DRUG LAW BLOCKS PATH TO COLLEGE AID

They say the mind is a terrible thing to waste, yet 165,000 students to
date have not been given the opportunity to put theirs to use.

While over 200 religious, civil rights, rehabilitation and criminal justice
organizations and 120 Student Government Associations (SGA) across the
nation are fighting to protect students rights to financial aid, the
University has remained neutral.

Over 30 years ago President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law a provision
of the Higher Education Act to open the door to a college education for
students who had been denied these opportunities in the past. However, a
new provision put into effect in 2000 has reversed Johnson's provision,
denying students who have been convicted of a drug offense the ability to
receive financial aid. Students at other universities are working in
conjunction with the Coalition for Higher Education Act Reform (CHEAR) and
every major education association.

"The movement is larger and louder than ever before," Chris Mulligan,
campaign director for the Coalition for Higher Education Act Reform, said.

The bill, which was introduced in 1998 by Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN),
prohibited the chance of mostly low to middle class students, a
disproportionate amount minority, of an opportunity to a college education.

"Souder claims the bill saves tax money and punishes drug offenders by not
allowing them to use financial aid to buy drugs," Mulligan said. "But we've
learned that the policy doesn't work. It is discriminatory and
fundamentally flawed."

He also said the new provision will cost tax-payers more in the long run.
Under the law, students convicted of possession of a controlled substance
are denied financial aid eligibility for one year after a first offense,
two years for a second offense and permanently after a third offense.
Students convicted of selling a controlled substance lose eligibility for
two years for a first offense and permanently after a second offense,
according to Mulligan.

"The Department of Education is not the Drug Enforcement Agency," said
Jesselyn McCurdy, the legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties
Union (ACLU). "Otherwise qualified students are being punished twice. These
are students that have already faced the criminal consequences of their
actions."

With many colleges and universities calling on Congress to repeal the drug
provision, Mulligan praises the work of these students for fighting against
an obvious injustice, but knows more work needs to be done.

"Students agree holding education funding hostage is pretty unfair and it's
pretty easy to get a SGA to agree with and support that," Mulligan said.
"But absolutely the movement has to be larger than just students to get rid
of this law."

Marcella Martinez, a junior at SUNY New Paltz, does not agree with the law.
Being forced to fund her education mainly through federal financial aid
loans she realizes how severe such consequences could be. Without her
federal loans she would not be able to go to college. It is just a way to
keep a class system, she said.

"The people who can't afford college are people in poverty," Martinez, who
admitted using marijuana in the past, she said. "They are the people
they're going to be taking money away from. The people who don't need aid
are still going to go."

Schools ranging from Florida State University and Georgetown University, to
Dartmouth College and the University of Connecticut, have all joined in the
movement. The U.S. Student Association and Students for Sensible Drug
Policy (SSDP) are two groups that have been fighting this law before it was
even passed. Local colleges such as SUNY Albany, SUNY Binghamton and
Syracuse University are involved in the campaign. However, the University
is absent from such a long and diverse academic list of colleges.

Newly elected SGA president Benjamin Solis, who was unaware that such a law
existed, said it unduly penalizes too many students and considers it
"absolutely crazy." Although he understands the intentions of legislators
who created the law, he said it is over the top.

"A first offense to block financial aid for a year and can affect whether
or not you go to college, which is ridiculous," Solis said.

Solis also promised to look into the matter and bring it before the senate.
He said if students are willing to fight for the issue then he would be
interested in getting involved in the nationwide campaign.

"I would definitely look into this," he said. "If it's an issue for the
students on this campus then I'm going to see that everything can and will
be done."

The growing movement against the law has caused Souder to soften his
stance, but ultimately, Mulligan said, he is only willing to revise the
bill not repeal it, which just is not good enough.

On March 9, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) along with 56 co-sponsors from
Congress introduced the Removing Impediments to Students' Education Act
(RISE). The goal of the act is repealing the drug law of the HEA, which has
already denied 165,000 students financial aid, excluding individuals who
didn't seek financial aid for fear of prior drug-related records.

Frank, who has been fighting for the act since the drug law took effect
said it is extremely discriminatory against the people who need financial
aid the most. Furthermore, he said students who have drug convictions, but
come from wealthier families, are not affected by this law.

"I don't condone illegal drug use," Frank said. "But preventing students
with minor convictions from being able to pursue an education is
counterproductive and excessive."

Marisa Garcia, a junior at California State University at Fullerton has
become an example of the law's misguided power. After being caught with a
marijuana pipe she was nearly forced to drop out of school since her family
could not afford her tuition costs without federal aid.

"I had a support structure to help me get through this; many others are not
so fortunate," Garcia said.

The RISE Act is stuck in the education committee of the House of
Representatives. They are hoping to have a version of the RISE Act
introduced in the Senate in the next few weeks, Mulligan said.

In October, President George W. Bush also addressed the issue during his
while campaign for a second term.

In response to whether the provision should be repealed Bush said: "My 2005
budget proposes to fix the drug provision of the HEA so that incoming
students who have a prior drug-related conviction would be able to receive
federal student aid, and only students convicted while in college would
lose their eligibility for student aid."

University alumnus, Kevin Castandea, also said the provision should be
repealed.

"Is it fair that two of our previous presidents have used illegal drugs and
didn't pay a price for it," Castandea said. "These are the individuals we,
especially as young people, are suppose to look at as role models. What if
they didn't have an opportunity to go to college, where would they be today?"

A study by the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, an
independent body created by Congress to examine higher education and
student aid policy, found the provision to be a deterrent to students
applying for aid. The committee recommended its removal.

"By closing the doors of higher education to those most in need, Congress
has only made a bad situation worse," McCurdy said.