju stice
S te w a rt’s quote and explore
the c o n c e p t that the fo u n dation
o f a free so ciety is p ersonal and
eco n o m ic freedom , and when
g o v ern m en t reg u lates one it in
frin g e s upon the other.
T h is y ear the g u id e lin e s p ro
vide stu d e n ts w ith po ssib le to p
ics and su g g e ste d readings and
w eb sites. A ccording to W eber,
these fe a tu re s should in crease
stu d en t in q u irie s and p a rtic ip a
tion o v er the p rev io u s E ssay
C o m p e titio n , w hich se t new
reco rd s in both c a te g o rie s.
Four Educators Receive
Good News - $25,000
Four Oregon high school ed u ca
tors today le a rn e d from S tate
Schools Supt. N orm a Paulus they
have been selected to receive 1997
M ilken Fam ily F oundation N a
tional Educator A w ards, and the
accom panying financial aw ard of
$25,000. They are: Ray H asart
technology teacher, Redmond High
School; Bonnie Hill, language arts
teacher, A lsea High School; Ford
M o r is h ita , s c ie n c e te a c h e r ,
C lackam as High School, and Arnie
Roblan, principal, M arshfield High
School, Coos Bay.
T hey w ill receiv e an exp en se-
p aid trip to L os A n geles next
Ju n e for the annual M ilken F am
ily F o u n d atio n N ation E ducation
C o n feren ce.
Children share knowledge of success - Americans from a variety o f fields, like Deputy U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder
above), participate in Teach For America Week, an event that called upon successful Americans to share their knowledge and
ixnerience with public school students.
UO Sends Students Welcome Holiday Greeting:
’Don’t pay your tuition till next year'
The University of Oregon is advis
ing students not to pay their winter
tuition bills this year. Instead, pay after
Jan. 1,1998, advises an official notice
included in Winter Term tuition bills
going out this week.
The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997,
just adopted by Congress, provides
the Hope Scholarship Tax Credit of
up to $1,500 to help offset tuition
costs for students in their first two
years of college. The new law takes
effect Jan. 1, 1998, explains Ed
Vignoul, UO financial aid director.
“Students and their parents who
are eligible to claim the tax credit on
their 1998 tax returns can’t claim a
credit for any payments dated, sent
or delivered in 1997," Vignoul adds,
“so, until the Department of the Trea
sury defines exactly what is meant
by ’first two years of college.' the
university is strongly recommending
that all undergraduates delay paying
winter 1998 tuition and fees until the
new year.”
The notices will be included in the
tuition bill statements ol Nov. 15 and
Dec. 15.
Students will have until Jan. 10 to
pay Winter Term tuition. Payments
made after that date will be charged
the usual late-fee penalty.
The UO also is delaying the dis
bursement of financial aid for Winter
Term to ensure that UO students
receive the maximum benefit from
this credit. No winter financial aid
will be applied to any student's ac
count until Jan I. 1998. The first
cash back checks will be available
Monday, Jan. 5. Law students, who
register on a different schedule, can
pick up their cash back checks Jan 8.
Not everyone will be eligible lor
the Hope Scholarship Tax Credit.
Individuals who do not pay taxes,
who are above certain income levels,
or whose tuition is being paid by
certain types of grants and scholar
ships may not be eligible.
The U.S Treasury Department has
yet to release regulations regarding
these programs, so there are still many
unknowns. A handout providing addi
tional information about these credits
may be found on campus in the Busi
ness and Financial Aid offices at Or
egon Hall.
The 1RS has published Notice 97-
60on the World Wide Web to provide
more detailed information on not only
the Hope Scholarship Credit, but also
on the 1 afetime 1 earning Credit, Edu
cation IRAs and the Student Loan
Interest Deduction. The notice may be
found at: <http://www.ed.gov/offtces/
ope/pp:/tra_qa.html>.
Campaign for Higher Education
Students at Oregon ’ s col leges and
universities recently kicked-off a
state-wide campaign urging their leg
islators in Washington D.C. to re
authorize the Higher Education Act.
Representatives from each school are
working with the Oregon Student
Association, who created the post
cards to be distributed and signed.
The Higher Education Act lays
the groundwork for distribution of
monies allocated for student aid pro
grams. It encompasses the Pell Grant,
the State Student Incentive Grant
program (SSIG), Perkins Loans, work
study programs, Javits and Harris
Fellowships for graduate students,
and defines aid requirements. The
Higher Education Act comes up for
re-authorization every five years.
“In the last six tuition has gone
upover 80 percent in this state. This
has made it hard for non-traditional
students to go to school with the
many obligations they have at home.
Twenty years ago the ratio of federal
aid was 80 percent grants and 20
percent loans; today it’s a complete
180,” said Maryanne Cassera, OSA
representative for Portland State.
The main focus of the post card
campaign is to make secondary edu
cation accessible for all students.
ASPSU set a goal of getting 1000
signed postcards to legislatures
S m ith , W y den, G o rto n , and
Blummenauer. They are working to
ward this goal by tabling on Tues
days and W ednesdays from 10:00
a.m. to 1 p.m .; and going into classes
to educate and collect cards.
Besides making education more
accessible, OSA and students want
the government to: fully fund the
expanded Pell Grant program; keep
the SSIG, redefine the aid require
ments so working , independent stu
dents can maintain eligibility; main
tain federal work study program; fund
low interest Perkins Loans; and Sup
port GA ANN, Javits, and Harris Fel
lowships.
“To lessen the hardship on stu
dents, our government has to make it
a priority to fund the state and federal
programs. The government needs to
take an active role in education.
Steps To College Start Early
G ettin g ready for c o lle g e —
i t ’s all about ju n io r y ear S A T ’s
a n d s e n io r y e a r a d m is s io n s
e ssa y ’s, rig h t? W rong. T h o se are
im portant lan d m ark s on the path
to co lleg e, but g e ttin g on c o u rse
starts m uch e a rlie r acco rd in g to
a new b o o k let from the U .S. D e
partm ent of E d u catio n . If you are
the paren t o f a m id d le -sc h o o l or
ju n io r -high stu d e n t, the tim e to
help y our ch ild take som e big
steps tow ard a co lleg e ed u c a tio n
is now.
A co lleg e ed u c a tio n is a big
in v e stm e n t, in b o th tim e and
m oney. But i t ’s an in v estm en t
that pays o ff - in ex p an d ed jo b
o p p o rtu n itie s, h ig h e r e a rn in g s,
g reater jo b se c u rity , lo w er u n
em ploym ent, and p erso n al s a tis
faction in the k n o w le d g e and
skills acq u ired . T he case for c o l
lege is c o m p e llin g . A nd th a t
d o e sn ’t m ean only a fo u r-y e a r
co lleg e or u n iv e rsity p ro g ram .
Y our son or d a u g h te r can also
benefit from a tw o -y ear co m m u
nity or technical co lleg e program
focusing on specific career skills.
S ixth grade is n ’t too soon for
a fam ily to begin d isc u ssin g c o l
lege seriously. Y our ex p ectatio n s
play a big p art in y o u r c h ild ’s
fu tu re. Y ou can start ta lk in g to
y o u r ch ild ab out po ssib le c a re e r
in te re sts, how to pay for c o lleg e,
and the m ost im p o rtan t p art o f
g e ttin g re a d y fo r c o lle g e —
c h o o sin g the rig h t c o u rse s in
m id d le and high school.
S tudies show that students who
take a lg e b ra and geom etry by the
end o f the eig h t and ninth grades
are m uch m ore likely to go to
c o lle g e than those w ho do not.
T h e s e an d o th e r c h a lle n g in g
c o u rse s such as a foreign la n
guage, c o m p u ter science, art, and
m usic sh o u ld be part o f yo u r
c h ild ’s m id d le or ju n io r high
sch e d u le if c o lle g e is a goal.
S tu d e n ts w ho w ant to go to
c o lle g e sh o u ld also take the b a
sic ac a d e m ic c la sse s — E nglish,
sc ie n c e , and histo ry or g e o g ra
phy — ev ery year o f m iddle and
high school.
C h o o sin g the right c la sse s and
w o rk in g hard in them is c ritic a l
f o r c o lle g e - b o u n d s t u d e n ts .
T h a t’s w hy p a re n ts need to play
an a ctiv e role in helping th e ir
c h ild re n plan th e ir school sc h e d
ules. H elp is availab le from g u id
ance c o u n se lo rs, te a c h e rs , and
m en tio n in g program s.
S tu d e n ts w ho plan ahead in
m iddle school may find room in
th e ir s c h e d u le s fo r a d v a n c e d
p lacem en t or tech prep co u rse s if
th e se are o ffe re d at the high
school. Both o f these options may
save tim e and m oney in c o lleg e.
A d v a n c e d p la c e m e n t (A P )
c la sse s are c o lle g e -le v e l c lasses
that stu d e n ts can take in high
school. If stu d e n ts score high
enough on AP ex am s they can
get c o lle g e c re d it. S im ila rly , by
tak in g c a re e r -fo cu sed tech prep
c la sse s a stu d e n t headed for a
tw o -y e a r c o lle g e can earn c o l
lege c re d its w hen the in stitu tio n
has an a g re e m e n t w ith the high
school.
R ecently a rtic le s and te le v i
sion p ro g ra m s have focu sed on
the high and in c re a sin g c o st of
tu itio n at som e c o lle g e s. Is c o l
lege b ecom ing fin a n c ia lly u n a t
ta in a b le for a fam ily o f average
m eans? The U .S. D ep artm en t of
E d u catio n is re a ssu rin g on this
point: “ M ost peo p le b eliev e that
co lle g e is m uch m ore ex p e n siv e
than it really is. A lth o u g h som e
c o lle g e s are e x p e n siv e , m any
c o lle g e s are w ith in reach. Even
if a stu d e n t w ants to go to a m ore
ex p e n siv e sc h o o l, fin a n c ia l aid
can h elp. ’
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