Congressional Budget
Cuts Threaten
Financial Aid
As a part of the 1996
budget plan, congressional
Democrats and Republicans
have tentatively agreed to
phase out $100 billion of
"excess” spending over the
next seven years; 40 percent
of which is to come at the
expense of education. The
main programs to be heavily
axed by the Republican bud
get plans are the federal
government’s direct lending
loan program and Pell
Grants.
Direct loans are those
administered directly by the
federal government to stu
dents, thus eliminating all
middlemen. They
remain at a fixed
low interest rate
and are paid
back upon grad
uation from
college as a
monthly per
centage of
income. Indirect
loans, on the other
hand, are those lent by
banks or private entities
and subsidized by the federal
government. These loans are
given by agencies such as
UNC’s main lender. College
Foundation Inc.
Congress wants to
reduce direct loans to
include only the 10 percent
of the colleges and universi
ties that were included when
President Clinton estab
lished it in 1993. Many ana
lysts, such as Barmak
Nassirian, director of policy
analysis for the American
Association of State Colleges
and Universities, claim the
G.O.P. is simply trying to
protect the special interests
of banks, who stand to gain
more than $8 billion if the
government drastically
reduces its direct loan* pro
gram. Republicans claim the
decentralization plan is only
for the benefit of reducing
bureaucracy.
Yet, as Denver politi
cian Rep. Strickland said,
"Plans to cut $40 billion
are just wrong. It is equiva
lent to unilaterally disarm
ing during the Cold War or
walking away from the
space race." The govern
ment stands to lose very lit
tle money by keeping the
program.
Pell Grants, another
hot topic in Congress, are
on the chopping block as
well. As much as 40 percent
of grant money could be cut
from the block grants that
help needy college students
and their families pay for an
education.
Those hit hardest by
the proposed cuts will, no
doubt, be those whose
checkbooks and pockets
realize costs for the 1995-
1996 school year have risen
6.5 percent. The average
tuition at a public university
is $2,280 while a private col
lege’s tuition tips the scales
at just over $10,000. Average
tuition costs have jumped at
four times the rate of infla
tion, a 38 percent raise since
1989. The cost of a college
education has doubled in
price since 1980. It is no
wonder that 50 percent of
college students receive
financial aid; 75 percent of
which comes from the feder
al government.
President Clinton, in
his State of the Union
.'\ddress, offered hope for
those who feel financially
continued on page 14
Jordan,
Former Texas
Representive,
Dies
by Ursula Nakonoko
Staff Writer
The first black woman elected to Congress
and an advocate for the racial unity and a distin
guished political figure, Baitara Jordan, died
January 17 at the age of 59.
Loosing a battle with viral pneumonia
brought on by health complications with
leukemia, Jordan died iri her home state of Texas.
Jordan also suffered fnwn multiple sclerosis dur*
ing the last decade of her life.
Daughter of a Baptist minister, Jordan was
born February 21,1936 in Houston, Texas, Her
father taught her that if she played by the rules,
did the right thing, and had enough good, solid
judgment and common sense, that she would be
able to do whatever she wanted with her life.
And that’s what she did. Graduating from
Texas Southern University in 1956, Jordah went on
to Boston University and earned a law degree from
there in 1959. Jordan’s oratorical skills helped
advance her political career. In addition to becom
ing the first biacJc woman to be elected to the U.S.
Congress, Jordan was also the first black woman to
be elected to the Texas Senate.
She was also appointed by President Carter
to serve on his Advisory Board on Mibassadorial
Appointments and, after retiring from politics in
1992, she was chosen by President Clinton in
1993 as chairperson of the U.S. Commission on
Immigration Reform.
Prior to her death, Jordan was a professor
at the Lyndon Baines Johnson School of Public
Affairs at the University of Texas in Austin. She
advocated that education expanded and enhanced
one’s opportunities.
Jordan, who also suffered for years from multi
ple sclerosis, died at the Austin Diagnostic Medical
Center. Jordan was buried January 20 in the Texas
National Cemetery alongside other famous Texans, a
tribute to her accHnplishments.