Patrick Mccarthy
covers the top 50
songs every iPod
needs this sum
mer, page 9
the
The search con
tinues for a new
UNCW basketball
coach, page 11
Thursday I April 20, 2006
Serving UNC Wilmington since 1948
Volume LVIII Number 23
Drug convictions could
cost students their
financial aid assistance
Chris Carltofi I THE SEAHAWK
Students that are convicted of drug possession or drug solicitation
charges can be stripped of their fmancial aid according to federal
law. One UNCW student has been affected by the law since it was
implemented in 2000.
Amanda Hutcheson
Assistant News Editor
A current law prohibits students
with drug convictions from receiv
ing financial aid.
Section 438 of the Higher
Education Act takes away federal
financial aid from students after a
drug conviction. Students convicted
of a possession charge lose their
financial aid for one year for the
first conviction, two years for the
second conviction and indefinitely
for the third conviction. Students
convicted of the sale of illegal drugs
lose their financial aid for two years
for the first conviction and indefi
nitely for the second conviction. If
students wish to receive financial
aid again, they must pass a drug
rehabilitation course.
The federal law only applies
to federal financial aid. Each state
can pass its ovm laws regarding
state-funded financial aid. North
Carolina does not have a policy
set by law but leaves it up to indi
vidual schools and courts. Federal
financial aid applies to Pell Grants,
Perkins Loans, Stafford Loans,
Federal Education Opportunity
see FINANCIAL AID page 2
Summer Internships; No pay doesn’t mean no experience
Amy Tarrillion
Correspondent
It may be less than a month until
the end of the semester, but it’s not
too late to find the often dreaded,
but nonetheless virtually obliga
tory fijlfillment of every college
student before they graduate: the
summer internship. Giving up a
good chunk of your summer vaca
tion to work without pay isn’t exact
ly an appealing notion, but it has
become a necessary evil for some
students. However, with some
perseverance and a little UNCW
Experience savvy, students may
turn a dreaded summer duty into
an enriching experience by finding
their perfect practice run in the real
world, rather than just another to-
do before graduation.
Internships have become the
standard component of any col
lege graduate’s repertoire, and it’s a
given that one summer out of three,
a student’s time will be spent work
ing for someone for work’s sake
and experience alone. Paid intern
ships do exist but are few and far
between, especially for UNCW’s
most common majors, business and
biology. Students must prepare
themselves to devote a large por
tion of their time and effort without
monetary compensation.
According to Thomas Rakes,
Career Services director, it is all in
how much students use the resourc
es they already have access to.
“Internship opportunities come
to us wanting to hire students, and
we seek them out as well through
a national internship resource we
subscribe to. Everything we find
out about, we put on the UNCW
Experience site.”
The UNCW Experience Web
site is a vital source not only finding
internships, but making the most of
those internships once students find
the one that best suits them.
“We also provide students with
an internship workbook that assists
them with the steps in securing a
valuable internship,” said Rakes.
Along with this workbook is
the Internship Learning Contract, a
vital tool in suiting both the student’s
and the employer’s needs.
“The internship learning con
tract is a contract between student,
teacher and employer that lays out
the duties of the student in their
internship and helps them to avoid
internships where they run the copy
machine all summer long,” said
Rakes.
Students can also consider jobs
they already have as an internship
resource, especially if the job ties
into the student’s major. With the
help of the internship learning con
tract, Amy Thomas, a junior art
major, found that all it took to get
her internship was a resource she
already had: her current job.
“I work for an artist at Carolina
Beach and talked to him about
working with him as an intern this
summer, since my work ties in with
my major. I filled out the internship
learning contract, and now I can
work an internship at a place I am
already familiar with and receive
credit for school.”
Using the internship resources
Courtesy ot ufKw.edu
Thomas Rakes (above) is the Ca
reer Services director at UNCW.
Rakes recommends that students
use UNCW Experience online.
that UNCW offers to students may
make for a less painful experience
and possibly for an enjoyable one.
Legally-sold
halucinogenic
herb drawing
attention from
the media, DEA
Layton Lomax
Correspondent
Illegal drugs get lots of attention,
but a legally-sold herb that can have
LSD-like effects when smoked or
chewed is becoming popular for
young people.
Considered a “drug of con
cern” by the Drug Enforcement
Administration, salvia divinorum
is a plant native to Mexico that
can have effects ranging from mild
numbness in limbs to hallucinogenic
and dreamlike experiences.
The psychoactive drug is an
underground substance used si
the 1960s, but it has only caught the
attention of the media, young buyers
and the DEA since the early ‘90s,
coinciding with the Internet boom.
Liquid extracts of slavinorin A,
the active ingredient found in sal
via which can be taken orally, are
sold in two Wilmington shops. One
seller said it is popular among area
customers. Although it is found in
stores, the Internet has virtually cor
nered the salvia market.
A description of salvia on the
DEA’s Web site said the Internet has
played an important role in the pro
motion and distribution of the drug
to young adults.
Salvia leaves can be smoked or
chewed, and a liquid extract from
the plant can be taken orally as
well. Users say the drug can open
new realms of time and space and
bring about visionary trances. Most
users do not consider it a “party
drug.” They say the effects are more
insightful and do not bring about
euphoric feelings like other drugs.
Some users have also had negative
experiences of terror and fear.
Daniel Siebert runs a Web site
see SALVIA page 2