Activists
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Peter Sederberg, author of
“Terrorist Myths: Illusions,
Rhetoric and Reality,” was
among the attendees who signed
the anti-PATRIOT Act petition.
“To impose order without a
commitment to law is little bet
ter than vigilantism,” said
Sederberg.
Other organizations included
the South Carolina Green Party,
the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People
and the South Carolina
Libertarian Party.
Carolina Peace Resource
Center director Amanda Martin
said she organized the event in
part to gather signatures for a
petition she plans to present to
the Columbia City Council, ask
ing them to pass a resolution
against the USA PATRIOT Act.
More than 110 cities and three
states have passed such a reso
lution.
Halfway through the celebra
tion Martin took the stage and
called out to the crowd, “Which
states have passed resolutions
against the PATRIOT Act?”
“Alaska, Hawaii, New
Mexico,” shouted onlookers.
Martin said she would be
meeting with city council mem
bers in oncoming weeks, edu
cating them about the PATRIOT
Act and the resolution.
But a number of council mem
bers were reluctant to take sides.
“When people feel threat
ened,” said city council member
Anne Sinclair, “they are willing
to give up their privacy to elimi
nate the threat.”
According to Sinclair, sever
al Columbia neighborhoods and
businesses desperately wanted
surveillance cameras in their ar
eas to help fight crime.
Reagan Supreme Court nomi
nee Robert H. Bork has argued
in the political journal
“Commentary” that the PATRI
OT Act has legal precedence and
the trade-off between security
and freedom has changed.
He writes that the FBI and
CIA have been authorized to
monitor any means of commu
nication since 1979, when the
Supreme Court ruled in Smith
v. Maryland that individuals for
feit their right to privacy when
ever they submit information to
a third party. This includes di
aling a telephone number, ac
cording to the ruling.
Martin argued that freedom
weighs more than security, re
calling last October’s protest of
President Bush’s Iraq policy at
the Columbia Metropolitan
Airport. South Carolina
Progressive Network’s executive
director Brett Bursey was ar
rested at the protest.
“Security told us we were in
a non-free speech zone of the air
port,” said Martin. “The entire
nation is a free speech zone.”
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Loans
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2
States. Korsvall said students
could wait until May 2004, when
lenders have an idea of what the
new interest rate will be, and still
consolidate before the next fiscal
year begins.
“Students and new borrowers
can also check out wiredschol
ar.com,” said Korsvall. The site is
designed to educate students on
financial aid.
Fourth-year media arts student
Elisabeth Stender said she’s glad
to hear about the new rate and
hopes next year it will be even
lower. But she hadn’t heard about
the new rate until now.
“Nobody’s thinking about their
loans until they get the letter in
the mail saying you have to pay
in six months,” said Stender.
Stender has several loans, in
cluding the Stafford Loan, and
said she’ll have to take out more
this coming year.
The non-profit organization
AMMEND Credit Counseling says
it can help students consolidate
their loans while lowering inter
est rates. AMMEND works with
more than 40,000 lenders willing
to give favorable plans to students
who sign up with the organiza
tion. Online counseling is avail
able at AMMEND’s Web site 24
hours a day.
USC participates in another
student counseling service known
as Mapping Your Future.
Through this program students
can complete forms required by
the Stafford and Perkins loan pro
grams that educate them on how
to manage their loans. The forms
can be completed in 25 minutes.
In the 1999-2000 year more than
half of undergraduates received
some kind of financial assistance.
Thirteen percent sought loans to
supplement their scholarships
and grants, according to the
National Center for Education
Statistics.
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