Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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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.” Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockudesk@hotmail.com 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. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockudesk@hotmail.com WlUMf A FlINtS* CtNTtft website: stc.sc.edu_ --JfcaBS.' - • -V-S. ..... f-1 I-1 _ m