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Show SECTION SUNDAY, APRIL 6, METRO EDITOR scon freitmisiiay Brittani Lusk DAILY it's not a time for panic," said David Feitz, executive director of the Utah Higher Education Assistance Authority. Banks, which loan money to students based on a federal guarantee, have been leaving the federal student-loa- n program in droves, partly because they're not profitable. State agencies have also stopped HERALD Officials may say the economic slump hasn't punched Utah yet, but the combination of the credit crunch and a new law could eventually impact college students in Utah County when it comes to student loans. "It's a time for concern, but making direct loans, which has caused anxiety across the industry. In Utah, things look brighter. Only one Utah bank, Zions Bank, has left the federal program and UHEAA has enough funds to make it through this school year. "We don't foresee any immediate impact on students," Ad said Paul Conrad, director of financial aid and scholarships at Brigham Young University. One of the reasons for banks ending participation in the federal student loan program is the The College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007. The law cut lender interest income and increased risk sharing and lender-paiorigination fees on d Amie Rose I 2008 aroseOheraldextra.com 344-253- 0 student loans federal education loans, according to FinAid, an online guide to financial aid. In Utah, UHEAA buys most student loans made through lenders. Feitz said the credit crunch that began with ' the subprime mortgage meltdown has impacted UHEAA's ability to get the credit to buy loans. Feitz said UHEAA has the resources to make it through this year, but is hoping the tide turns. "For the coming school year, we expect no disruption in student loan availability," Feitz said. Lawmakers are already taking steps to remedy the See LOANS, B3 N.Y. columnist talks politics at Sundance S.L. police say Caleb Warnock crack cocaine DAILY HERALD In a Saturday session moderated by UVSC president William Sederburg, Maureen Dowd, op-e- d columnist for the New York Times, took on would-b- e US. presidents at Sunquestion-and-an-sw- use growing ' dance.;'' Saturday was Dowd's third visit to speak at Sundance, though this time, she had no book to promote. "I didn't come to hawk a book. ' I don't have one," Dowd said, not- ing that she wanted to escape a dark computer room and remembered Sundance as "an oasis of kindness ... So this year I thought it would be fun to talk politics in this remarkable year." In a short speech before taking questions, Dowd opened by say- ing she had just come from Washington D.C., "where we remain flummoxed about why the president is in such a fine mood." George W. Bush recently gave a speech "chortling and joking as the nation fell off an economic cliff ," she said. Dowd said she had recently written that, having secured his presilegacy as a dent, a jovial Bush seems to have "morphed into Gene Kelly." That reference elicited "an out- ' raged letter" from the widow" of Gene Kelly, who wrote that "she knew Gene Kelly, and George . Bush was no Gene Kelly," Dowd said, adding that she wrote back crash-and-bu- 11 New York Times Op-e- d MARIO RUIZDaily Herald columnist Maureen Dowd speaks at the Sundance Author Series on Saturday. - to apologize. The crowd laughed., buttoud.;.s A Salt Lake Tribune reporter asked Dowd over the weekend if she felt burned out by the political marathon of the campaign for tharesuft" by a i gerang invoiveu in puwiv nuu havine a voice, she said. She joked that perhaps people such iun said. White but. Dowd the .. . . - House, , . she felt the nation migni be seeing things a different way. "After so many years of being apathetic, Americans seem to have woken up to how much - itisio-chang- e - . See DOWD, B3 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SALT LAKE QTY Crack cocaine is increasingly becoming the drug of choice in Utah's largest city, authorities say. Salt Lake City police Lt. Mike Ross said narcotics detectives seized 220 percent more crack in 2007 than they did in the previous year. "In my 16 years here with the police department, we've never seen a crack cocaine problem like "In my we have now," Ross said. 16 years Kelly Birky, a narcotics detective at the Salt Lake here, we've County Sheriff's Off ice, said in the last year she has never seen served at least six search a crack warrants on people selling cocaine only crack. Many crack dealers pack the drug in problem balloons then carry the balloons in their mouths so they like we can be swallowed if police have now." arrive. Those dealers, sometimes called "spitters," often IX Mike Ross around schools,-- Salt Lake City started we "When seeing police the balloon dealers selling it, a it was we knew when that's problem," Birky said. Birky said heroine is the area's top drug problem while Ross says it's still meth. But both detectives say crack is growing in popularity. ' Birky and Fleming said the crack increase is a byproduct of Utah's successes combatting meth. A crackdown on that drug has boosted the price of meth in Utah to about $ 1,700 per ounce. ' Mental hospital uses 'positive' treatment Six months was the median length of stay last year on the hospital's forensic unit, which houses about two dozen killers who share housing with defendants accused of shoplifting, d stalking, forgery and crimes. Patients doing civil commitments spent just over five months at the hospital And the acmajority of patients willingly cept treatment and medications. "Many patients say, This is the first time I've felt peace. I'm not bothered by the voices anymore,' " Earnshaw says. "Most come in, get treated and are Stephen Hunt 'We are trying to get them back home." CANYON COUNTRY EXCHANGE - . - , It seems more like PROVO a college campus than home Dallas Earnshaw to several hundred mentally ill substance-abus&relate- patients, including dozens hospital superintendent convicted or accused of murder, rape or aggravated assault. Tucked against the foothills east of Provo, Utah State Hos- pital is located on 600 grassy acres where, on a balmy day in patients are March, a out for a stroll. It's nothing like the tumultu- ous insane asylums of bygone eras depicted in Hollywood movies such as "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," in which Jack Nicholson's character is electro-shoc- k cruelly subjected to therapy and, eventually, a fill the corridors with sunlight. "What goes on here is extremely positive," says hospital Superintendent Dallas Earn- half-doze- n AL HARTMANNSalt Lake Tribune Janina Chilton, who worked for the Utah State Hospital for 25 years, holds a mannequin leg with an 'Oregon Boot,' a weight that was used many years ago to slow down patients that were prone to try to escape. shaw, noting that mental illnesses have biological causes. "It doesn't have to be scary or stigmatized." rclcflsccL cases like Headline-grabbin- g The hospital has 100 beds for the recent treatment battle of alleged Elizabeth Smart kidnapper Wanda Eileen Barzee who is fighting forced medication before the Utah Supreme Court this month after four years at the hospital are lobotomy. At Utah State Hospital staffers smile, the patients seem cheerful and skylighted ceilings t "forensic" patients, who are charged with or convicted of crimes. The forensic unit is monitored by cameras and two staffers in ed See HOSPITAL, B8 See COCAINE, Former inmate sues jail nurse ' THE ASSOCIATED PRESS A Utah County man SALT LAKE OTY has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court against a nurse at the Utah County Jail for failing to was an give him proper medical care while he inmate. He says that as a result, he may have been rendered sterile. The lawsuit says the man wasnt properly examined when he complained he had severe swelling and pain. The lawsuit claims negligence on the part of the nurse as well as a violation of constitutional rights. It seeks an unspecified amount of damages. mm r )fOD0rm 5I0RES r.::h 3D$ib' While suf:'hi list Wh ite supplies It 59fcb a L f ; i Whilt supplies i issl '3lbstor1 I" breach 'a J i ""- -' .bags for 'J ) 5for1 V"' B3 , ' i.GLNCY SUi'PLItS |