WEDNESDAY JAN. 26, 2005 Vol. 126, No. 43
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STUDENT LIFE T H E I N D E P E N D E N T N E W S PA P E R O F WA S H I N G T O N U N I V E R S I T Y I N S T. L O U I S S I N C E 1 8 7 8
Pell Grant proposal would not affect WU By Laura Geggel and Doug Main Student Life Staff
They may be unknown on campus, but Wash U’s roller hockey squad is making a name for itself nationally. In just 2.5 years, the team has turned from league laughingstock to national title contender.
President Bush has proposed a modest change in Pell Grant awards—the nation’s primary scholarship program—that may offer some help to economically challenged college students. The President vowed on Jan. 14 to increase the maximum grant amount by $100 each of the next five years, to $4,550 total. The decision was announced at Florida Community College. But some are questioning how much this announcement will help college students around the nation, including the 493 individuals at Washington University who have Pell Grants. According to two analyses of the new rules, at least 1.3 million students with Pell Grants will receive smaller awards. And the administration has already come under fi re since last month after announcing the program’s new eligibility requirements, which will leave an estimated 90,000 low-income students without any Pell Grants. At Washington University, however, the picture appears brighter.
According to Bill Witbrodt, director of Student Financial Services, the school will compensate students for any amount taken off their Pell Grants, from small amounts to total losses of grants. “We’re always looking for better ways for students to be able to afford their education here,” said Witbrodt. University students are happy that changes won’t negatively affect them but are concerned about the losses students at other institutions may face. “It’s not the biggest part of my scholarship here,” said junior Felecia Webb. “But I think that giving me $100 more a year is not as good as giving someone else a scholarship.” Senior Marques Burnett had similar sentiments. “I like the idea of more money, but I have to put myself in the shoes of people who are losing their scholarships,” he said. “I’m kind of on both sides, but how much less are we creating for other people?” Witbrodt also questioned the idea of reducing awards. “It would be great if the federal government would take the $300
million that they predict to save from this formula revision and put it back into the Pell Grants,” he said. But even for students who qualify for the increased maximum Pell Grant, questions remain. It has yet to be determined, for example, exactly who qualifies for maximum awards. A report coming out this week by the House Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance proposed automatically allowing maximum Pell Grants for students whose families earn under $25,000 per year, but this proposal has met resistance from congressional Republicans. The proposed increases barely keep up with inflation and come after three years during which the maximum award has not budged from $4,055—despite rapidly rising national higher-education costs. Additionally, these increases don’t size up to those President Bush promised during his 2000 presidential campaign, when he said he’d raise the maximum scholarship to $5,100. “I welcome the president’s new
See GRANTS, page 3
Is Frisbee a sport? First-year Club Ultimate Frisbee player Charles Young offers his view on that and many other questions in Sports.
Senior News Editor
EMILY TOBIAS | STUDENT LIFE
PAGE 7 Daniel Ramirez offers an ode to Center Court in Forum. Another Daniel–Daniel Milstein–offers his ode to Public Enemy No. 1: SpongeBob SquarePants.
PAGE 4 INDEX News Forum Classifieds Sports
By Liz Neukirch
Powell Symphony Hall will remain empty until the musicians and management come to an agreement on a new contract. The previous contract ended on Jan. 3.
Is it the best sporting event of the year? Sports takes a closer look at the Super Bowl.
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Four hundred ninety-three WU students currently recieve Pell Grants. Student Financial Services will look out for any students who lose their support.
Community will honor Hadas with room dedication
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DAVID BRODY | STUDENT LIFE
Perlman Concert cancelled; students disappointed By Caroline Wekselbaum Staff Reporter Ongoing work stoppages at the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) have caused the cancellation of concerts for the past three weeks, including the sold-out performance of violinist Itzhak Perlman scheduled for last Saturday. Over 200 Washington University students had purchased tickets to the cancelled performance through a program by ArtSci Council, the school council of the College of Arts & Sciences. The musicians have been without a contract since Jan. 3, after six months of negotiations between musician union members and the symphony management. The two parties could not reach an agreement and the work stoppage commenced one day after the union members’ previous contract expired. The musicians’ union has termed the work stoppage a “lock-out” while management maintains that it is a strike. Union members rejected a new four-year contract in which musicians would accept a pay cut. After making voluntary pay concessions in the past to keep the orchestra alive, musicians say they have earned a raise, although economic constraints may prevent this. “We’re still very hopeful for a fair solution in the near future,” said Jeff Trammel, director of communications for the symphony. When asked about how patrons are reacting, Trammel expressed their understanding, although they are disappointed. “Most of the patrons understand our situation and where we’ve been in the last few years, our economic situation…A few years ago, we were near bankruptcy,” he said. To avoid bankruptcy, a campaign was started that raised 130 million dollars,
STUDENT LIFE
although the symphony still experiences financial limitations which make it difficult to offer musicians substantial pay increases. According to a press release issued by ArtSci Council, about three quarters of students who purchased tickets to the Perlman concert had never attended the SLSO, and about one fourth of them had never been to any symphony. The popularity of the Perlman concert among students was extraordinary, according to the release. “[ArtSci Council] organized three previous trips to the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra but never had more than 80 students attend. Tickets for the Perlman show were snapped up at an unprecedented rate. The original 80 tickets…for the Perlman performance were all purchased in ten minutes. ArtSci Council obtained 120 more tickets…[The] additional tickets were sold in 20 minutes, and 25 students remain on a waiting list,” the release read. The line for Perlman tickets in Wohl was so long that one student passing by asked if it was a line for the ever-popular book buyback. “We’re very excited because there are so many students interested in these concerts,” said junior James Wang, acting vice president and treasurer of ArtSci Council. “You never see a lot of young people interested in classical music.” The overwhelming sentiment among student ticket holders was disappointment at the cancellation of Perlman’s performance. “Of course I was disappointed that the concert was cancelled and that the SLSO is on strike, but I can kind of understand why Itzhak Perlman cancelled,” said freshman
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Though Professor David Hadas lost his four-year battle with colon cancer last March, his memorial service will be held next weekend. The lengthy delay was the result of both refurbishing a classroom to be dedicated to Hadas and coordinating with his family and friends so that all would be able to attend. “So that his family [from England] would only have to make one trip, it was decided to hold the classroom dedication and memorial service at the same time,” said Victoria Thomas, a close friend and teaching assistant to Hadas for several years. “He also has a lot of friends from New York coming in as well—but again, with their schedules, they would have missed it had it been held earlier.” Consequently, Thomas explained, the classroom being dedicated to Hadas will not be finished until just before the service, which will be held at 11 a.m. Feb. 5 starting in Graham Chapel. Thomas was contacted to single-handedly plan the services because the University “wanted to do something his family would appreciate” and knew how close she had been to Hadas and his family during their time working together. Hadas’ coworkers and friends assert he was a man who respected the differences among his students’ opinions, and the memorial service held in his honor next weekend will replicate the accepting environment he maintained in his classroom by trying to include as many belief systems as possible. “He didn’t discount the possibility of any religion, and he thought that it was perfectly possible… that we were all believing in the same God and just calling him different names,” said Thomas. “At the same time, he was very interested in the power of prayer and of meditation, and he spent several years of his life examining meditation and doing that on a regular basis. He was very open-minded.” Case in point: Hadas, raised an Orthodox Jew, taught the University course “The Bible as Literature” for many years. At next weekend’s services, Father Gary Braun of the University’s Neuman Catholic Student Center will recite several all-encompassing prayers. Braun attended Hadas’ Bible class for many years, said Thomas. A friend of Hadas from New York, Tsvi Blanchard, will also be in attendance to recite Kaddish—a Jewish prayer for the deceased—at the end of the ceremony. The entirety of the service will be in accordance with Hadas’ final wishes. He discussed several details of his memorial service with Thomas before his death.
See HADAS, page 3
STUDENT LIFE ARCHIVES
Professor Hadas passed away almost a year ago; however, the University will host a memorial service for him Feb. 5. Editor: editor@studlife.com News: news@studlife.com Calendar: calendar@studlife.com
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