Maroon

              The MAROON Vol. 65, No. 6 Loyola University, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118 October 3,1986 Legislation could alter financial aid By Jennifer Broggi Assistant News Editor An expected revision of the Higher Education Act of 1965, which is the law governing aid to students and colleges, and the recently passed tax reform plan, which presents an overhaul of the tax code, will have widespread effects on students' ability to finance their education, according to several reports. In early September, a House-Senate conference committee agreed to revise the Higher Education Act. The legislation, which passed the full House, received Senate approval last Thursday and now awaits President Reagan's signature. The bill would make changes in several financial aid programs, including Guaranteed Student Loans and College Work Study programs. The requirements for independent status will also change under the new law. "This legislation is going to change so many things at the same time that the process [of applying for aid] is going to be confusing for everyone," Dr. E.P. Seybold Jr., director of the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid, said. "It's going to be confusing for students and parents because they may be answering questions that were never asked before, and it's going to be confusing for financial aid people because the answer to those questions may have different meanings." The bill would require all student recipients to prove family financial need in order to receive aid, which is now only required for students whose family income exceeds $30,000 a year. Specifically, the following programs will be affected: •Supplemental Grants — The bill will require that funding only be used for undergraduate students, and that funds be awarded first to students with exceptional need and to those who receive Pell Grants. Exceptional need is defined as the lowest expected family contributions at the institution. The maximum grant is increased to $4,000 from $2,000; the minimum grant is decreased to $100 from $200. •Guaranteed Student Loans — Under the current Guaranteed Student Loan Program, students are allowed to borrow up to $25,000 for their entire education. The undergraduate limit is $2,500 a year; graduate students are limited to $5,000 a year. Under the compromise, students can borrow up to $2,625 during their freshman and sophomore years and $4,000 annually for three additional years. Graduate students can borrow up to $7,500 annually for five years. Students can borrow up to $54,750 for their entire post secondary education. The legislation, however, raises the interest rate on Guaranteed Student Loans to 10 percent from 8 percent in the fifth year of a 10-year plan of repayment. •College Work Study — The bill specifies that students should be provided with opportunities consistent with their educational and/or vocational goals. It permits students to continue employment in non-CWS jobs for the Net work Mickey Bawa, computer science senior, and Mickey Roman, business/marketing freshman, square off in an intramural volley bail game between the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and Biever Hall 'sfour south floor. liwln hy Mary Itrgnan Renwick: Voters haven't felt cuts By Mkbdle Slocum Managing Editor In an economically depressed area where oil companies once paid for half of state government's revenues and people don't trust government to use tax money effectively, most taxes don't pass in a general election. New Orleans fits this description, and in New Orleans two major tax proposals were rejected Saturday. But New Orleans voters will not change their opinion that taxes are unnecessary until the city shows the importance of those taxes by cutting significant services, Dr. Ed Renwick, associate professor of political science and director of Loyola's Institute of Pontics, said Tuesday. Voters turned down the propositions because they did not believe there was a real need for them, Renwick said. Proposition 1, which called for property owners to pay a $195 property service charge, and Proposition 2, a request by the Orleans Parish School Board for a 40-mill property tax increase, were both rejected. "People aren't going to vote for new taxes unless they believe there is a real need for them," Renwick said. "And looking at both the city and the school board, they have not yet made their case." Threats to cut services, such as the Orleans Parish School Board's recent plans to drop its football program, were never carried out. "Almost at the last minute the money somehow appears and disaster does not occur," he said. "If they had actually abolished football, I think they would have done much better." Renwick said that if the city had actually cut significant programs and then gone for a more moderate increase in taxes, the voters would have approved the measures. Another reason voters opposed the two propositions is the large increase in taxes residents would have had to pay, Renwick said. The 40-mill tax, for example, would have meant a 35 Court gives option back to congress By Raul X. Rosaks, S.J. Staff writer The Student Government Association escaped a  situation Tuesday, following a directive from the Student Government Court of Review, by voting to validate congressional actions this semester that the court had previously found invalid. The court handed down an opinion Sept. 25 concerning the complaint filed by Wade P. Richard, law junior. The complaint dealt with the SGA's alleged failure to advertise the Sept. 22-23 elections for representatives and the ratification of a constitutional amendment, the validity of SGA Vice President Connie Kringas' actions concerning the induction of unopposed candidates for congress-persons-at large, and the validity of the law school elections. Richard's main concern with Kringas' Sept. 9 induction of Business President Leonard Lewis and congresspersons at large Ray Bright and Mary Casente was "the appearance of impropriety." "Nowhere does it say that 1 can't swear in people," Kringas said, emphasizing that she had sworn in the three candidates so that they could help in the fall budget process with the Ways and Means Committee. After Casente and Bright became members of congress, they participated in a meeting where $28,(XX) was distributed to more than 40 student organizations. "What is the average student going to think?" Richard said. He questioned the fairness of installing three unopposed candidates prior to the election without installing the unopposed candidates in the law school, including himself. See Reform/page 6 See Elections/page 4 See Court/page 7 -i—• C.i I :rVMv:;D;.- »«: ■. .-.. " ' -J mmm?