DRUG PENALTY IN TROUBLE

If the hard work of student government associations and other campus
groups across the country pays off, potential college students with
prior drug convictions on their criminal records may finally be able
to receive federally funded financial aid.

Since 2000, college students with drug convictions have been unable
to receive federal aid to attend college as a result of the passing
of the Higher Education Act's Aid Elimination Penalty.

However, a student-led movement is slowly progressing in colleges and
universities across America to have this Penalty overturned. A
network of students called Students for Sensible Drug Policy
spearheads this crusade. The SSDP seeks to empower young people to
take action against this discrimination.

Recently, the SGA at the University of California at Berkeley created
a school-funded scholarship for students barred from receiving
federal financial aid due to drug convictions.

Daniel Israel Wasserman, a UC Berkeley SGA senator, is responsible
for the bill.

"We at Berkeley are happy to help lead a national movement to
eliminate this harmful and unfair penalty, and we hope that students
from other schools will continue to get involved," said Wasserman.

In 2006, SSDP succeeded in getting the U.S. Congress to reduce the
Penalty so only students convicted while in school could be deemed
ineligible for aid.

While a reduction of drug use among college age students was the
original intent of the Penalty's authors, some feel the Penalty has
failed in that respect.

"It [HEA Elimination Penalty] actually causes more drug problems by
blocking access to education," said Kris Krane, executive director of
Students for Sensible Drug Policy in Washington, D.C.

UC Berkley does not stand alone in their criticism. Over 125 SGAs
across the country have passed resolutions to have Congress overturn
the Penalty. Congress is set to revisit the issue sometimes during this year.

Ke'Arndra Hart, a senior political science major from Jackson, feels
the Penalty forces students with drug convictions to have lower standards.

"People attend college to help make a better life for themselves.
Denying financial aid to people convicted of drug charges is
ridiculous," said Hart. "It's becoming so hard to pay for school that
in the future less people will go to college or graduate."

The bill introduced by UC Berkeley senators shows student
governments' working at their best, which raises the question: What
is our SGA doing to ensure that this penalty does not bar any
prospective students from pursuing a Golden Eagle Education?

Newly elected SGA Vice President Ronnie Herbert had quite a bit to
say about this issue.

"I read an article about that penalty," Hebert said. "It's ridiculous
to deny financial aid to students based on [drug convictions]. I'll
be doing research this summer to find out more about introducing a
similar bill next year."

Southern Miss students can take action now by submitting a prewritten
letter to the state legislators online at www.SchoolsNotPrisons.com.