WEDNESDAY, JUNE25, 2003
NEWS
5
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 9
MONEY
Financial aid eligibility might change
By Ehren Meditz emeditz@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
As the Board of Regents mulls over a proposed tuition increase, KU students could also be eligible for less federal financial aid money because of a change in an aid formula by the U.S. Department of Education.
The Department uses the formula, called the Expected Family Contribution formula, in a needs analysis to gauge how much income families have available to pay for college tuition. This analysis mandates how most of the financial aid funds should be spent, beginning in fall of 2004. Tax information supplied by Internal Revenue Service is used in the formula, but the most recent information dates back to 2000.
"For the most part, the changes have been minor." said Ken Redd, director of research for the National Alliance of Student Financial Aid Administrators. "This change is unique because the data is based on tax estimates that are three years old when times have gone from good to bad."
"This change is unique because the data is based on tax estimates that are three years old when times have gone from good to bad."
Ken Redd National Alliance of Student Financial Aid Administrators research director
Redd said the change could affect students differently based on family income, costs of attendance and changes in state and local taxes. He estimated that students in Kansas with a median-level family income of $50,000 could see a reduction of between $500 and $700 in available federal financial aid during an academic year.
Brenda Maigaard, director of student financial aid, said the potential impacts concerned her.
"I don't think we have enough details on exactly how or how much this proposed change will impact student eligibility for federal financial aid," Maigaard said. "We need to ensure that any change to the needs analysis formula does not adversely affect students with demonstrated financial need."
"For the most part, the changes have been minor." Redd said. "This change is unique because the data is based on tax estimates that are three years old when times have gone from good to bad."
Redd said the largest impact would be in Pell grants. A reduction in Pell grant eligibility would force some students into working more hours or taking out more
loans, he said.
The change has caught the eye of some in Congress, and some legislators, such as U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, have introduced bills to limit the impact of the change.
"A restructuring of the Expected Family Contribution could price students out of quality educations, closing doors to Kansans and causing serious setbacks in our high standards of learning," said U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore (D-Kansas).
Rep. Barbara Ballard (D-Lawrence), associate vice provost for student affairs, said that reducing aid available for students was problematic.
"Any time we reduce our aid, it really does place a lot of burden on the students," Ballard said. "If you're putting an extreme burden on students, then you don't have the educated citizenry that you need."
— Edited by Brandon Baker
HEALTH
Tick infestation increases during summer
By Kevin Wiggs
kwiggs@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Jack Desmond and a friend were taking another bike ride around Clinton Lake, a familiar activity on a sunny summer afternoon, jumping rocks and flying through the brush.
When they finished their trip, they went through another routine — picking the blood-sucking black spots off their bodies. But one must have gone unnoticed because in about 10 days Desmond had to limp when he walked because of the pain in his foot. Soon a rash crawled up his leg, so he went to see his doctor.
"It started like nothing but my foot got painful and swollen," said Desmond, Leawood senior. "I thought I had kicked something in my sleep. I couldn't bend my toes and could barely walk."
Greg Burg, assistant director of undergraduate biology at the University of Kansas, said this year could be a banner year for the tick population in Kansas.
Burg said the increased presence of ticks probably came from one of three factors: presence or absence of the animals that they feed on, changes in land use and weather and the ticks' preference of warm and moist conditions.
Ticks are more active in the summer.
because, like insects, they do not function in the cold. Their only time for activity is in the spring, summer and early fall. While the summer has much to do with tick presence, so does the previous winter. A very cold winter can kill a large portion of the ticks, so there are less when summer rolls around.
Burg said many myths surrounded ticks, including the belief that they are capable of dropping from trees.
"They live in low brush and grass," he said. "They can't rain upon you from the trees."
Other myths involve the removal of the blood-craving pests. Home remedies such as burning the tick with a match or covering it with Vaseline can get the critter off, but increase the risk of contracting a disease that the tick might carry.
Burg said the best way to remove a tick was to grasp it with some tweezers as close to the skin as possible and to pull it straight away from the body without twisting or smashing. Removal within 24 hours of being bitten greatly reduces the risk of contracting a disease.
Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever are the most common tick-related ailments in this area, said Kathy Colson, a registered nurse at the Douglas County Health Department.
Lyme disease caused at least one million
LYME DISEASE SYMPTOMS
LYME DISEASE SYMPTOMS
large red rash resembling a bull's-eye
fatigue
fever
stiff neck
ROCKY MOUNTAIN SPOTTED FEVER SYMPTOMS
rash on arms and legs
sudden fever
chills
headache
Source: Douglas County Health Department
people in the last 20 years, said the Lyme disease Network of New Jersey's Web site.
There have been four reported cases of Lyme disease in Douglas County since 2001, but Colson said a lot of people get sick but don't see a doctor.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta reported Lyme disease infected 16,000 each year and was most common in the northeastern states.
"They get the general yucks and it seems like the flu," she said. "Some cases are persistent and the person will eventually go to the doctor."
Rocky Mountain spotted fever is less of a problem both locally and nationally, with 250 to 1200 cases annually, the CDC
said. It kills 3 to 5 percent of the people it infects. There have been no reported cases in Douglas County since 2001, Colson said.
But Burg said people should not be overly worried about the risks of contracting one of these diseases. He said only about 1 percent of ticks carried diseases, and the tick would have to be attached for more than 24 hours to infect its host.
Burg said the best way to prevent attracting ticks was to:
Wear light-colored long pants and long-sleeved shirts
Tuck pants into socks
Apply an insect repellent containing DEET.
"You should create a physical barrier between the ticks and your skin," Burg said. "They live in lower vegetation, so it's most important to protect from the waist down."
The tick that was on Desmond's foot resulted in two hospital visits in the weeks following his bike adventure.
After the first visit he got some antibiotics, but they were ineffective. Desmond returned to the hospital to get another dose of stronger antibiotics, which rid him of the affliction.
- Edited by Saju Ng'alla and Maggie Newcomer