'FEDERAL AID LAW IS UNFAIR TO POOR'

A Law That Denies Financial Aid To Drug Offenders Punishes Those Who Are
Trying To Improve Themselves, URI President Robert L. Carothers Says.

SOUTH KINGSTOWN -- Young people who grow up poor, get involved in drugs and
get caught shouldn't have to pay the price twice when they try to change
their lives and go to college, University of Rhode Island President Robert
L. Carothers said yesterday.

Carothers yesterday asked the state's congressional delegation to repeal a
law that prevents drug offenders from receiving federal loans and grants to
attend college.

"Access to higher education has always been the way out of poverty for
millions of children of immigrants and minority parents," Carothers said.
They "should not be excluded from higher education, the vehicle by which
they can rise above their surroundings."

Since the drug provision was added to the Higher Education Act in 1998, an
estimated 92,841 students have been denied financial aid, according to the
U.S. Department of Education. Opponents say it's impossible to tell how
many more students didn't apply to college, knowing they'd be turned down
for school aid.

But the disproportionate impact of the provision on low-income students who
depend on the loans and minority students -- who are convicted at a much
higher rate than white drug offenders -- prompted him to oppose it,
Carothers said.

About 80 percent of students at URI receive financial aid, the vast
majority of it federal.

Calling drugs and alcohol the "curses of the poor," Carothers said he
opposed penalizing people who are trying to better themselves through
education.

As URI president, Carothers has secured $2.1 million in substance-abuse
grants and has served on national boards for the prevention of drug and
alcohol abuse on college campuses.

"I don't take the issue lightly," he said at a small news conference
organized by student leaders on the Kingston campus, in recognition of the
National Day of Action to repeal the ban.

Students leaders said they also support House Bill 685, which seeks to
repeal the drug provision. The bill is sponsored by U.S. Rep. Barney Frank,
a Massachusetts Democrat.

"If you're rich, and your parents can afford a good lawyer, or you don't
need financial aid, this ban doesn't affect you," said Tom Angell, a member
of Students for Sensible Drug Policy and the Coalition for Higher Education
Act Reform.

URI Student Senate and Brown University's Undergraduate Council of Students
recently voted to support the repeal, as have 98 other college groups and
several national organizations.

So far, Rhode Island congressmen have been hesitant to embrace the repeal.
Yesterday, spokesmen for U.S. Representatives Patrick Kennedy and James R.
Langevin were noncommittal, saying the congressmen were aware of the local
support for the bill and would review the language carefully.

A spokesman for Frank said it is unlikely the bill, currently in a
committee, will pass this session.

"It's an uphill battle," said Peter Kovar. "The current leadership of the
House does not support the change."