Pubdate: Fri, 02 Feb 2007
Source: Oregon Daily Emerald (U of Oregon, OR Edu)
Copyright: 2007 Oregon Daily Emerald
Contact:  http://www.dailyemerald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1518
Author: Edward Oser
Cited: Students for Sensible Drug http://www.ssdp.org
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Free+Application+for+Federal+Student+Aid
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hea.htm (Higher Education Act)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?219 (Students for Sensible Drug Policy)

BERKELEY STUDENTS OFFER DRUG OFFENDERS SCHOLARSHIP

Question 31 on the Fafsa Inspired a UC Berkeley Student Senator to 
Create a Program That Gives Aid to Those Denied Federal Aid Because 
of Drug Convictions

The biggest problem with question 31 on the FAFSA form, which asks 
whether a student has been convicted of possessing or selling illegal 
drugs, is not that it will strip students of their financial aid, but 
rather that it will scare people off from applying to school in the 
first place - at least according to Director of Student Financial Aid 
Elizabeth Bickford.

In her experience, the extreme minority of students who initially 
answered yes to the question soon realized that their convictions 
didn't affect their aid. Those who do answer yes - that they were 
convicted of selling or possessing drugs when they were older than 
18, while they were receiving federal financial aid and have not 
completed a drug treatment program - can easily get their aid 
reinstated, Bickford said.

But the political opposition to question 31 is gaining momentum.

On Jan. 24 at the University of California, Berkeley, the student 
government passed a bill creating a small scholarship for students 
who have lost their aid because of drug convictions. The scholarship 
- - a one-time payment of $400 to an affected student - is the 
brainchild of Associated Students of the University of California 
Senator David Israel Wasserman. In an interview, Wasserman said he 
campaigned for office on the platform of creating this scholarship.

"It's an unjust penalty to deprive someone of the means to an 
education," he said. "We're putting our money where our mouth is."

In terms of a college education, especially in Berkeley, $400 is not 
a great deal of money, but it's enough to pay for a semester's books, 
Wasserman said.

Also, a similar scholarship at Western Washington University existed 
for four years and no one applied for it, the school's student 
government Board Programs Assistant Erin O'Reilly said.

He also said he had not encountered any students requesting the 
scholarship, and that UC Berkeley's financial aid office told him 
that no students currently on campus had lost their aid. But the 
scholarship is not just a scholarship.

"It's a very important statement," Wasserman said.

The Aid Elimination Provision of the Higher Education Act that 
created question 31 is the target for the political aims of the scholarship.

"We plan to use this as a larger lobbying tool."

"It's important that we take a stand," Wasserman said." It's 
important that we use our voice so they can hear us in Washington."

The Aid Elimination Provision has been the object of several lawsuits 
on behalf of the lobbyist group Students for a Sensible Drug Policy 
(SSDP), with which Wasserman worked closely to draft the bill, both 
he and a spokesman for the group said. SSDP is currently heading a 
campaign to repeal the law - a campaign supported by more than 70 
groups including the United States Student Association (USSA) the 
National Education Association (NEA), The National Lawyers Guild, The 
Washington State Bar Association and The National Black Police Association.

But does the University need such a scholarship?

Bickford, the University's director of financial aid, said no.

"In my experience," Bickford said, "I don't know if a scholarship 
would be helpful or necessary."

ASUO President Jared Axelrod said he's against the Aid Elimination 
Provision and supports Wasserman's scholarship.

"I think it's great," Axelrod said.

Cal's student senators "really put their neck out there and took a 
stand," Axelrod said. "It (took) a lot of courage." 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake