STUDENT SENATE AT URI WORKS TO REMOVE DRUG POLICY ON AID

Some student leaders at the University of Rhode Island believe that all
students -- regardless of past drug convictions -- deserve help with the
ever-increasing cost of higher education.

The university's Student Senate strongly supports a resolution that
denounces a provision in the Higher Education Act of 1998; that provision
excludes students with drug convictions from receiving federal financial aid.

Of the 45 members of the Student Senate who voted on the resolution last
week, just one was opposed to it, according to Jesse Whitsitt-Lynch, the
senate's academic affairs chairman. The resolution also picked up the
support of URI President Robert Carothers.

"I support a change in federal policy that would ease the burden on young
people who have made one mistake with drugs," Carothers said in a
statement. "Particularly in urban communities where young men and women are
faced with enormous temptation, we should be willing to support those who
learn to travel different paths and make it to the doors of the university."

"The important thing to remember is that the penal system has already dealt
with a person for their crime," Whitsitt-Lynch said. "The best way for them
to get back on their feet is to go to school and get an education. Denying
them aid punishes them twice for the same crime and makes it more difficult
for them to move away from a life of crime."

The Student Senate's vote was an overwhelming endorsement of a bill in the
U.S. House of Representatives that would repeal the drug provision. The
next step, Whitsitt-Lynch said, is to persuade U.S. Representatives James
R. Langevin and Patrick J. Kennedy to support the bill.

And that is exactly what the organization Students for Sensible Drug Policy
is working to accomplish. Last week, members collected more than 1,000
signatures from citizens, students and faculty members on petitions urging
Langevin and Kennedy to endorse the bill, according to Thomas Angell, the
group's president.

"Denying access to education is a counterproductive and ineffective attempt
at solving our nation's drug problems," Angell said. "Individuals who want
to take a step in the right direction and work toward becoming productive
citizens are being pushed back toward the streets because of the current
policy. Turning the 'War on Drugs' into a 'War on Education' will cause
nothing but more harm."

The bill currently has 67 cosponsors in the House of Representatives,
according to Angell. Whitsitt-Lynch said the Student Senate's external
affairs committee will also be lobbying Langevin and Kennedy's offices to
become cosponsors.

With the Student Senate's endorsement of the resolution, URI joined more
than 90 colleges and universities across the nation that have passed
similar resolutions, according to Angell.

Whitsitt-Lynch credited Students for a Sensible Drug Policy for doing a lot
of the work involved in getting the Student Senate resolution passed. The
organization is one of about 200 chapters nationwide. Members work to
educate people about the implications of current drug policy and involve
young people in the political process.