rmaBwiai and Opinion Page 1 The Way I See It 1 * b> Dr. Dean Chavers, President _ 7 he Rich Gel Richer (c) ( opyrifjlit. / W Washington Stale Senator Kelt Jacobsen lias round some ama/mg tilings ui Ins tenure as Chairman ol the Higher Education Committee The most ama/mg thing is the myth that low tuition rates at eolleges giv e equal access to the pool That my th has been disproved by several pieces of research done for the Committee 1 lie entering freshmen at the University of W ashington have average lanul. incomes of $7t).0(ltl and their tuition is$2.x()(i a year Inconirast. Seattle University a private insliliition. has freshmen with average Iannis incomes of $45,000. and tuition of $ 12.000 So the State of W ashington is subsidizing the children of the rich much more than it is subsidizing the children of the poor Another piece of research shows that the rich pay a much lower rate of taxes than do the poor The very poor (under $12.50(1 annual income) pav X.6%of their iiiconii in taxes, while the middle cla^<; and the rich (over $67,500 annua! income) pav only 4.0% in taxes Very interesting What their research does not show, but what is well known is that the children of the rich attend college at a much higher rate than the children ofthepoor the latest national figures from the Department of Education (ED) Show that 02% of all graduating high school seniors go on to college But for Native Americans the figure is onlv 17% For thevcrv rich, the actual figure is close to 90% Despite the fact that the poor pav much more in taxes (and more dollars. too. since there arc so mam of us), the poor do not get access to the best colleges. In the stale of Washington the differences arc nothing less than astounding. The numbers show thni very few children of the poor actually arc .admitted to the U diversity of Washington, the " flagship" institution of the Stale Ironically. the children of the poor arc mvtch ntorc likely to be admitted to the privapfiSeattle University, which apparently cares niorc about (hem than docs the huge UW. Sen. Jacobsen. a Democrat who represents the 46th Legislative District in Seattle, hits been following the trends in college enrolment, the impacts of luilion on enrollment, the progression of minorities through the stale system, and a number of other such issues for years He is an adv ocate of equal access to higher education for all groups, something w Inch has not y el occurred any vv here in the U S He noted in it recent speech I heard him make in Seattle that the poor should not fear increases in the tuition rates What increases do. he pointed out is make the rich pay more of their fair share The poor, in contrast, will not pay more when tuition is increased Their "extra" payment will come from federal and state financial aid programs Thiskind of thinking is backward to many people, but it makes a lot of sense lor someone who cores about c(|ini\ and fairness incollege admissions Sen iaeobsen has introduecd a bill he calls the "Higher Education Declaration oflndcpcndcncc" to help to rcmcd) the situation. Hisbill would allow the colleges, for the first time in history, to raise tuition as they saw fit?up to a point The bill would give the colleges some flexibility in setting tuition rales l)p to now. the state legislature has reserv ed to itself the right to set tuition rates Thus the bill would call for the legislators to give up some of their power and authority In the budget crunches of the 198(1 s. public support ofhighcreducation i n the State dwindled In 19X0. the higher education budget wasonly 14% of the stale budget Thus the colleges lost a third of their support Two things could happen with the extra income generated by tuition increases One. they could be used to improve the quality of programs Two they could be used to increase enrollments, with minorities possiblv being some of the beneficiaries of increased* enrollments The poor could also possibly benefit from inc reuses I lie tuition at the colleges now in the Stale only pay for a fifth to a quarter of the total costs At the Evergreen Stale College (TESSC) average family income is $76,000 and tuition covers 2 l%oftotal costs At Eastern Washington Pnivcrsity (EWli) average family income is $52,000 and tuition pays for 26% of total costs So even within the slate system. the poor pay more and the rich pav less In Washington. Sen Jaeobscn litis found that minorities overwhelmingly gel into community colleges. :ind the rich overwhelming get into the stale university system This is of course true in moaoflhcU.S. Miguel Olivas found 15 years ago that twothirds of Native Americans who went to college went to communitv and junior colleges. At the same time, the percentage of Native Americans at the Ivy League colleges was minus culc. There arc li mils on Sen. Jacob sens bill Colleges could only raise tuition rales a maximum of 10% a year. Students would have to be involved in any decision to raise tuition rates IF tuition were tobc raised. 5%of the additional tuition dollars raised would have to go into a fund for financial aid for students is need Stale universities could contract with private universities to provide services if their services would be more cost effective I fav orany action whichWill open access to Naiiv c Americans, minorities in general, and the poor (bless our hearts?'we'll alvvav sbc with you) But Sen Jaeobscn has picked up opposition to his bill Students who generally oppose any type of tuition increase arc against it Hie employee unions, fearing losses of jobs to private inst il ui ions, have expressed opposition to it But the public in general has not been heard Only lime will I el I what llie> ihtirk We can predict dial die rich parent^ will oppose die bill though Since Iamonooflhosewhoworked his was through college, before lltcre was a financial aid program I have no problems with students pa\ing a decent amount of tuition Back in 19(>() when 1 started at the University of Richmond tuition was SI 575 a year Today at the Univcrsil> ofNew Mexico wtill, inflation having doubled six times, students arc paying less than $2.(KM)aycarin tuition If equity were prevailing, these students would now be paying close to SX.ooo a year 1 can already hear the yells and screams front students opposed to tuition increases. But some time or another we have to face reality Budget cuts arc going to continue Tuition isgoing to be increased I just hope il is done in a way dial will let more equity in enrollment rales for Native Americans come about We still hav e a very long way to go to catch up "By George! It works!" user crows. Little-known 'vitamin' makes love grand McKinney, TX-Uttle did Dr. Philip Handler know, back in 1941. that his newly discovered nutrient 'Vitamin 15" would one day have men and women all fyer the country smiling quietly to themselves. ' Today, N,NDimethylglycine (DMG) is no longer classified as a vitamin. But it has changed the lives of thousands of men and their mates. A naturally occurring nutrient sold under the brand name NutriSurge (but more often called simply "the Love Pill"), DMG works by increasing energy, improving metabolism, enhancing oxygen utilization and increasing the flow of blood to key areas of the anatomy. NutriSurge has a cumulative effect: the more you take it, the better it works. Most users lake two', but up to six tablets may be taken daily. Satisfaction is guaranteed. See for yourself why thousands swear by NutriSurge. Send $29.95 plus $4.95 postage & handling (or a 60-tablet supply to TDM Research, Dept.NSC31, 123 South St, Oyster Bay NY 11771. Or call toll free 1-800645-9199 and ask for Operator C31. Use the whole supply; then, if you are not completely satisfied, return the box (or a full refund. Along the Robeson Trail by Dr. Stanley Knick Director, UNCP Satire American Resource Center . >, ) In die past two weeks, we have been discussing the i.uinbcc in context. We slopped hist tinic witli the question: "What is evidence, really?" The word "evidence" comes into the English language from die I-atin word widens, meaning "clear." lliis definition stems from die Latin prefix e-, meaning "from," and the verb viilere, meaning "to sec." Thus evidence is a diing/rom which we see something else more clearly, a thing which indicates something else. In legal terms, evidence is something which "bears on or establishes die point in question." Study of die history and culture of a people depends on evidence. Without evidence, there is only speculation. Evidence can take many forms, from a simple record of what Someone said or did, to a more complex compilation of observations from widely differing sources. A newspaper article can be taken as evidence, as can die oral testimony of an informant in the community. A statement based on die synthesis of diverse but concordant informadon can also be used as evidence. But how do wc know which evidence is reliable and which is suspect? Often the reliability of evidence can be judged by how well one piece of evidence fits widi all the other bits of evidence on dial subject. If somcdiing fits die known pattern, it is frequently accepted as reliable. But there is a caution. What happens if several bits of otherwise unreliable evidence, things that are actually untrue, arc introduced into the study in such a way that they tend to support each other? As a group, and because dicy support each other, they might dicn be taken to be reliable. What was actually untrue might be taken as being die truth. In this same manner, most of the existing evidence at one lime'in history proved to the saUsfac'ion of a great many people that the world was Hal! Thai was the coiivcnlional wisuut i of die day. When new bits of evidence began to arise which suggested that the world might really be round, they were fir a long time rejected because they did not lit with die existing "evidence." These new bits of information were not accepted as evidence until much later, when Ihe weight of evidence became so overwhelming that even the most conservative Flalworldcr was compelled to concede llial the world was really round. Serious scholars must always keep an open mind. They must always be willing to consider new evidence, even if it docs not agree with the conventional wisdom of the day. However, this is not the way most humans operate ordinarily. Instead we tend to get certain things in our minds, learned from our parents or teachers or our own experiences, and thereafter to hold fast to those ideas as diough they were die one true reality. This hits been an adaptable way to live within human cultures. We arc conditioned to believe certain things depending on the local culture in which we were raised, and we declare those "truths" to be self-evident. Not everyone in a culture agrees on what die truth of a particular bit of evidence really is. Court cases such as those of Rodney King and O. J. Simpson have clearly demonstrated this in American culture. This is partially due to the fact that all evidence exists within, and comes from, a continuous flow of historical and cultural things ? and diis flow influences how individuals sec the evidence. Not all evidence is found. Not all evidence is considered to have the same weight. Not all evidence takes die same form. Not all people were brought up widi die same beliefs, values and experiences relating to die cvidg^. jt |jte ? -This constant flow ofthings which influences how we sec evidence leaves us widi a matrix of difficult questions: What form would die evidence txdcc fo. certain things? Would the evidence be in a form that we might reasonably hope to find it, ;uid if we did find it, would our various backgrounds allow us to recognize it for what it is? Would everyone read die same meanings in lite evidence? Faced with such questions we are forced to accept two apparently inescapable realities. 'First, evidence is often transitional, liven evidence which seems incontrovertible should probably be considered capable of being refuted ? if not now, maybe later when more evidence becomes available. Second, interpretations are often provisional. Given the inutsitioiud nature of evidence, .every interpretation bused on (hut evidence should probably be considered as preliminary, lite search for absolutes .. in the interpretation of evidence can be frustrating. We inay move from evidence to interpretation, but we must do so with lite humble understanding lliat even the most widely accepted scientific law, the Law of Gravity, has been found to apply only in certain defined circumstances. Study of the history and culture of a people, especially one as complex as that of the Lumbcc, requires that we try to look at and interpret as much of the evidence as we possibly can. It also requires that we learn to reconcile, or at least make some sense of, bits of evidence whicbinay seem to contradict each oilier. When we lind something which docs not seem to lit , with tiic other evidence, we must resist the temptation to toss the first thing completely out of the equation. We must search for ways to connect all the existing evidence into discernible and meaningful patterns. In ilic next segment, we will continue discussion of die Luinbce in context. Fof morc informaljon, visit the Native Amcribtui Resource CCilM in historic Old Main Building, on the campus of The University of North Carolina at Pembroke. Carolina Indian Voice is published every Thursday by First American Publications 304 Normal St.y College Plaza Post Office Box 1075 Pembroke, North Carolina 28372 Phone (919) 521-2826 Fax (919) 52 N1975 Connee Brayboy, Editor - _ Subscriptions One year in NC, $20.00 Out of state, $25.00 Second Class Postage Paid at Pembroke. NC h CHOOSE TRADITION \ HOT ADDICTION 7m\ KnowIheconsoquencwd Ifljl dcohol and drug abut* y A tmrndm Nam OWTt and *+ VJ H*br&f*+tomDnjgAJbui0 Catch the Spirit of the West! Adopt a Wild Horse or Burro from the Federal Government. 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