STUDENT LIFE
THE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER OF WASHINGTON UNIVERSIT Y IN ST. LOUIS SINCE 1878 Last week, Forum editor Trein wrote about rioting over cartoons in the Islamic world. Today, editors Stepp and Shapiro follow suit. Page 6.
Senior Sports editor Justin Davidson gives At Pizzeria Della Piazza, our Stepping Out us a positive preview of prospects for our reporters Kaufman and Jacobson may have spring softball and baseball squads. Page 5. found the tastiest pizza out there. Page 7.
VOLUME 127, NO. 55
Making tracks: check out part two of Scene’s neighborhoods series on today’s back page. See Page 10.
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2006
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$12 billion student loan cut may hold benefits v Despite widespread criticism, bill that cuts student loan programs may include components helpful to students By Jessie Rothstein Staff Reporter After the House of Representatives gave final approval recently to a bill that includes large cuts to government-backed student loan programs, financial aid officers at institutions all over the country are trying to understand how the bill’s statutes may affect their students. The bill, which aims to reduce the federal deficit by slowing the growth of government spending over the next five years, cut about $12 billion from the loan program. These cuts are the largest in the history of the loan pro-
gram and include measures such as reducing government subsidies to private lenders and raising the interest rates for students and parents. “Some of it’s still kind of vague and all of the major university groups are working feverishly to analyze these statutes,” said Bill Witbrodt, the Director of Student Financial Services at Washington University. While these cuts have drawn a great deal of criticism from political figures and financial aid officers alike, Witbrodt pointed out that the bill actually includes many components that will most likely benefit Washington University students in a variety of ways. One of the advantages of the new bill is that it increases the loan limits for freshmen and sophomores. On July 1, 2007, the ceiling on freshman loans will be raised from $2,625 to $3,500, and the ceiling on sophomore loans will be raised from $3,500 to $4,500. “That will give current students a little more flexibility in
being able to borrow subsidized loans,” said Witbrodt. In addition, the bill will assist graduate and professional students by opening up the Parents’ Loan for Undergraduate Students (PLUS) to them on July 1 of this year. In the past, the PLUS Loan has only helped parents pay their contribution to their students’ education. Soon, however, graduate and professional students at the University will be able to benefit from the relatively low interest rates on these loans. Unfortunately, at the same time, the bill raises the interest rate on the PLUS loans available to parents from 7.9 from 8.5 percent. Incoming freshmen may also benefit from the legislation due to its revisions concerning asset regulations. Currently, if a student applying for financial aid has assets in his or her own name, it is assumed that 35 percent of that will go towards the student’s first year of education. Yet the new formula, effective July 1, 2007, will assume that students will use only 20 percent of their assets in this way.
“That’s going to help students who have their own assets qualify for receiving financial assistance,” said Witbrodt. Witbrodt also believes that University students may be positively impacted by the legislation due to the fact that a portion of the savings will be used to implement Academic Competitiveness Grants. These grants will be available for students who are eligible for federal Pell Grant loans and who are studying courses related to science and mathematics. Eligible junior and senior undergraduates could receive up to $4,000 a year from these grants. Criticism has been directed towards the measure of the bill which states that freshman and sophomore Pell Grant recipients may receive greater loans if they have completed a secondaryschool program of study that has been recognized by the U.S. secretary of education and approved by either a state or a local education agency. Critics of this statute fear that such conditions may lead to the establishment of a national curriculum for high-
school students. Another controversial aspect of the bill is the fact that it raises the interest rate on subsidized student loans. Currently, interest rates vary each year due to shifting market conditions and are reset every July 1. As a result, borrowers currently pay an interest rate of about 5.3 percent. The new bill will raise this interest rate to a fixed 6.8 percent this July 1. Since interest rates have been falling in recent years, the switch to a fixed rate could make borrowers pay more than they would under present conditions. Yet the opposite is also possible. “In the future, as interest rates continue to escalate…students may be getting a pretty good deal,” said Witbrodt, pointing out that “the fact that it’s a fixed rate means that there won’t be any surprise.” Many of the aspects of the legislation that have upset other institutions will not trouble students here, Witbrodt said. In particular, the fact that most of the budget cuts pertain to the lenders
has provoked a great deal of criticism among schools that believe that these cuts will eventually pass on the cost to the students. “But here we’re always pretty vigilant on those kinds of things, and have such a good relationship with our lenders, that I don’t see that happening to our students,” said Witbrodt. In addition, Washington University students also differ from those at other institutions with regard to the issue of origination fees. While students at other schools may have to pay a three or four percent origination fee for their loan—meaning that they do not receive 100 percent of the loan proceeds—these fees are nonexistent at Washington University due to negotiations that occurred with the major bank that works with the University. Ultimately, students here will be able to benefit from several positive aspects of the bill without being burdened by the controversial measures, according to Witbrodt. “It certainly could have been a lot worse,” said Witbrodt.
Raiding sheik camps on a toxic waste site: Training with the ROTC Students in uniform
On February 11, the Gateway Battalion, which is made up of ROTC programs from Washington University, Saint Louis University and the University of Missouri-St. Louis, traveled to Weldon Springs for a day of leadership training through combat simulation. And starting at 6 a.m., Student Life was there, too. Senior photo editor David Brody, Scene special features editor Erin Fults and news editor Caroline Wekselbaum got up before dawn to take part in the ROTC’s training missions. Fults’ story recounts what it was like to be an “embedded reporter,” while Wekselbaum’s piece provides background on ROTC at the University. Brody’s photographs complement both reports.
DAVID BRODY | STUDENT LIFE
By Caroline Wekselbaum News Editor Some might call them crazy for rising (sometimes before the sun does) before 6:30 a.m. three times a week, but for members of ROTC, this is an integral part of college life. “You never get used to it,” said senior James Tucker who is majoring in history and religious studies. Designed for university students and with a presence at 272 schools nationwide, ROTC is the largest military commissioning program producing officers for the United States Army. While there are many aspects to this program, the learning component is divided into two main areas: practical physical training and classroom military science courses. On average, members reported that they spend seven to eight hours per week on ROTC-related activities: two to three hours in a formal classroom, three hours of physical training, and a two-
hour training session in Forest Park. But the time commitment is actually more demanding once less-frequent activities like lab work, weekendlong training exercises, and monthly fitness tests are taken into account. When cadets engage in training exercises, such as the one attended by Student Life at Weldon Springs, the Army’s goal is to simulate what it would be like on a real mission. Cadets wear their full army gear and carry real guns (with blank bullets), along with a 35-pound gear pack. Part of this training is to test the cadets with unexpected or variable situations. “So basically…they’ll insert folks to throw a monkey wrench into the process,” said Major Travis Grigg, who teaches military science for ROTC at the University. “The point of the exercise is to see if your cadet in charge of that patrol at the time deals with that distraction properly and continues his or her mission or lets the situation
overcome him or her and not do it.” Grigg offered an example of a time when cadets did not do what they should. “We had a supply sergeant from one of the schools playing a role…He started an argument about how he stole my van…and the cadets didn’t really take charge of the situation, and he had grenade simulators in his pockets and while all these cadets were standing around, he just threw these grenade simulators down, and he said ‘All you guys are dead,’” said Grigg. “So that’s the kind of thing that could happen. You could have someone like a suicide bomber, somebody strapped and has explosives on, and that patrol leader doesn’t get that person away from his or her patrol, they could have something on them and hurt them.” A cause for frustration amongst members of ROTC is that, for the most part, the University does not grant credit for any of the 22 credit hours cadets will take over
See UNIFORM, page 2
Cdt. Mack secures a perimeter during an ROTC training exercise in Weldon Springs on Saturday, Feb. 11, 2006.
Behind enemy lines: A reporter’s notebook By Erin Fults Special Features Editor Our patrol started out across the windswept field with a bleak sky above us and took to the road for the first mission. I was wearing a camouflage jacket so kindly lent to me on account of the frigid temperatures. The cadets moved in a staggered formation with their weapons (containing blank ammunition) pointing outwards, heads always swiveling, always alert. Even though we were just 45 minutes away from campus, it felt like this was actually enemy territory in far off “Caquetia” (the name of the
imaginary country where we were stationed). Caquetia, a country full of dangerous terrorists, is different from past training grounds; Assistant Professor of Military Science, Major Travis Grigg, recalled his being shaped by the Cold War. “It’s a different scenario now; we’re fighting a different enemy,” said Grigg. Caquetia is also near a toxic waste site and on the grounds of an old World War II dynamite production facility. “They say there is still some [dynamite] buried in the ground and they forgot where it was,” said Grigg.
“It’s always a good feeling.” The main aim of the training program is to give ROTC cadets experience in leadership positions in a combat simulated situation. As a senior, Joel Groves of Wash. U. travels with the patrol to evaluate its decisions and actions. “Everybody needs to take on the pressure of being in charge,” said Groves. The training consists of three missions with different objectives and challenges (“variables”) thrown in to test on-the-spot decision making skills of leaders. “It’s all a learning pro-
See NOTEBOOK, page 4
DAVID BRODY | STUDENT LIFE
ROTC cadets fall in at 6:30 a.m. in the snowy cold at North Campus to begin their daylong training exercises.
For more ROTC photos, see page 3