Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (July 21, 1994)
JULY 21 1994 VOL. 93 NO. 161 UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA LINCOLN Inside: Correction:last week, the Daily Nebras kan stated that UNL received no funding from the National Institute of Health in 1992-93. UNLrecieved $3.7 million from NIH that year. See page 2. Museum Blue —Page 3 —Page 5 Lenders skeptical of new federal program By bean McCarthy Staff Reporter The federal direct-lending pro gram has already become a re ality on some campuses. The program, which has passed both hous es in Congress, places more responsi bility on the government to provide loans for students and eliminates lend ing from private sectors such as local banks. “We don’t sec any benefit for a student,” said Marcia White, vice pres ident for corporate communications for the Foundation of Educational Funding. “The cost to the student is actually the same." Under the current program, loans are supplied to the student by private lenders, such as banks. With the di rect-lending program, money is sup plied directly from the government and administered by the schools, While said. As of July 1, 5 percent of the stu dent loan volume involved direct-lend ing by the government. In the 1995-96 academic year, 40 percent of student loan volume would involve direct lend ing, a 600 percent increase from the year before, White said. Chancellor Graham Spanicr esti mates that UNL would start enacting the direct-lending program in the 1995-96 school year, but would limit the program to incoming freshmen. White said. Agencies such as Neb-Help would face major adjustments with the di rect-lending program, White said. All financial aid would be administered by the Office for Scholarships and Financial Aid, White said. “We haven’t seen any analysis to have adequate staffing for this change by UNL,” said White. When UNL decides to phase the program, students could have loans in two different locations — loans from private lenders and loans from the federal program. White said. Plans are in the works now to consolidate the outstanding loans into the direct lending program. White said. “One of the things that is a prospect is that the IRS would collect student loans, but that is not fully developed,” White said. An addition to the direct-lending program is the income-contingent re payment program. In this plan, stu dents would make a minimum pay ment for their student loans and pay an additional. 1 to .2 percent for every $1,000 they earn towards their loan payments according to an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education. The program would also put a 25 ycar cap on payments. If the student still hasn’t paid off the loan, the gov ernment would forgive the amount. See DIRECT on 2 ccz Jason Levkulich\DN Let the games begin! epresenting the 577 entrants in the aquatics events at the opening ceremony for the 1994 ebraska State Games, these eager individuals were part of the 19,631 total competitors, which is a new record. IMMMtWIIMM4 ggllii Amy Schmidt/DN Program to target family health By Angela Jones Staff Reporter The U ni versity of Nebraska- Lin coln and Family Services arc joining forces to improve health and nutrition services for students with children. A Women, Infants and Cful dren Supplemental Food Program outlet will be opening September 8 in the lower level of the University Health Center, WIC Nutritionist Marcia Wallen said. The WIC program provides nutri tious foods to mothers of infants and children younger than five years of age. It also targets pregnant women and women who are breastfeeding. “We feel we have not been able to reach students and stalT adequately,” Wallen said, “so we have decided to come to them.” With 24,000 students plus staff, there arc many young people who arc pregnant or have young children, Wallen said. These arc the people she wants the program to reach. “WIC is a public health program,” said Sue Mcdingcr, director of the nutrition division for the Slate De partmcnl of Health. “Good nutrition is vital during pregnancy and breastfeeding to ensure healthy in fants and for the growth and develop ment of children.” The WIC program has four basic goals, Wallen said. They arc to pro vide nutrition and health education, to encourage breastfeeding, to provide supplemental free foods and to pro mote regular health care through re ferrals. "There arc many people who could use nutritious foods to supplement their diet, but they don’t apply for them because they don’t think they qualify,” Medingcr said. Many students are both income eligible and nutrition- risk eligible, Wallen said. A family of three can make up to $23,000 a year, and a single parent can make up to $ 14,000 a year and still qualify for the WIC program, she said. We do about 7000 screenings a year and only turn away around 10 people, Wallen said. WIC provides checks to buy fruit j u i ces, cc real s, eggs, m i I k, c hcese, dry beans and infant formula. “We have a lot of students who have children, and the WIC program provides excellent services for the stu dents and for their children,” said Peg Blake, assistant vice chancellor for Student Affairs. “It provides them with the basic nutrition that every body needs.” According to Marcia Wallen, for the last 20 years, the program has improved the nutritional well-being of m ill ions of vulnerable children. But because WIC serves women and chil dren in the lower-income brackets, people sometimes think WIC is a wel fare program, but it’s not. WIC is available at more than 90 cl in s sites located throughout Ne braska. The program currently serves approximately 33,000 participants each month. Participants can shop for WIC-approved foods at over 400 au thorized stores across Nebraska. “The most important thing is to have healthy babies and it docs not matter who those babies belong to,” Wallen said. “It is a savings to us all in the long run.”
