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Show CampusNews Page 2 Thursday, Oct. 18, 2012 Muslim club aims to dispel stereotypes false information about the Prophet Muhammad. The panel began with Ali Al-Shakhs, a USU student and member of the Saudi Student Association, giving a short biography of Muhammad, which covered the Prophet's life from his childhood to his death as the prophet. Imam of the Salt Lake City Mosque, Anwar Arafat, then gave a presentation of the basics of Islam and how Muhammad influenced the religion. Arafat said the Prophet Muhammad didn't bring any message that was really new. "The message is very simple," Arafat BY SARA MCQUIVEY staff writer In order to dispel false views of the Prophet Muhammad, USU's Saudi Student Association and Muslim Student Association collaborated in organizing a panel to students with information on Islam Tuesday night. Saudi Club President Ammar Nasser said the reason the panel was organized was to fight against false stereotypes about Islam and the Prophet Muhammad. "Before you say anything, you have to search," he said in reference to said. "His message was to worship the Creator, and not the creation. That's the same message that Abraham came with. That's the same message that all the prophets came with. Even Jesus, peace be upon him, as well." Arafat listed some important inventions that have become integrated into Western society that were originally discovered by Muslims. "Shampoo is Muslim invention, and it was invented mainly because Islam commands cleanliness," Arafat said. "In fact, the Prophet himself states that cleanliness is a half of your faith. It's physical and it's spiritual." Arafat said the belief that Muslims abuse and repress women is false. "The mother has a bigger role than the father," he said. "A man comes up to the Prophet and he says, 'Oh messenger of God, tell me, who is the most important person for me to befriend, for me to have a relationship with?' The Prophet said, 'Your mother.' Arafat said Muhammad taught paradise is found through the mothers because they bring up children. "Yet unfortunately, the stereotype is ►See ISLAM, Page 3 College 'shopping sheet' provides cost benchmarks for students BY RENEE SCHOOF Richard Cordray McClatchy Newspapers WASHINGTON — When excited students tear into college acceptance packets next spring, many will find something new inside: information that tries to make it easier to understand the costs. The federal government and more than 300 colleges and universities want to make sure students "know before they owe" what could be bills for thousands of dollars awaiting them down the road. That's what Richard Cordray, the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, said this summer when his office introduced its college costs "shopping sheet." "Students need to know how much their loans are ultimately going to cost, when all the interest and fees and other costs are factored into the equation," he said. The push by Cordray's agency and the Department of Education for clearer college-cost information comes as tuition and student debt have been rising and household income has been falling. With 7,000 schools across the country using different forms to show costs, scholarships and loans, it can be hard to compare. It's also all too easy for many highschool students to glide over what loan repayments could mean later. The default rate might be evidence of that. In the past three years, it's climbed to 13.4 percent. Student loans are in default when a borrower with a monthly payment is delinquent for 270 days. The consequences are serious, and can include garnisheed wages, collection agency costs and many years of a bad Financial Protection Bureau Students need to know how much their loans are ultimately going to cost': Growth of student loan debt About one in five U.S. households owe student debt, almost double what it was 21 years ago. How the problem has grown: 1989 • 2010 Total households Amount of debt Percent with outstanding student debt Average outstanding for households with student debt $9,634 9 26,682 19 credit rating. "Too often, students are left without a clear explanation of what the costs mean or how they compare to other colleges they are considering, and as a result, many students leave college with debt that they didn't fully understand at the time they entered school," Education Secretary Arne Duncan said last week in a blog post. Duncan wrote to all the nation's college and university presidents in July, asking them to use the college shopping sheet. Two months later, 316 schools representing 10 percent of the nation's undergraduates agreed to do so. They include the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, the University of Texas system and the University of Phoenix online schools. Lynda George, the director of student financial aid at the University of Kentucky, said clearer information would be better for students and families, and better public relations ►See MONEY, Page 3 By age group By income group Percent with student debt by age of household head Poorest affected most; student debt as share of household income Younger than 35 17 Lowest fifth Less than $21,044 24 40 35-44 Second fifth 11 10 26 45-54 Third fifth $36,723-59,623 12 7 Fourth fifth 7 17 55-64 $59,623-97,585 80-89.9% $97,586-146,791 7 Top 10% $146,791 or more 4 9 65 and older 1 • 3 $21,044-36,723 • 2 © 2012 MCT Source: Pew Research Center Graphic: Judy Treible DATA: Speaker tells students to be wary of political polls OFrom page 1 eased a bit since 2010, according to his polls. People believe the current president is more empathic to middle class America. "What does this all means, I don't know," Langer said. He pointed out that polls still cannot answer the real question on everyone's mind: Who will be the winner of the presidential election? "Stop and evaluate data," Langer said. "Whatever career you pursue beyond this university, you will encounter it." Luke Ensign, Arts and Lectures director on the Student Tradition and Activities Board, said he was happy with the turnout to the event. "It was a little more niche, so it targeted less students," Ensign said. "But I think the subject matter was very pertinent to what's going on in the country." Ensign said he hopes to increase the attendance of Common Hour. He said he's learned from the last two events, and the board plans to do more to get the word out. "We need to do a better job advertising, and we have already made plans to change that," Ensign said. Anna Harris, a senior in political science, said this was her first time attending the Common Hour event. She was drawn to the event after reading the Langer's bio in the email sent at the student body. "It was definitely in my interest to attend," Harris said. Jeris Kendall is currently working Town hall, dorm style on his master's degree in political science. He is in a research design class and recently worked on a project where involving polling. "I wanted to see what was available in field," Kendall said. "There's a more to it than I thought, so it was cool." — katrimw@gmail.com VOTE: Students don't make up majority at polls ►From page 1 he said. "They mostly hear one side." Lyons said he puts some of the responsibility on the public education system. He said students taught through the Utah public school system are not adequately taught about government, so they don't think they are directly affected by the issues addressed in politics and they don't follow current events regularly. "People are politicized when they perceive that things affect them directly," he said. Lyons said students feel unaffected by politics. "One of the main things that drives them away from politics is how contentious politics is," he said. "You can't want to have a democracy and yet want to avoid contention, but that's what many young people do seem to want." DURING A TOWN HALL MEETING TUESDAY NIGHT, students and faculty discuss what can be done to improve living situations in Central Campus.Those attending also included an IT representitive, housing director and campus police officer. SAMANTHA BEHL photo — janemiche13@gmail.com |