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Show T H DAILY E U T h A CH'RONSCLE I r 7 Dope, its 6&4 W& Tile. A YOU SttoULD CohteiDGfc DP ASni I BD LETTER AMD TO THE oN6 I our SaoouM1 EDITOR indents Should Utilize ASUU Editor: would like to offer a counterpoint or two to the argument presented by Dave Hancock in his Dec. io opinion column, "Dear ASUU, $i.2M is a Lot of Money." Mr. Hancock asks, "Shouldn't each U student expect to be given something concreteand real in return for the almost $40 he or she gives to the stucent govern- ment?" He then specifically asserts that the Associated Students of the University of Utah Presenter's Office falls short of this expectation. I agree that we should be receiving returns for cur I $40, but I think that ASUU generally, and the Presen- ter's Office specifically, are offering those returns to the students who take advantage of them, i encourage each student to seek out these benefits. In my opinion, the university experience should include trying new things and exposing oneself to as much of the world as possible. It follows that the university should provide occasions for students to expand their horizons. . see PRESENTER'S, page 8 Unsigned editorials reflect the majority opinion of Tha Dally Utah Chronicle Editorial Board. Editorial columns and letters to the editor are strictly she opinions of the author. The forum crested on the Opinion Page is one based on vigorous debate, while at the same lime demanding to'erance and respect Materia! defamatory io an individual or grcup because of race, ethnic background, gender, appearance or sexual orientation will be edited or will not be published. cholarships Should Support Diversi ty in the state. U students need 2 GPA of 3.7 or higher to keep an academic scholarship. At Brigham Young Unito GPA KATKRYN COWLES two-semest- er Opinion Editor . recent survey conducted by the U's Office of Academic Planning and - Analysis cited z lack of financial aid and scholarships as the No. 1 reason, aside from LDS missions, that students leave the A university. College is expensive. There i no question about that. And recently, the nationwide trend hss been to increase student tuition rather than state funding to make up for costs that are rising much more quickly than inflation. This means that a greater financial burden rests on the shoulders of students today than ever before. To top it all off, universities across the United States are cutting back on the number of scholarships and grants available lo students. The University of Utah is no exception. The U has also moved away from departmental scholarships in favor of more general academic scholarships. Three years ago, a student could receive a four-yea- r, scholarship from the department of his or her full-tuitio- n departmental Now, only one-yescholarships are available. Aiso, the U has the most difficult scholarship-retention ar requirement ter versity and Utah State University, students GPA of 3.5 only have to keep a to retain their academic scholarships. So what is the administration doing about Chron;cle major. two-semes- when it comes all this? Nothing. U Associate Vice President for Budget and Pfenning Paul Brinkman says the only hope of restoring departmental scholarships is pri vatc donations. Everyone is ahvays complaining about the lack of diversity at the U. One explanation for the rather homogenous student body is that we do not offer enough financial help for stu- dents cf diverse backgrounds. For instance, students with working-clas- s parents are often in greater need of scholarships and financial aid than those with parents, who have a larger amount of money available to them for upper-m?ddle-cla- ss college. This is not to say that scholarships should be gi ven away entirely on 2 need basis. But by reducing all departmental scholarships, the odds of having a truly diverse student body are also reduced. Before the change lo academic scholarships, most departments could choose which student to give a scholarship to, provided that student continued to major in that department This system ensured a more equal distribution of scholarship money across ail fields of study. The focus was on excellence in that particular field, with less CHRONICLE OPINION LDITOR emphasis on the student's abilities across the academic beard. Mow, general academic scholarships are rewarded to students who had high GPAs in high school and who take tests well, with some emphasis on admissions esssys. No regard is given to race, ethnicity or sodoeco- - So what is the sdrr.infsf ration doing ebcu'i all this? Nothing. their entire education. The U's national standing goes down when it loses freshman students. Additionally, those who attend the U all four years often have to take larger and more difficult classes than those offered at community colleges, yet they receive the same diploma as a transfer student. But for those without financial aid,, attending a community college for two years is a sound course of action. Jeff E. Iloyt and Andre H. Baksh, the compilers of the survey, suggest that their survey results indicating that the No. reason students leave the U is financial stress imply that the U "should attempt to maximize financial-ai- d benefits for students (especially in the form of grants and scholarships),' I would take this a step further and say if the university really cares about having a diverse campus, especially in the area of socioeconomic class, but also in other areas, r it is necessary to offer scholarships or grants from every department. For some students, perfect grades in high school are impossible., due to jobs and other concerns. Many cf the same students may have trouble maintaining the high GPAs necessary to retain a scholarship in college because they are forced to work full time in order to support themselves. It is downright ludicrous lo depend entirely on donations for departmental scholarships, not only because the money received 13 inadequate, but also because alumni from 1 nomic background. If we want ic attract a diverse student body, we need have scholarships and grants attainable by a diverse student body. Students who had to work during high school, perhaps to the detriment of their grades, have little hope of getting a good academic scholarship, even if they excel in a particular field, and might have been an ideal candidate for a departmental scholarship. Without scholarships or grants, students who have little money to work with might end up at a community college. According to the Academic Planning survey, many students leave to go to as institution where the tuition is cheaper because they cannot afford higher tuition costs at the U. Often, students will transfer to the U after a year or two at a community college simply because it is smart financially. This situation seems rather unfair to these students who can afford to attend the U for KATHRYN COWLES LETTCRSCHRONICLE.UTAH.EDU four-yea- out-of-scho- ol see SCHOLARSHIPS, page 9 581-704- 1 |
