Pubdate: Wed, 14 Feb 2007
Source: Northeastern News, The (MA Edu)
Copyright: 2007 The Northeastern News
Contact:  http://www.nu-news.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2814
Author: Kate Augusto

STUDENTS NATIONWIDE FIGHT AID PENALTY FOR DRUG CONVICTIONS

Students Nationwide Fight Aid Penalty for Drug Convictions

Student governments at universities across the country are teaming up 
to fight what they see as discrimination against students convicted 
of drug offenses. While Northeastern's student government has not yet 
sought legislation against the Aid Elimination Penalty, some students 
are looking to start a Northeastern chapter of Students for Sensible 
Drug Policy (SSDP).

The penalty is a controversial 1998 amendment to the Higher Education 
Act that forbids students with drug convictions from receiving 
federal financial aid, which some say works against the goals of 
higher education.

"We'd like to see a re-shifting of priorities in terms of drug 
policies with more emphasis on things that do work like treatment and 
education, and less emphasis on things that don't work like prisons 
and punishment," said Tom Angell, Campaigns Director for SSDP, a 
non-profit advocacy group.

Angell said the penalty is unfair because it can prevent students 
from furthering their educations. SSDP advocates for a variety of 
drug policy issues affecting young people, but is primarily concerned 
with repealing the Aid Elimination Penalty. The law originally 
penalized all students convicted of a drug offense, but was changed 
in 2006 to only affect those who are charged with an offense while in college.

When filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) 
students must disclose whether they have ever been charged with a 
drug offense. About 200,000 students nationwide have been denied 
federal aid since the penalty was instated, according to a report by 
SSDP in April 2006.

Seamus Harreys, Northeastern dean of student financial services, said 
an additional unknown number of students with convictions don't even 
try to get aid.

A student with a drug offense could lose up to $10,000 in federal 
financial aid, the maximum amount given per student, which would have 
a greater effect on lower and middle-income families, because the 
bank loans needed to supplement the aid can have an interest rate of 
almost double, Harreys said.

In the last five years, only one student at Northeastern applying for 
aid had a drug conviction, and the student ended up being eligible 
for other aid through the university, Harreys said. Students with 
convictions can still receive financial aid from their college, and 
in some states, from the state government.

"Northeastern's job is to educate students ... education is about 
opportunity and in some cases second chances," Harreys said.

Congressman Mark E. Souder, R-Ind., wrote the Aid Elimination Penalty 
to "deter students from using and selling drugs," according to an 
interview with USA Today in 2000.

Despite Souder's intentions, the U.S. Governmental Accountability 
Office reported in 2005 that there was no evidence the penalty is 
effective in preventing drug use.

Representative Barney Frank, D-Mass., has introduced the Removing 
Impediments to Students' Education (RISE) Act, to repeal the penalty, 
for the past four years in Congress and Angell expects him to do so 
again this year.

"We're working with legislators and we're very hopeful that this will 
be the year [the law is repealed]," Angell said.

Students at the University of California (UC)-Berkeley took action 
against the penalty by creating a scholarship for students convicted 
of drug charges.

David Wasserman, a student activist at UC-Berkeley, said he thinks 
decisions should be left to individual schools.

"Universities have a better idea of what's going on on their college 
campuses than a bureaucrat in Washington that has never been in a 
school ... in a case like this ... specifics do matter," Wasserman 
said. "It is important to have some sort of local control."

Wasserman wrote a bill for his student government creating a $400 scholarship.

UC-Berkeley is the first university in the country to do this, but 
other universities have taken passed legislation opposing the penalty.

"We felt that writing a bill like this would be putting our money 
where our mouth is," Wasserman said.

Rogan O'Handley, president of Northeastern's Student Government 
Association (SGA), said SGA has not looked into the issue but would 
if the issue was brought up and deemed a "reasonable concern" within 
the Northeastern community.

Kevin Wadsworth, a sophomore behavioral neuroscience major, is trying 
to start an SSDP chapter at Northeastern and gain recognition by next year.

"The more grand aspirations would be to get the drug laws changed. 
[The penalty] is the latest acceptable form of discrimination against 
people who've used drugs," Wadsworth said. He said he feels the act 
is discriminatory because it does not penalize students convicted of 
any other crimes.

Wadsworth said he would also like to get various school policies 
changed, like the fines imposed on students caught using drugs.

Wadsworth said he has several friends who were convicted of drug 
offenses but they're "functionally happy and morally outstanding 
people." He said the drug offenses unfairly dampened their reputation.

"It's ridiculous that the federal government tries to convey this 
idea that we will do everything and anything to help students go to 
school ... and then implement policies that have the exact opposite 
effect," Wasserman said.
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MAP posted-by: Elaine