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I Qctober 19> 1989 University of Nebraska-Lincoln Vol. 89 No. 38
10-year financial aid trend may continue
Legislative action could preserve debt for many UNL students
By Jana Pedersen
Senior Reporter
A trend of changing students’
financial aid base from
grants to loans may continue
if current legislative action is passed,
according to John Beacon, director of
scholarships and financial aid at the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Beacon said that today’s students
pay for most of their college educa
tions through loan programs such as
Guaranteed Student Loans, which
must be paid back after graduation.
Ten years ago, students received
most of their financial aid through
grants, which do not have to be paid
back, he said.
“Students unfortunately are be
coming more loan dependent,’’ Bea
con said. “The ideal situation would
1 be to give students money to make
their educational expenses and
graduate without the need to repay
it.”
4
1
currently, Beacon said, about 45
percent of students’ expenses are
paid through loans.
That figure could continue to in
crease if Congress passes proposals
for the next academic year’s financial
aid allocations, he said.
For this academic year, the federal
subsidy of Pell Grants fell $331 mil
lion short of financial need, accord
ing to a mid-session review projec
tion, Beacon said.
For the next academic year, he
said, projections show a need of an
additional $365 million over the re
quested $4.7 billion for Pell Grant
aid.
But the Pell program isn’t the only
grant program that may fall short of
students’ needs for next year, Beacon
said.
Although most grant programs
probably will receive increases in
funding over this year’s allocations,
he said, those allocations still won’t
fulfill student needs if the increases
don’t exceed the rate of inflation or
tuition increases.
“Those numbers need to continue
to grow,’’ he said. “You want to at
least meet inflation and cost of liv
ing.”
If those needs aren’t met, he said,
students will pay the difference.
“It simply is going to mean that
institutions like UNL will have a
smaller share and simply will spread
that out in smaller amounts to priority
applicants,” Beacon said.
He said priority applicants are
students who return their financial
aid applications before March 1 and
are given first consideration for grant
allocations.
Beacon said that before he starts
worrying about shortfalls in financial
aid for the next academic year, he
will wait to see how serious those
shortfalls are.
Changes in proposed allocations
1
are. likely to happen before a financial
aid package is signed into law, he
said, “so what actually will happen is
unknown at the moment.”
‘The ideal situation
would be to give
students money to
make their educa
tional expenses
and graduate
without the need
to repay it.’
—Beacon
According to the Sept. 22 Student i
Aid News newsletter provided by i
Beacon, student financial aid alloca
tions approved by the Senate total
more than $9,922 billion while the
House of Representatives’ alloca
tions total more than $9,672 billion.
Although the newsletter shows
that proposals for Perkins Loans and
Stafford Student Loans for the fall of
1990 are lower than this fall’s alloca
tions, other financial aid programs
such as Supplemental Educational
Opportunity, College Work-Study,
State Student Incentive Grants and
Income-Contingent Loans have
higher proposed allocations for next
fall.
But Beacon said those proposed
allocations probably will undergo
nany changes before they arc imple
nented, especially if the Gramm
3udman law, which requires a bal
inccd budget, results in cuts in abo
rtions across the board.
“If that’s the case, they havetocut
ill programs, including education ...
md including financial aid,’ ’ he said.
David Hansan/Daily Nebraskan
Freshman art major Toby Bryans works on a still-life assignment Wednesday afternoon
in Richards Hall.
^______^_________
Senators discuss student regent vote
By Jerry Guenther
Senior Reporter
Although some stale senators
disagree on whether students
should be allowed to have an
official vote on the NU Board of
Regents, senators interviewed agree
that an official vote would require a
change in the Nebraska constitution.
Students for the Right to Vote, an
ad hoc committee at UNL, recently
has organized to try to rally support
for an official student regent vote.
Sen. Jerome Warner of Waverly
said ne ininKs an umeiai vuic wuu.u
require an amendment to the state
constitution.
Warner said the Nebraska
constitution gives the regents govern
ing authority over the NU system.
The regents’ governing provisions
cannot be expanded without a consti
tutional change, he said.
Warner said he would not support
such an amendment because he
thinks students should be given the
same treatment as other citizens in
the state.
Those who are 18 or older already
are eligible to vote for a regent candi
date to represent them, he said.
Sen. David Landis of Lincoln said
the issue of a student regent vote has
been discussed many times before.
Landis, who said he is opposed to
a student regent vote, said he also
thinks such a votq would require a
constitutional amendment.
Landis said he is against the idea
because the existing process is al
ready open to students.
“Students, if they choose to
(vote), would represent a tremendous
political force,’1 Landis said.
‘Students, if they
choose to (vote),
would represent a
tremendous politi
cal force.’
—Landis
■HhHHHNNNHHI
Landis said the number of UNL
students could decide the winner in a
Lancaster County regent election.
Sen. Don Wesely of Lincoln said
he served on the Constitutional Revi
sion Committee that addressed the
student regent vote issue when it was
brought before the Nebraska Legisla
ture in 1987.
Some senators who served on that
committee opposed giving students
an official vote because they believed
it would give students a “double- .
vote,” he said.
Wesely said those senators argued
that the regents’ districts are based on
population, and students already are
counted in the defined regent dis
tricts.
Although Wesely said he is very
supportive of trying to give students
more power with the regents, he
thinks it would be impossible for an '
official vote without a change in the
Nebraska constitution.
Sen. Dennis Baack of Kimball
said he is undecided about whether
students should be allowed a regent
vote.
CAmalkinn T ctall hoi/A un
open mind toward,” Baack said.
“But I haven’t been convinced that
it’s necessary.”
Baack and other senators said they i
think a bill authorizing a constitu
tional amendment that would give
student regents an official vote would
likely originate in the Government,
Military and Veterans Affairs or
Education committees.
Baack, who is chairman of the
government committee, said he
would help advance such legislation
if senators indicated to him they
wanted the entire Legislature to vote
~See VOTE on 3
rrivate company matches
students to money sources
By Cindy Wostrel
Staff Reporter
University students who are
looking for graduate financial
aid can use the services of a
private company to search for private
sources of money.
' Windom Hall, one such private
company, uses computers to match
students with possible financial aid
sources, said Audrey Menzer, execu
tive director of Windom Hall.
The company, which is based in
Denver and affiliated with the Aca
demic Guidance Services in New
Jersey, matches undergraduate stu
dents searching for graduate aid with
financial sources for $69, Menz.er
said.
The students receive a printout of
3ne to 25 sources of financial aid. The
service also matches high school stu
dents with undergraduate aid for $39,
k M ___‘ J
viwi£,u >aiu.
Interested students complete a
lata sheet, listing their backgrounds,
including affiliations and societies.
The company guarantees that stu
lents seeking graduate aid will re
vive one potential financial aid
source or it will refund the S69,
VIenzer said.
Most students seeking graduate
lid receive eight sources, Menzer
said. High school seniors seeking
financial aid are guaranteed at least
six possible sources of aid or their $39
is refunded, Menzer said.
Windom Hall cannot guarantee,
however, that each student will re
ceive money from the sources pro
vided to them.
The scholarships listed with Win
dom Hall are all private money, and
amounts given vary from $250 to
$1,000. Menzer said Windom Hall
hears about these services or the
sources come to list their aid with the
company.
Windom Hall also offers other
services, which include matching
high school seniors with four-year
colleges for $29 and matching high
school seniors with athletic scholar
snips tor 5)29.
Menzer said Windom Hall’s serv
ices do not replace counselors and do
not help a student w ith federal or state
aid, since the aid sources are private.
Menzer said she believes the
company’s services are cost effective
and efficient because many sources it
provides are not even listed in librar
ies.
The company constantly updates
listings of financial aid sources, de
aling names of scholarships that no
See AID on 6
Reunion beer resolution
sent back to committee
iy Jana Pedersen
Senior Reporter
After passing a resolution sup
porting the Reunion’s right to
sell beer, the Association of
Students of the University of Ne
braska reconsidered the motion and
/oied unanimously Wednesday to
etum the resolution to the Campus
Life Committee.
Arts & Sciences Sen. Tom Mas
sev. who initialed the motion to re
consider, said ASUN needs a clearer
resolution that all senators can sup
x>rt.
Because the Lincoln City Council
probably won’t consider the Reunion
liquor licence for about a month,
Massey said, ASUN should take time
to produce a carefully worded resolu
tion.
Before voting to send the resolu
tion to committee, senators removed
a portion stating that the University
Df Nebraska-Lincoln allows alcohol
to be served in Nebraska Union and
the wick Alumni Center.
Teachers College Sen. Pat Wyatt
said he moved to strike that portion
because it wasn’t relevant to the in
tent of the resolution.
But College of Business Admini
stration Sen. Bart Vitek, sponsor of
the resolution, said the sale of alcohol
on UNL property is relevant.
“We’re allowing the university to
get by with a double standard,’’ Vitek
said. “They’re able to serve alcohol
uii campus, oui uiey oppose selling 11
off university property.”
Vitek said that after learning of
plans to sell beer in the Reunion, he
spoke to several students who sup
ported the idea.
David Hunter, president of the
Hardy Building Corp. that owns the
Reunion, told ASUN that although
the Reunion building is only about 80
feet from Nebraska Hall, he thinks he
can get a liquor license because the
food-court area where the beer would
See ASUN on 6
