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Monday, June 17, 2013
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IRS scandal may reach to Washington
Finding ways to pay
Agency supervisor in D.C. scrutinized tea party cases
Many students struggle to find funds for their education
By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER Photo Illustration by Rob Winner – rwinner@shawmedia.com
The Associated Press
By STEPHANIE HICKMAN shickman@shawmedia.com
A
ttending college has been a financial struggle for Alora Schoenhofen. The Northern Illinois University senior has completed each year of school wondering how she will be able to pay for the next. She didn’t qualify for much need-based financial aid because her parents’ income was not in the lowest bracket. She received a private loan her freshman year, but it would not carry her through the next three years. “I literally went crying to Financial Aid,” she said. Schoenhofen’s situation is not uncommon. Many students attending post-secondary institutions across the country struggle to find ways to pay for their education. Qualifying for loans and financial aid is only the first step. Repaying the loans after graduation is what many students find to be the bigger challenge. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported in February that 35 percent of student loan borrowers under 30 were at least 90 days late on their payments at the end of last year, which is a 9 percent increase from 2008 and a 14 percent increase from 2004. The report also noted student loan debt increased 11 percent last year, which is a 51 percent increase from 2008. The total student loan debt last year was $996 bil-
lion. Rebecca Babel, financial aid director at NIU, said she and her advisers always recommend borrowing as little as possible. “We try to make sure we’ve done everything we can to find out about outside, individual scholarships,” she said. Helen Jareczek, whose son, Thomas, will be a freshman at NIU in the fall, said she and her husband, Frank, know their situation is rare. All three of their children were able to earn scholarships to pay
for the majority of college costs. “I do not know how people who have to do it on their own do it,” she said. “We’re very, very fortunate.” Schoenhofen, who is studying psychology, said she’s racked up about $60,000 in student loans going into her senior year. She plans to go into social work, which requires her to go to graduate school. At the end of her academic career, she expects to
See EDUCATION, page A6
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“It’s scary to think I might not be able ... to live on my own and make payments and make ends meet.” Alora Schoenhofen, senior at Northern Illinois University
WASHINGTON – An Internal Revenue Service supervisor in Washington says she was personally involved in scrutinizing some of the earliest applications from tea party groups seeking tax-exempt status, including some requests that languished for more than a year without action. Holly Paz, who until recently was a top deputy in the division that handles applications for tax-exempt status, told congressional investigators she reviewed 20 to 30 applications. Her assertion contradicts initial claims by the agency that a small group of agents working in an office in Cincinnati were solely responsible for mishandling the applications. Paz, however, provided no evidence that senior IRS officials ordered agents to target conservative groups or that anyone in the Obama administration outside the IRS was involved. Instead, Paz described an agency in which IRS supervisors in Washington worked closely with agents in the field but didn’t fully understand what those agents were doing. Paz said agents in Cincinnati openly talked about handling “tea party” cases, but she thought the term was merely shorthand for all applications from groups that were politically active – conservative and liberal. Paz said dozens of tea party applications sat untouched for more than a year while field agents waited for guidance from Washington on how to handle them. At the time, she said, Washington officials thought the agents in Cincinnati were processing the cases. Paz was among the first IRS employees to be interviewed as part of a joint investigation by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee. Congressional investigators have interviewed at least six IRS employees as part of
Inside the IRS report n In all, agents singled out 298 applications for additional scrutiny because the groups appeared to be involved in political activity, the inspector general’s report said. But IRS agents in Cincinnati weren’t given adequate training on how to handle the cases until May 2012, the report said. n Before the training, only six applications had been approved. Afterward, an additional 102 applications were approved by December 2012, the report said. n Of those 102 applications, 29 involved tea party, patriots, or 9-12 organizations, the report said. Many applications are still awaiting action. None has been rejected, according to the IRS.
See IRS, page A6
Teamwork key at Genoa Days water fights By JASON AKST news@daily-chronicle.com GENOA – On a soggy, then sunny, then sultry Saturday, 15 five-person firefighting teams battled for supremacy using one of nature’s most powerful forces: Water. The annual water fight, which involved a record-number of teams at Genoa Days, cooled down more than 100 spectators. The water fight goes back 40 to 50 years in the 78-year history of Genoa Days. The Genoa-Kingston Fire
Dept. sponsors Genoa Days as its biggest fund raiser of the year. The Bartlett team took top honors this year, followed by the Wilmot, Wis., team in second place, the Kirkland team in third, and the Trevor, Wis., team in fourth. CJ Herrmann, Genoa-Kingston firefighter and a 14-year water fight veteran, explained that water fight matches occur on a 20-foot by 70-foot outdoor court on North Genoa Street. Each team, using water from fire hoses set at 70 pounds
per square inch of pressure – a fraction of the 300 psi a fire hose can deliver – aim hoses at an old-school, 25-pound aluminum beer barrel. The object is to use water pressure to push the barrel past the opposing team. Matches start similar to hockey. Wearing boots, helmets, eye and other protective gear, opposing teams face each other, 70 feet apart, with hoses turned on full blast and pointing near the barrel. At the whistle, both teams aim their hoses at the barrel and
advance. The water pressure is enough to peel paint off the barrel and lob it around like a ping-pong ball. Matches typically last less than a minute as teams push the barrel toward a goal line. If a team pushes the barrel past the nozzle of the opposing team’s hose, it usually wins that match. If both teams keep the barrel stationary, the crowd gets a cool mist from the overspray.
See TEAMWORK, page A6
Jason Akst for Shaw Media
Water fight officials use a special meter before Saturday’s water fights at Genoa Days to ensure that each team’s hose delivered 70 pounds of pressure per square inch.
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