COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIPS FOR STAYING CLEAN

Re: "College aid for vice-free students," Dec. 8 news story.

Gov. Bill Owens' proposal to create a scholarship for high school
students who abstain from tobacco, drugs and alcohol is a flawed idea
and one which has already proven to be a failure on the federal level.
Every year, thousands of students are denied financial aid under the
Higher Education Act, which prevents those convicted of a drug-related
offense from receiving federal funds for education. This policy, which
has not led to any noticeable decrease in youth drug use, has resulted
in large segments of our population being denied access to affordable
education.

The proposal to expand this failed policy to encompass tobacco and
alcohol use leads to serious problems of subjectivity. How will
individual abstinence from tobacco, alcohol and drug use be
determined? Are we to deny teens access to higher education based on a
guidance counselor's suspicions of youthful indiscretion?

If the governor is serious about addressing the problem of teens using
alcohol and other drugs, he should increase funding to effective
treatment and prevention education programs.

Let's work to increase access to education for at-risk youth, not
prevent it.

Brian Vicente,

Denver