The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, March 02, 1998, Page 2, Image 2
Banking
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Honors College students camp out Sun
sign-up. Some students arrived Saturday
White House p
AASCU collegia
college press EXCHANGE en thi
stead
The already-politicized battle over in
a pending United States student-loan intere
rote nit has hprnrrip an wpn hicrcrpr no- lv,7r
litical football now that the White House ft
has weighed in, parties involved in the versiti
debate said. repres
Barmak Nassirian, policy analyst a con]
for the American Association of State tol Hi
Colleges and Universities (AASCU), the la
said the debate has always been polit- w
ical but added that a Clinton admin- Comp
istration proposal ofFered this week has witho
further raised its profile. ing i0
The debate centers on a provision inter?
in the 1993 Student Loan Reform Act n
slated to shift July 1 the student loan atj0n i
interest rate index from the 91-day Trea- sury j
sury bill plus 3.1 percent to the 10-year mend
Treasury plus 1.0 percent. inter*
Lenders have voiced concern that Treas
such a change might impede their prof- ply U1
itability and force some smaller lenders ft
out of the student loan business. n
In a press conference Wednesday, the h
Vice President A1 Gore offered the ad- hank!
ministration's compromise, which would M
keep the interest rate pegged to the saj(j t
shorter-term 91-day Treasury but tight- yjg^
Popularity of
growing at uni
college press EXCHANGE Univ<
Elisabeth Mistretta is used to be- norin
ing one of only a few white people in to tra
some of her classes. ing, t
That's what she gets for taking ?\
courses in African-American studies, eratu
especially the ones that aren't core re- said ]
quirements, she said. TnHiai
Being a minority for once doesn't studi
seem to bother the 19-year-old sopho- find a
more, who is minoring in Black World Engli
Studies at Loyola University in Chica- N
go. chan<
Tve heard it before," said Mistret- eyes,
ta, who hopes the minor will help her they ]
cover black communities more effec- oft-he
tively when she gets her first job in "Ii
journalism. "Don't minor in it. ItH make case,'
you sound like you have an agenda." Africs
But that's not what Mistretta said Univ<
she has in mind unless, of course, you we sa
consider her desire to see the world in thi
through different sets of eyes an tice] i
agenda. need
She said she is simply one of a grow- S<
mg number ot students who are ex- useiu
ploring black studies to get a more com- ing aj
plete picture of American history. say tl
"I feel like a whole other world ex- for a
ists that I was not aware of," she said. G
"Black people know more about white scho<
America than we probably know our- publii
selves, but whites walk around with can r
blinders on." ing tl
Despite many tension-filled cam- chain
puses where affirmative action and race ies de
relations are at the forefront of discus- iforni
sion, some professors report a growing to off
interest in African-American studies. "I
Last year, an estimated 1,000 stu- or an
dents majored in the subject at 21 not u
__1 1 i_! !J_ J-.-Li ___ *
scnoois nationwide, no uouoi an increase ner-c
since 1968 when San Francisco State funct
In Monday, February 23,1998 edition, Lee
quoted in the article, Problems, praise for DA
4
News
The Gamecock
'
iday afternoon behind Harper Co
after the lISC Kentucky basketball
iosition heig
ite student-1
b spread to 2.3 percent over in- for
of 3.1 percent over the T-bill. nei
addition to that, the maximum
st rate banks could charge would coi
ercent. cot
ipresentatives of colleges and uni- bei
ies have been meeting with lender Ed
sentatives in negotiations to strike
ipromise they can take to Capi- pje
11 in hopes Congress can amend ^y]
? i ii.?
w ueiure uic cuwtivc uaic.
hile Gore offered the deal as a
romise that would aid students
iut hurting lenders, some bank- ^
bbyists saw it as a blow to their ^
sst.
le Independent Bankers Associ- ?r<
of America (IBAA) called the Treareport
an administration recom- 8
lation of "a substantially lower
ist rate," but Nassirian said the
mry report was neutral and sim- S1"'
3ed by the White House in mak- to
s own proposal.
le report was undertaken to study W(
mpact of the July 1 change on
3. W?
'ark Scanlan, an IBAA lobbyist, ilj
he proposal essentially cuts lender wl
3 by 80 basis points, which would pr
Lfrican-Ameri
versities nati
2rsity became the first to offer it. an
lough the number of students mi- ra
g in the subject is more difficult on
ck, many professors say it's grow- ^
oo.
Ve have courses in music, art, litre,
dance, history and sociology,"
ioward McCluskey, chairman of j\
na University's African-American *
es department. "Students won't
ill of that if they major simply in
sh."
or will they necessarily get a pl(
:e to view society through black m;
something many professors say Pu
hope will help cool the countryi's at
sated racial divide. cic
t hrinps tn mind the O.J. Simnson ?<
' said Russell Adams, head of
an-American studies at Howard ^
irsity. "[Whites] did not know how ^
w justice in terms of race relations ^
s country. Until we all see [jusin
the same way, there will be a
to have continual education."
)me people challenge the major's
lness when it's time to go job huntEter
college, but many professors Ai
aeir students are marketable ed
variety of reasons. po
raduates tend to head off to law Ai
dI or get jobs in teaching and Ri
c policy-making fields where they er
ight the wrongs highlighted dur- re
. 4...d u*
leu aiuuiea, aaiu reicy nrnwcu, ^
nan of the African-American studpartment
at the University of Cala-Berkeley,
one of only two schools co
er a Ph.D. in the subject,
f someone wants to be a doctor w<
attorney [or a] city planner and
nderstand the realities of the in- T
ity, [they] would be totally dys- sh
ional," he said. "AAS is not only be
s, in reference to the former Wade Haj
Monday, March 2,1998
rlRHni
Wteh TjP^" . . :'' _ _. BBSBBb^:
lilt111 h i | \ BfiBBQI
liege for Horseshoe housing
I ffwy tO ling: Up.
;htens
oan debate
ce many small lenders out of busi3S.
"We don't view this as much of a
npromise," said Scanlan, adding that
interproposals from banker mem"s
would likely be offered to the House
ucation Committee.
Nassirian said he has so far com(ted
onlv a Dreliminarv review of the
lite House proposal and AASCU is
t yet ready to endorse it.
John Dean, special counsel to the
nsumer Banking Association, told
uters in an interview that the issue
s created a political dilemma for Coness.
The administration and many on
ipitol Hill have made lower costs for
ident loans a priority.
On the other hand, Dean said, Coness
does not want to cut lender yields
a level that would be unprofitable.
Some $34 billion in student loans
;re given out last year.
More than two-thirds of that amount
is provided through the Federal Fam'
Education Loan Program (FFELP),
narfriprs wifVi nrivatp lenHprs tr>
?* r4' ~
ovide loans.
[can studies ?
onwide
i intellectual discipline. It deals with
ce relations, and I think that somee
with an AAS degree entering into
Ly job situation would be good."
By why major in African-American
idies, especially in an age when comter
technicians out of college can land A
I bucks?
Many students say they simply want
know their culture better.
"When I came into contact with peoj
who were immersed in that study,
y eyes were opened," said Gloria
irifoy, a 25-year-old graduate student
Western Illinois University. "I deled
no one can look down on me beuse
I know myself.
"I also learned to become proud of ^
e things that we've been taught to W
ok down upon, such as my feares,"
she added, pointing to her dark
in and tightly braided hair.
Such awakenings aren't restricted
black students.
"White students should take Afiicannerican
studies for their own knowlge
and to learn about the very imirtant
role of Africans [played inl
nerican history," said 23-year-old
chard Gulotta, a white junior at Westn
Illinois majoring in tourism and
creational park administration. "I
iind African-American studies more
levant to society than many other
urses."
Added Mistretta: "Unfortunately
?[take a class] for something that
nuld be included in American histo.
Black history is a little footnote and
nuld be integrated into U.S. history
tter than it is." ^
n Wade Hampton, was incorrectly
mpton desk coordinator.
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