A CASE WHERE THE LEGAL CURE IS WORSE THAN THE DISEASE

There are a lot of bad things that can happen to teens these days. And
there are a lot of bad things teens can make happen in their communities
and in their own lives - DWI, for example, B&E or a drug conviction.

Yet, of all the dopey antics that can seize an aspiring youth athlete or
scholar-athlete - federal lawmakers have decided that a drug conviction can
and will stop them cold in their tracks. The law that actually went into
effect last year prohibits students who have a drug conviction from
receiving federal financial assistance for college. It is THE crime that
will make a student ineligible for aid. What's more, financial aid is
contingent upon the college applicant answering the question of whether or
not there has been a drug conviction. An answer space left blank is an
automatic admission of guilt and grounds for withholding assistance.

There are a number of obvious problems with this federal legislation, in
addition to the fact that this fall 28,230 students could be denied the
financial aid necessary to attend college. More than 11,000 additional
students will be deemed ineligible for leaving the application question
blank. What those students don't know is that they're actually better off
putting down an answer - for those who lie stand little chance of being
caught by a system ill-prepared to collect and track such data. Not
surprisingly, college financial aid officers and civil rights organizations
are vehemently opposed to this law.

However, Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., author of the legislation, is also
alarmed at the turn this law has taken. He says he meant the law to
withhold financial assistance from students who violate drug laws while on
assistance rolls, not ban those who have 2-year-old convictions on their
record.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Education Department says the administration is
taking "a fresh look at the issue." With more than 9,600 applicants denied
aid last year and this year's projections running four times higher, it's
going to take more than a "look" to undo this mess.

This law constitutes double jeopardy not only for potential students, but
also for families and American society.

The students most likely to frequent street drug dealers' dens rather than
the upscale condos for bulk buyers are poorer inner-city kids. Poor people
are also more likely to get public defenders rather than high-priced
lawyers. And they are more likely to need an extra-firm push toward
education than, say, private schoolers whose parents already have socked
away enough money for college. But even those middle-class teens who are on
the border between playing it straight and playing it fast and loose with
their youth deserve a second chance to be well-educated, contributing
members of society. Keeping them out of college and certainly out of
good-paying jobs sends the message that if you do the crime, you do the
time - a lifetime.

Denying financial aid is a punishment that is leveled against parents and
younger siblings, who also have higher-education aspirations, yet could be
left with little or nothing in the family coffers. Similarly, communities
that are struggling to get as many of their local youths off to college as
possible have one less success story and one more wayward teen to watch out
for. His/her friends are away at school and because of a youthful misstep,
this neighborhood kid's options are limited.

Trafficking drugs is a crime which must be enforced by the judicial system
and for which any and all offenders should be punished in accordance with
existing laws.

But do we really want to give college applicants the ultimatum of, for
example, flipping fast-food burgers for $8 an hour or selling a single
ounce of marijuana for $100?

Once teens have been duly punished by the legal system, let's not put them
in further jeopardy years down the road by denying an opportunity to attend
college.

Let's offer the low-interest loans and academic grants necessary to get
them off the streets and into institutions of higher learning - where they
can employ some time-honored alternatives.