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Opinion

Aid to felons?

AT ISSUE: An amendment to the Higher Education Act in 1998 made students with drug convictions ineligible for federal financial aid. Only four universities offer scholarships to students with drug convictions and more than 125 student governments have called on Congress to overturn the amendment. The act is scheduled to be reauthorized this year. Should Congress overturn the aid elimination penalty? 

Federal aid shouldn't be given, but when it is, it should be done fairly

MONICA GRANGER: Since big government is involved in student aid, it should deliver it in a manner that respects all would-be students equally.

The law mocks itself.

After all, if a student is convicted of a drug offense, chances are he or she probably paid for it directly through fines imposed by the legal system and indirectly through lost future employment opportunities. The government should not sadistically punish them further and increase chances of recidivism.

Congress has a way of screwing things up on a large scale. Education is a prime example. It seems the more government becomes involved in education, the more prices tend to go up. In addition, various regulations make it more difficult and costly to provide educational goods. 

The accreditation process, for example, is an imposed guild that increases the cost of education dramatically; the free market should develop standards and quality accountability in educational services. And while student aid may help some students in the short run, it artificially stimulates demand for a scarce good and drives up prices for education and its associated inputs, such as books.

A larger overhaul than this is needed in our educational system, but until then, Congress should not unfairly hinder those seeking to better their lives through education.

Granger is an economics/political science senior.

A college education could give convicted felons a second chance

SANTIAGO LOPEZ: Congress should do all it can to overturn the aid elimination penalty for would-be students with drug convictions. 

A small mistake can affect the rest of a person's life. 

Even an elected official can make a mistake, as in the case last year of Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., who crashed his car into a barricade on Capitol Hill while on two different medications. Kennedy was still allowed to serve his constituents. 

Those seeking an education should be allowed to pursue the same aid as every other college student, despite any past convictions involving drugs. 

A college degree says a great deal about a person -- especially one who has a few blemishes on his or her record. These degree-seekers should not be denied access to funds that allow them to pursue an education. A degree would make them more marketable in the workplace and less likely to become repeat offenders. 

Government aid may be the only thing keeping drug offenders from turning to less-than-lawful ways of paying for college. 

Once the imposed sentence has been served, probation completed and fines paid, offenders should be allowed to have their education financed in the same manner as other students; through government loans, grants and scholarships. 

Lopez is a creative writing senior.

Felons should not be punished further by having aid withheld

TIMOTHY O'BRIEN: People have a better opportunity to make positive contributions to society if they have more education, not less. 

The Internet-driven technological revolution and the decline of the American manufacturing base requires workers of the 21st century to be highly skilled and trained. We should expand the chances for convicted felons to improve their marketability through a college degree, as our society currently makes it difficult for them to succeed. 

The chance to obtain a college education should not be made more difficult because someone made a mistake. A prison term for a drug conviction is punishment for the crime, and going through life with a criminal record serves as additional punishment. 

The war on drugs has been a failure. Although draconian drug control policies have been a financial boon to the military industrial complex, it has been devastating to taxpayers, families and society as a whole. 

Prisons across the nation are filled with non-violent drug offenders. A story in Wednesday's Houston Chronicle reported that Texas prisons will run out of capacity unless policies, including those dealing with substance abuse, are changed. If we are going to use prison sentences as solutions to drug addiction, we need to think about what will happen to the offenders when they are released. 

O'Brien is a Ph.D. candidate in history.
 

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