Legislation may ban student use of food stamps
By Wayne Walley
associate city editor
More students than ever before are using the federal food stamp program and more may be eligible now, but pending legislation may ban students from the program.
An eligibility revision made early last year will bar many students claimed as tax dependents in middle- and upper-income households from the program.
New Agriculture Department regulations require that students whose parents claim them as dependents be dropped from the program unless their parents are receiving food stamps.
But this ban has yet to be implemented in Los Angeles County, allowing more students from this area to be eligible.
Eligible urged to apply
“Anybody eligible should apply now,” Steve Monroe, information officer for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services, said Thursday.
“Anybody who has the need for the stamps should use them. That’s what the program is here for.”
He said the tax-dependent regulation has yet to be used because of implementation problems.
“As it now stands, eligibility is still the same as before,” Monroe said.
To be eligible, students must live away from their par-
ents and have an adjusted net income of not more than $215 per month.
Adjusted income is determined by a four-page application which details income, resources and expenses.
Limit set
A $1,500 limit is set on the amount of liquid and nonliquid assets a food stamp recipient can keep and continue eligibility.
Liquid assets include savings accounts, checking accounts or other readily convertible sources of income. Nonliquid assets could include luxury items that could not be converted to cash as easily.
Personal possessions such as a car or stereo are not counted as assets, however.
Scholarships are deductible if they go to meet educational expenses. Adjustments are made to account for medical costs, rent, and other expenses.
School expenses evaluated
“A student may use tuition and fees for school cost deductions, but things like books and transportation are not allowed,” Sandra Semtner, a federal employee for the program office in El Monte, said.
“The student does not have to be fully independent from his parents, but this contribution will be figured in the income,” Semtner said.
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Datty fil Trojan
University of Southern California
Volume L 'VIII, No. 46
Los Angeles, California Friday, November 21, 1975
WHOPPING CRANE—Through the combination of a parking shortage, a clear, brisk November afternoon and some fancy darkroom techniques, a huge crane at
the site of a new parking structure appears to be spinning like a Disneyland amusement ride. DT photo by Michael S. Ito.
2 major banks may discontinue giving student federal loans
By Dorothy Reinhold
staff writer
If two major banks in the area do not continue to offer Federally Insured Student Loans (FISL) next year, the consequences could be serious for many students, said Michael Scarpelli, director of Financial Aid.
He said Security Pacific and United California Banks may discontinue their participation in the FISL program because they are losing too much money.
Stella Epst of Security Pacific’s loan department said, “The whole thing is in a talk stage right now. However, there is little likelihood that we will drop the students we are already helping, although we may limit our number of new loans.”
“We can’t predict what will happen next year because nobody really knows,’’said Sally Gilbert of UCB's loan department. “We have curtailed our lending this year, not ceased it. We have made it a policy not to loan to anyone who has not previously held a loan with us, but at USC we make expections and do make loans to first-time students.”
Gilbert said the FISL program is the subject of a current Senate subcommittee hearing. Bank representatives from several regions of the country have critiqued and made recommendations about the FISL program, so any decisive plan for next
year’s program will certainly be made after UCB reviews the subcommittee’s findings, she said.
“If tomorrow were September of 1976 during registration time, the situation might be bad. There might be many students who could not get the loan they needed to attend the university,” Scarpelli said.
A FISL is an educational loan that has a 77r interest rate and must be paid back beginning nine months after the student finishes school. The student applies for the loan directly from the bank and repays it directly to the bank. The federal government pays the interest on the loan while the student is attending school if the student is judged to have financial need.
The university’s role in the application process is merely to certify that the student does attend the university and to assess whether or not the student has financial need, Scarpelli said.
A National Direct Student Loan differs from a FISL in that it is handled directly by the university. A NDSL has a 3% interest rate and the same repayment rules as a FISL.
The university contributes 117f of the funds for the NDSLs and the federal government contributes the remainder. There is no separate application for an NDSL.
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Allocations committee approves $30,000 for campus organizations
By Larry Tuck
staff writer
The interim Campus Activities Allocations Board has approved funding totaling about $30,000 for 12 organizations.
The board has another 35 requests—about $120,000 worth—still to consider. A total of about $89,000 is available in the activities fund for this semester.
Mike Peterson, chairman of the allocations board, said progress has been slow because the board is still operating with only five members.
“Maybe I should give you some kind of quote about how we re going to collapse from overwork if we don’t get some help.’’ he said.
More seriously, he said the board could “get a lot of this put out of the way in a couple of weeks,” as soon as four more members are appointed.
Under the bylaws established by the Student Senate, the board is supposed to have nine members. A senate-appointed selection committee is interviewing applicants for the remaining positions, but Peterson did not seem optimistic about any appointments being approved before mid-December.
The largest allocations so far have been to the Student Coalition on Popular Entertainment and the Coalition of Recreation Interest Clubs.
In the original entertainment allocation, passed last week, more than $13,000 was intended for a major-artist concert, probably in February, and some $1,400 for a free noon concert.
Wednesday, the board revised that allocation to provide $5,000 for noon concerts, and $10,000 for the major-artist concert. The
entertainment coalition hopes to repay most of the $10,000 through ticket sales.
The $8,000 recreation coalition appropriation includes funding for 39 clubs, mostly sports clubs. Major recipients include the radio, flying, ice hockey, la crosse. sailing and table-tennis clubs.
More than half the money will go for capital investments. Peterson said. Those expenditures should not have to be repeated for at least five years.
Also funded in the past week were Helpline. $1,975: Project FASTEN. $1,250: and Career Advocates, $1,125.
Peterson said the Helpline appropriation would be used mainly for training more volunteers so that the serv ice can expand to a 24-hour operation.
The $1,250 for FASTEN will cover about one-third of the cost of the faculty-student retreat this weekend. Another third will be donated by President John R. Hubbard and the remainder will be paid by registration fees. Peterson said.
Career Advocates is a new student organization that will supplement the work of the Career Resource Center by providing seminars and other programs on such topics as writing a resume and preparation for job interviews.
This week the Student Senate set up an Allocations Review Board, Peterson said.
The review board, made up of student senators, will her.r appeals of decisions by the allocations board. It will also review all appropriations of more than $3,000 a semester or $5,000 a year.
The review board's main function. Peterson said, will be to make sure the allocations board follows its bvlaws.
Registration packet requests due today
Today is the last day for students to request preregistration materials for the spring semester.
Request envelopes are available at the Information Center, the Student Activities Center, the Student Information Booth and the Registrar’s Office. The envelopes must be filled out and returned to the Registrar’s Office with 28 cents in postage attached.
Preregistration materials will be mailed out early in December to students who turn in request envelopes. Others may pick up the materials in person on Dec. 16.
Completed registration packets will be accepted by the Registrar’s Office Dec. 17 through Jan. 5. A lottery system will be used to fill requests for “R" cards.