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.”
