Student Choice showdown
Briana Hansen
Staff Writer
Xavier students’ tuition could go up by $900 next year because of a proposed change in the Ohio public education grant system that would help increase the number of Ohio college graduates by 230,000 over the next 10 years.
In order to achieve this goal, Gov. Ted Strickland’s new operating budget proposes to limit and, cut funding for the Ohio Student Choice Grant.
This initiative has been in place in Ohio since 1983 and according to many private Ohio institutions including Xavier, has been tremendously successful.
The grant is a non-need based initiative that gives students $900 per year to attend private, non-profit universities within Ohio. It most significantly affects middle-income families who do not qualify for financial aid but still struggle to make enough in order to give their children the opportunity for a private university education.
Though Strickland’s representatives did not answer directly when contacted by the Newswire, the Governor issued a statement last Saturday in response to the House passage of the operating budget.
“My education proposals represent a significant step forward toward addressing education funding in Ohio,” said Strickland. The Student Choice Grant would be one of the casualties if the Senate also approves the operating budget.
The outcry at Xavier has been overwhelmingly negative. University President Father Michael Graham co-wrote an editorial in the Cincinnati Enquirer two weeks ago. In it, he explains the benefits private universities offer in Ohio and the significance of the Ohio Student Choice Grants in making private or faith-based higher education possible.
Last year, 58,000 students benefited from the Ohio Student Choice Grant. Xavier currently has 1,740 students receiving the grant. If the new budget is accepted, the funding for non-qualified grant recipients could stop as quickly as next fall. Xavier could stand to lose nearly $1.3 million in funding.
Supporters of the Governor’s operating budget claim that the changes will not limit students options, but strengthen public institutions through increased funding.
Those students that qualify for need-based grants will still receive them and the Ohio Student Choice Grant will simply translate into more funding for need-based students. Those students who do not qualify financially for the grant, however, will lose it altogether.
Dissenters of the proposed budget, including most Ohio private higher education institution leaders, claim that scholarship and grant money affects college and university choices.
They believe that losing the grant will not only lead to a “brain drain” in the state, but will also lead to an overall needed increase in education funding.
If more private school students attend Ohio public schools, increased enrollment would strain the existing system and necessitate entirely new facilities in order to accommodate more students.
The grant itself has remained relatively uncontroversial throughout the past 24 years, but the impending threat of its loss is causing controversy across the state, raising questions about the worth of public versus private education.
Even though campaigns like “Save Student Choice” have highlighted the strong sentiments on either side of the argument, the decision ultimately lies now in the hands of the Ohio Senate.
Coulter to speak at Cintas
John LaFollette & Elizabeth Sullivan
Staff Writers
Renowned purveyor of controversy Ann Coulter is scheduled to speak at Cintas Center on September 6, 2007.
Ann Coulter is coming to Xavier. Prepare to be offended.
Coulter, a prominent conservative pundit, has been scheduled to speak at Xavier on September 6 at a free event at the Schiff Family Conference Center, making her the most controversial speaker to come to this campus since Michael Moore in 2003.
Coulter is an outspoken political analyst whose shocking views have drawn widespread criticism from Republicans and Democrats alike. Some of her outrageous statements include calling 9/11 widows “millionaire broads” and “celebrity seekers,” while accusing them of “enjoying their husbands’ deaths.”
More recently, Coulter implied that Democratic presidential nominee John Edwards is a “faggot.” She has also poked fun at former vice-president Al Gore’s fluctuating weight, comparing his size to that of an endangered polar bear.
Coulter comes to Xavier courtesy of the College Republicans, who began selling concessions at Cincinnati Reds games just under two years ago to raise money to attract a prominent speaker.
With monetary support from the Ohio College Republican Federation, the Xavier branch had enough to cover Coulter’s speaking fee, which has been said to be somewhere in the range of $20,000-$30,000. Xavier College Republicans would not give details about other financial specifics, saying only that they had raised a little over half of the total fee.
Despite her controversial reputation, it is as yet unclear what effect Coulter’s presence will have on campus, since many Xavier students are unaware of her political celebrity.
She has not been historically well-received at other college campuses: During a speech in 2004 at the University of Arizona, two young men attacked Coulter with custard cream pies, and at an April 1, 2007 speech in Pittsburgh her “inane rhetoric recycled from her various media appearances” left many students “sorely disappointed,” according to the Duquesne University Duke.
While the rest of campus might be relatively apathetic when it comes to public figures like Coulter, at least two clubs feel strongly about her scheduled visit.
“She is a hateful person who contributes nothing to constructive political dialogue in this country,” said Greg Nicholas, president of Xavier College Democrats.
“I am disappointed that any organization would bring a person like Coulter to this Jesuit campus– a person who has publicly mocked the genocide in Darfur, used offensive slurs referring to homosexuals and Muslims and scoffed at the sacrifices made by Vietnam veterans,” he added.
As opposed as College Democrats may be to this speech, College Republicans are just as excited. “The mission of our club is to promote conservative ideals on campus and we feel that Ms. Coulter’s appearance will be a provocative and entertaining way of fulfilling that goal,” said College Republicans president Ted Brown.
“We hope that those in the Xavier community will enjoy Ms. Coulter’s visit and, regardless of political views, come to hear her thoughts. Diversity of opinion is what makes America great,” said Brown.
John LaFollette
Editor-in-Chief
Matthew Finger
Managing Editor
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