SOUTH DAKOTA STUDENT LOBBIES ON LOAN RESTRICTIONS

WASHINGTON (AP) -- South Dakota student Kraig Selken has turned to
Congress in his effort to soften laws that punish student drug
offenders, but he won't get much help from his state's congressional
delegation.

Selken, a student at Northern State University in Aberdeen, S.D.,
traveled to Washington last week to lobby Republican Sen. John Thune,
Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson and Democratic Rep. Stephanie Herseth. He
and other students say a law banning some convicted drug offenders
from obtaining student loans is wrong and should be repealed.

"I wanted to let them know this provision doesn't just affect people
in other states," said Selken, who was convicted of misdemeanor
marijuana possession in October 2005.

Selken, who lost his loan eligibility for one year as a first-time
offender, was one of three plaintiffs in a lawsuit that was dismissed
earlier this month by U.S. District Judge Charles Kornmann in South
Dakota.

In its class-action lawsuit, the American Civil Liberties Union said
the law is unconstitutional because it punishes people twice for the
same crime and creates a class of people deemed unworthy of receiving
federal financial aid for college without a good reason.

About 200,000 people nationwide have been denied financial aid since
the provision went into effect, said Tom Angell, campaigns director
for Students for Sensible Drug Policy Foundation, which joined the
ACLU in the lawsuit.

In dismissing the lawsuit, Kornmann wrote that such assistance is not
an entitlement.

"Persons convicted of drug trafficking or possession offenses are not
a suspect class. ... The Constitution affords no right to a higher
education," he said. "Likewise, there is no fundamental right to the
receipt of federal student financial aid."

All three members of the South Dakota congressional delegation appear
to agree. Spokesmen for Thune, Johnson, and Herseth said the members
believe the law should stay in place.

Jessica Ferguson, spokeswoman for Thune, said the senator believes the
law "is reasonable to deter drug use and ensure federal funds are used
responsibly."

Selken and the Students for Sensible Drug Policy Foundation have been
hoping that Congress will overturn the law since the courts dismissed
the issue.

"This is the last remaining branch able to do something," Selken
said.

They may not need the South Dakotans' support, however. Massachusetts
Rep. Barney Frank, the Democrat who will head the House Financial
Services Committee in January, has introduced the legislation that
will approve the law. It has 70 cosponsors.

"The law discriminates against those who most often apply for college
financial aid -- minority and low-income students," Frank said when he
introduced the bill in 2005. "Students who have drug convictions but
come from families that don't need financial aid aren't affected by
this law."