EDUCATION EXTRA: HERE'S THE BOOKLET ON STATE STUDENTS' RIGHTS

Can schools use drug-sniffing dogs to search for illegal substances in a
student's backpack? Is it legal for administrators to censor the school
newspaper?

Questions like these are answered in "Northern California JSA Students
Rights Handbook," edited by Carl Takei, a senior at Mira Loma High School.
The 30-page booklet covers current law regarding search and seizure,
freedom of expression and rights of due process in California's high
schools.

The handbook was originally produced by Takei last year for the Junior
State of America (JSA), a nationwide, nonprofit, non-partisan organization
of high school students to encourage involvement in the political process.

For a copy of the handbook, write to Bruce Lagomarsino, History Department,
Mira Loma High School, 4000 Edison Ave., Sacramento 95821. Enclose $1 to
cover mailing.

Parents and students are warned to beware of scholarship and financial aid
scams that show up in the mail or on the Internet, warned College Parents
of America (CPA) and the Federal Trade Commission.

Bogus scholarship search services guarantee students and their families
free scholarship money in exchange for an up-front fee, said Jodie
Bernstein, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection. In
comparison to the scholarship, the fee may seem paltry. But more than
350,000 Americans lose $5 million annually to scholarship scams, said
Richard Flaherty, CPA president.

The scholarship offer may be a scam if the following scripts are used: The
scholarship is guaranteed or your money back. You can't get this
information anywhere else. May I have your credit card or bank account
number to hold this scholarship? We'll do all the work for you. The
scholarship will cost some money. You've been selected by a "national
foundation" to receive a scholarship or "You're a finalist" in a contest
you never entered.

For more information about scholarship scams, contact the FTC on the
Internet at http://www.ftc.gov For free information contact the Federal
Student Aid Information Center, P.O. Box 84, Washington, D.C. 20044 or call
1-800-4-FED-AID.Report scams to the National Fraud Information Center at
1-800-876-7060 or send an e-mail to SCAMS-L@finaid.org

Compiled by Judy Tachibana

Copyright ) 1998 The Sacramento Bee