BERKELEY STUDENTS OFFER DRUG OFFENDERS SCHOLARSHIP

Question 31 on the Fafsa Inspired a UC Berkeley Student Senator to
Create a Program That Gives Aid to Those Denied Federal Aid Because
of Drug Convictions

The biggest problem with question 31 on the FAFSA form, which asks
whether a student has been convicted of possessing or selling illegal
drugs, is not that it will strip students of their financial aid, but
rather that it will scare people off from applying to school in the
first place - at least according to Director of Student Financial Aid
Elizabeth Bickford.

In her experience, the extreme minority of students who initially
answered yes to the question soon realized that their convictions
didn't affect their aid. Those who do answer yes - that they were
convicted of selling or possessing drugs when they were older than
18, while they were receiving federal financial aid and have not
completed a drug treatment program - can easily get their aid
reinstated, Bickford said.

But the political opposition to question 31 is gaining momentum.

On Jan. 24 at the University of California, Berkeley, the student
government passed a bill creating a small scholarship for students
who have lost their aid because of drug convictions. The scholarship
- - a one-time payment of $400 to an affected student - is the
brainchild of Associated Students of the University of California
Senator David Israel Wasserman. In an interview, Wasserman said he
campaigned for office on the platform of creating this scholarship.

"It's an unjust penalty to deprive someone of the means to an
education," he said. "We're putting our money where our mouth is."

In terms of a college education, especially in Berkeley, $400 is not
a great deal of money, but it's enough to pay for a semester's books,
Wasserman said.

Also, a similar scholarship at Western Washington University existed
for four years and no one applied for it, the school's student
government Board Programs Assistant Erin O'Reilly said.

He also said he had not encountered any students requesting the
scholarship, and that UC Berkeley's financial aid office told him
that no students currently on campus had lost their aid. But the
scholarship is not just a scholarship.

"It's a very important statement," Wasserman said.

The Aid Elimination Provision of the Higher Education Act that
created question 31 is the target for the political aims of the scholarship.

"We plan to use this as a larger lobbying tool."

"It's important that we take a stand," Wasserman said." It's
important that we use our voice so they can hear us in Washington."

The Aid Elimination Provision has been the object of several lawsuits
on behalf of the lobbyist group Students for a Sensible Drug Policy
(SSDP), with which Wasserman worked closely to draft the bill, both
he and a spokesman for the group said. SSDP is currently heading a
campaign to repeal the law - a campaign supported by more than 70
groups including the United States Student Association (USSA) the
National Education Association (NEA), The National Lawyers Guild, The
Washington State Bar Association and The National Black Police Association.

But does the University need such a scholarship?

Bickford, the University's director of financial aid, said no.

"In my experience," Bickford said, "I don't know if a scholarship
would be helpful or necessary."

ASUO President Jared Axelrod said he's against the Aid Elimination
Provision and supports Wasserman's scholarship.

"I think it's great," Axelrod said.

Cal's student senators "really put their neck out there and took a
stand," Axelrod said. "It (took) a lot of courage."