SCHOLARSHIP CRITICS LEERY OF BEHAVIOR MANDATE

Gov. Bill Owens' plan to offer college scholarships to low-income
students who stay away from drugs, booze and tobacco is legally sound
but raises questions about Big Brother legislating teenage conduct,
according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado.

"I'm certainly not encouraging children to break the law, but by the
same token, I don't think the state should have a network of people
watching these students," said Cathryn Hazouri, executive director of
the ACLU of Colorado.

"There are a number of ways of offering scholarships that encourage
positive goals rather than a 'thou shall not' goal that involves
discipline and law enforcement," Hazouri said.

She also wonders if youngsters will be targeted by schools or law
officials.

"Are they going to be watching these particular students more
intently?" Hazouri asked. "Certainly if the kid gets busted, he gets
busted, and that's the luck of the draw. But these students would be
targets for greater scrutiny."

Under Owens' proposal, which requires approval by the state
legislature, students are eligible for scholarships if they apply in
the eighth or ninth grade, maintain a 2.5 grade-point average, take
college prep courses and stay out of trouble with drugs, alcohol and
tobacco.

That requirement has skeptics wondering where you draw the line of
conduct and morals in scholarship eligibility.

Should premarital sex, fathering an illegitimate child or getting a
speeding ticket also disqualify a student?

No, no and no, said Rick O'Donnell, Colorado higher education director
and the architect of the proposal.

"A lot of people think teen pregnancy is a bad thing, and we spend a
lot of money and time in this country trying to teach kids to be
responsible. But this scholarship program is not designed to solve
society's problems," O'Donnell said. "We want the students to take the
right courses and stay out of trouble so they are prepared for college."

The importance of college preparation and access for low-income
students is getting lost in the debate over smoking, drinking, and
drugs - activities that are illegal for kids, O'Donnell said.

"We don't just give money away - you have to earn a scholarship, and
if you break the law, you're not living up to your end of the
bargain," O'Donnell said. "Will kids sometimes be kids and experiment?
Sure. But I hope this causes them to think twice and say: 'It's worth
it to be responsible."'

High school educators are concerned about privacy issues - wondering
how much information they can reveal about their students to state
officials.

But O'Donnell said schools already are required by law to report
disciplinary sanctions, and since the Columbine High School massacre,
law agencies have been required to report to schools whether a student
has been arrested.

Senate President-elect Joan Fitz-Gerald, D-Golden, doubts it will get
a smooth ride.

"If a child transgresses in their freshman year, have we eliminated
their possibility of going to college?" Fitzgerald asked. "How early
in life do you have to make a stupid decision that may cost you a
college opportunity?"

The proposal is modeled after a 12-year-old scholarship program in
Oklahoma that boasts a 70 percent completion rate and has helped send
11,500 students to college.

"We had skepticism at first, but it all disappeared once people began
to see the academic success of the people enrolled," said Dolores
Mize, who heads the program, which disqualifies students for abusing
alcohol or drugs as well as skipping school and not doing homework -
all tracked by school counselors.

"It's not an attempt at legislating morality," Mize said. "It's an
attempt to be upfront and say these things are important to be
successful in school."

The Oklahoma program has been so successful that the legislature may
extend it to middle-income families, Mize said.

The Colorado program is initially designed to serve about 1,600
students annually with $1,500 maximum grants - the average amount of
need after all other financial aid is exhausted.