The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 66, No. 28, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 22, 1979 Page: 1 of 16
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Volume LXVI, No. 28
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Rice University, Houston Texas
Thursday, March 22, 1979
, Ktmuwi
Congress" proposes bold plan for tuition aid
David Dow
Despite the myth of equal
opportunity for education,
Americans from middle class
homes1 recognize the hollow-
ness of that promise. With the
cost of education—public and
private—increasing annually,
more and more households
find themselves forced to
sacrifice higher education.
Present student loan programs
represent a genuine yet an
ineffective effort to ameliorate
this problem. Not only are
amounts offered frequently not
enough, but competition for
existing funds often fails to
benefit the most needy.
Increasing numbers of students
are claiming financial
independence. Hence, a
student whose parents earn
more than $100,000 a year may
claim to be personally destitute
and thus have the right to
compete for financial aid
against hildren of the
genuinely poor.
Several proposals in
Congress recognize the value of
exclusiveness. Senators Daniel
P. Moynihan and Robert
Packwood introduced the
Tuition Tax Credit Act of 1977.
Soon thereafter, the Carter
Administration offered
alternative legislation. Though
these acts indicate an intention
to do something, they do too
little. Carter's proposal is
merely an enrichment of the
programs of Senator Pell and
Congressmen Ford, Brademas,
and others. It would increase
current financial aid programs
(Basic Educational Opportun-
ity Grants — Secondary
Educational Opportunity
Grants, BEOG-SEOG) while
encompassing a portion of the
erstwhile excluded middle
class. The Moynihan-
Packwood bill addresses itseli
to the quandary facing the
middle class, but it does not
respond effectively since the
maximum relief available
amounts to around $250 a year.
Ironically, while the nation's
lawmakers continue to grapple
unsuccessfully with the
educational loan dilemma, an
outsider has devised the most
reasonable alternative. Dr.
John Silbert, president of
Boston University, has
constructed a Tuition Advance
Plan. Introduced by Edward
Kennedy and John Durkin in
the Senate and by Michael
Harrington in the House,
Silber's so-called Tuition
Advance Fund (TAF) attempts
to provide for higher college
costs while averting the usual
problems.
The operation of the TAF is
Mrly simple. After a student's
freshman year, he could draw
SRC hosts kikkers
Even if you put beans in your
chili, you'll be mighty welcome
at the first annual SRCCWD—
"Sid Richardson College
Country and Western Dance."
It will be held outdoors under
the big sky at the Sid Rich
Country Club, Beach Resort,
and Cattle Ranch on Friday
and Saturday, March 30-31.
Carousing begins Friday at
3:30 p.m. with an all-school
Chili Cook Off/TGIF. At 5:00
p.m. the finest bowls of red will
be selected with the winner
receiving $35 and the runnerup
$15. The single elimination
horseshoe tournament begins
at 3:30 with the survivor getting
a $15 gift certificate from
Gary's Hats and Boots.
Arm-wrestling starts at 4:00
with the winners claiming more
$15 gift certificates from
Gary's. There'll be weight
divisions to make it square for
you rangier sorts as well as a
little ladies division. Anybody
remotely connected with Rice
U. (students, staff, faculty, and
alumni) can give it a shot in any
event.
For you spectators who
prefer to do your drinking
undisturbed, there'll be plenty
of beer, soft drinks, and music
in the grand Texas tradition.
Saturday night the main
event starts with the third
annual Sid Melodrama down
in the Basement Beer Hall and
Saloon at 7:30 p.m.
From 9:00 to 1:00 runs the
Country and Western Dance
itself out on La Playa del Sid.
In addition to dancing to that
■ fine band, ^Little Bit of Texas,"
there'll be bucking bulls to ride,
tests of your manly and/or
womanly strength, and other
fine old attractions.
There'll be lots of lovely Rice
ladies masquerading as beer
belles to serve you at your
pleasure. The skies are not
cloudy all day that weekend
(right, Lord?) and there'll be
plenty of open range land for
everybody.
To enter one of the three
contests—the chili cookoff, the
arm wrestling tournament,
and/or the horseshoes
tournament—fill out the
application on the back page of
the Thresher.
Tickets will be $2.00 in
advance and $2.50 at the door,
or $2.50 in advance for both the
melodrama and the CWD.
Tickets will be available in the
SRC college office and at
dinner in the colleges.
Be there, alo—whoa...I
mean, dang it: be there,
pardner.
P.S. Loaded shooting irons
must be checked at the door of
the Basement Beer Hit 11.
from a Federal fund the cost of
tuition at an accredited college
or university plus up to $1000
for room and board or other
educational expenses. The
maximum advance per
academic year would be $5,000.
After graduation, the student
would repay the total advance
plus a 50% surcharge (in lieu of
interest) at a yearly rate of 2%
of his gross annual income. For
example, a graduate with a
gross income of $50,000 a year
would repay his advance at a
rate of $1000 a year. If he had
borrowed $15,000 (the most
possible), the advance and
surcharge (totaling $22,500)
would be repaid in 23 years.
Silber's proposal deals
directly with a major
shortcoming of present loan
programs: student defaults.
Federal loan programs suffer
from a 13% default rate. Silbert
would utilize the Internal
Revenue Service (IRS) as the
collection agency—a notor-
iously successful bureau for
getting what it is owed.
A most appealing virtue of
this system is its self-
perpetuating feature. Silber
estimates that after 20 years of
operation the TAF would
support itself. Moreover, the
initial outlays are bearable.
Using computer projections for
inflation, actuarial data on
death and disability, and
unemployment estimates, in
addition to accounting for
demographic trends, Silber
estimates a cost beyond current
programs of $3.5 billion per
year. Before taxpayers revolt.
that figure must be viewed
alongside the $5 billion spent
on candy and ice cream, the
$17.4 billion on tobacco, and
the $37.8 billion on alcohol.
Certainly, contends Silber, the
money is better spent on
education.
Silber deals persuasively
with the few objections made to
his plan. He justifies the basic
concept of student assistance
programs by quoting figures on
the lifetime incomes of college
graduates versus high school
(continued on page 10)
mm
■■feoiilH
UlUi I
Lana "Earthman" takes a dip after a bullseye throw at Baker
Shakespearean Fair. photo hy Wayne Derrick
'80 freshmen get inside look
Meredith Gibbs
Prospective students. We've
all seen them wandering
around campus, perhaps in the
Pub or the bookstore. They
often appear to be lost, or just
enthralled with being on the
Rice campus. Maybe you've
even talked to a few, and given
them some hints on survival at
Rice. But, for the first time in
Rice history current Rice
students have played a
functional and important role
in the admissions process.
Before the inception of the
Student Admissions Com-
mittee this year, acting as tour
guides was the only area in
which Rice students were
involved in recruiting
prospective students.
Under the auspices of the
Admissions Office, the Student
Admissions Committee in its
first year has initiated
scheduled campus tours, sent
student representatives to local
College Night programs,
hosted parties for prospective
students in their hometowns,
and organized a student
contact system where current
Rice students contact
prospective students over
Christmas break.
On April 19-20, the Student
Admissions Committee will
host the first OWL Day for
prospective students who have
been accepted to Rice. The 100
to 150 prospective students will
spend the night on campus,
attend classes, and get a chance
to meet current Rice students
and faculty before deciding
whether or not to enroll at
Rice. "Besides being a great
chance for prospective students
to see the campus, attend
classes, and meet Rice students,
the OWL Day should be a fun
experience—certainly a new
experience—for everyone
involved!" added Marina
Ballantyne, Assistant Director
of Admissions and Advisor for
the SAC. "Nothing quite like it
has been attempted on this
campus before."
According to reports by
SMU and other universities,
current students—not parents
or high school counselors—are
the single most influential
factor in determining what
college or university a
prospective student will attend.
"Current students know the
most about academic, social,
and extracurricular life.
They're an untapped resource
we're just now beginning to
utilize fully," said Richard
Stabell, Director of Admis-
sions. "I'm really pleased with
the accomplishments of the
SAC, and I'm looking forward
to even more involvement by
Rice students in the coming
years. We know how vital their
participation is to the success of
our admissions program."
If you're interested in
working with the SAC for
OWL Day or other projects
and haven't already completed
a student volunteer form,
contact the SAC coordinator in
your college. If you completed
a volunteer form last semester
and were never contacted,
don't give up—with more
organization everyone who is
interested will have a chance to
get involved.
SAC coordinators are:
Baker-Meredith Gibbs;
Brown-Debbie Tseng, Nancy
Jones; Will Rice-Tim Stout;
Lovett-Noel Shenoi; Jones-
Paula Desel, Mai Phan; Wiess-
Stuart Sutherland; Sid Rich-
(continued on page 10)
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Heard, Michelle Leigh. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 66, No. 28, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 22, 1979, newspaper, March 22, 1979; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245400/m1/1/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.