trojan
Volume XC, Number 43
University of Southern California
Wednesday, April 8, 1981
Student Senate stresses campus participation
‘Voice of students’ states purpose:	Senate proposes restructuring
building stronger government	of student fees, representation
By Casey Wian
Staff Writer
Have you ever wondered where the seven dollar charge on you fee bill labeled “student activity fee” goes? The money, which amounts to about $250,000 each year, is given to the university’s only campus-wide student government, the Student Senate.
The Senate consists of 33 members, 16 undergraduate and
17	graduate students. The undergraduate senators come from four constituencies: commuter students (five senators), the student community (four senators), the Greek community (four senators) and the residence halls (three senators).
The graduate senators come from the various graduate schools at the university.
"The Student Senate is the primary route through which students can participate in the recommendation of university-wide policies and the shaping of university activities. The Student Senate is empowered to make recommendations on any subject involving the students at U.S.C.,” states the Student Senate Handbook on Student Involvement.
On September 28, 1980, the Student Senate released a “statement of purpose” that reads as follows:
1.	To seek and attain effective communication (relations) within the university and external communities.
2.	To lead student efforts aimed at improving student life.
3.	To insist upon academic freedom, responsibility and excellence.
4.	To promoye cohesion within the student body.
5.	To insist upon qualtiy education at an affordable cost, thereby providing access to the University for persons of all economic levels.
6.	To assume responsibility for exercising the rights of students.
The Student Senate is divided into three major agencies : the Executive Committee, the Research-Action Committee and the Program Team.
(Continued on page 9)
By Laura M. Rodriguez
Staff Writer
The Student Senate will attempt to pass a proposal to increase student fees and make adjustments to the Senate bylaws by increasing student representation.
Although requiring a $5 total increase in student fees, the current four areas of money distribution would be accommodated in three divisions, and programs would be restructured accordingly.
Student Health and Counseling Services would be the only area to .increase fees to $50. a $5 difference from its current standing. The Senate attributes the increase to a 10 percent budget rise for the coming year, and an anticipated Health Center fee of $51.50 per student each year.
Under the new proposal. Student Programming fees and the Norman Topping Student Aid Fund would be incorporated under a new division of Student Government. However the Senate may raise the programming fee to accommodate inflation rates.
Legal aid money, previously listed under Student Health and Counseling, would be accounted for under Student Srvices, as well as money toward the Student Activities Center. Student Services fees would continue to use existing program allocations together with funds for expanding programs.
In essence, the restructuring would consolidate existing charges through a slight increase and establish a formal process to evaluate programs, budgets, and services through student cooperation.
The proposal was initiated because of the University's attempts to deal with the higher costs of regulation, inflation costs, and government controlled expenses.
The Student Senate has been approached with the idea of incorporating additional fees in tuition costs, but made the distinction that fees are primarily a source of funding. In the competition for a share in the tuition allocation, the Senate felt that some support activities would not be given a fair share.
(Continued on page 6)
INTEREST ON LOANS FIRST TARGET FOR CUTS
Financial Aid Office prepares for budget changes
By Eric Vincent
Staff Writer
The Financial Aid office is preparing for possible changes that will come about if the Reagan Administration’s proposed budget cuts are approved by Congress.
The proposed budget cuts will only affect the Guaranteed Student Loan (GSL) program and the Basic Educational Opportunity Grant (BEOG) program.
The Financial Aid office expects few or no changes in the National Direct Student Loan (NDSL) program, the college work study program or the supplemental grant program, said Michael Halloran. director of automated systems of financial aid.
These programs are not a part of the currently proposed budget cuts and the university has already been budgeted for these programs, Halloran said.
"Right now, there is a freeze on processing of Pell Grants (which were formerly called basic grants), but the processing is due to resume either the end of this month or early in May,” Halloran said.
As a result. Students should begin getting their eligibility reports starting in early summer.
Halloran said the College Scholarship Service, which determines the financial need of applicants continues to send their results to the Basic Grant program. But applications are being held for processing at a later date, waiting until the new regulations are finalized.
Halloran estimates that if the budget cuts are passed, the Pell grants would be reduced by $100 to $300 per student.
The only exception to these cuts will be those students who presently receive the maximum amount possible under the program, whose need requirement will not cause a reduction in thier award, Halloran said, stressing that these are only estimates.
The GSL program will be changed a great deal under the proposed budget cuts, Halloran said.
“We know the Reagan Administration is trying to cut hundreds of millions of dollars out of that program and there are three mechenisms being prop-
osed to do this,” Halloran said.
The first one is to eliminate the interest subsidy for students while they are in school, which means the students would pay the interest on the loans in advance. The total interest payment would be deducted from the loan amount.
Another possibility would be
to let the interest on the loan begin to accrue immediatly after the loan is granted. Presently, the federal government pays the interest six to nine months after the student graduates.
A second way to reduce the GSL budget would to put an income ceiling on the eligibiltiy for a GSL so that only students
who come from families with an adjusted gross income below a certain amount would be eligible, Halloran said.
Halloran said the most recent figure he heard for this income amount is $45,000.
The third proposal is to require all students who are going (Continued on page 3)
Fewer students will receive grants under Reagan’s proposed revisions
By Sheila Bedworth
Staff Writer
Approximately 250,000 fewer students will receive federal college grants and the average award will be reduced 14 percent under President Ronald Reagan’s proposed budget revisions, according to the latest report released by the Congressional Budget Office.
By 1982 20 percent fewer students would receive grants than in the 1980-1981 academic year, a decrease of 575,000 students.
The largest percentage reduction in benefits would occur for moderate and middle-income students, but most of the overall reduction would affect awards to lower-income students because they are the majority of recipients.
Many moderate-to middle-income families
would be eliminated from efigibilty for grants, retargeting the program on the most needy.
The Middle-income Student Assistance Act of
1978	and the Higher Education Amendments of 1980 expanded the scope of grant eligibility to include families with incomes of up to $25,000.
However, Reagan’s proposed grant reforms include increasing family contributions and requires students to contribute $750 as a “self-help” fee, tightening allowable education costs and eliminating administrative allowances for institutions.
The continuing resolution for fiscal year 1981 provides $2.2 billion for grants, but an additional $1.5 billion is needed because of cost overruns in
1980	and recent estimates of higher program costs in 1981.
(Continued on page 8)