86043526798
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
6A NEWS STIMULUS (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2009
according to the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.
Aside from tuition, students also have to worry about other fees, including books and organization fees.
Phil Hoefer, Hutchinson junior, relies on student loans to pay for college. He said his parents couldn't afford to pay his tuition and he received a minimal amount of money from grants.
"I think grants be used use way more." Hoefer said. "It puts
a lot of stress on me to know how much money me and my parents have to pay back from loans."
While Hoefer received some aid from the government, he said it wasn't enough to cover his tuition and fees.
In the current version of the bill, Pell Grant maximums would be increased from $4,850 to $5,350.
"I was dead set on coming to KU, so we took out private loans," Hoefer said.
Like Hoefer, students turn to private lenders when their federal aid runs out. Donna Ginther, associate professor of economics, said. But when the banking industry fell, the flow of cash for student loans stopped, making private loans less available. Ginther said including money for higher education in the stimulus package was necessary because of the clog in private lending and the necessity for students to stay in school. She said a college education would benefit the economy in the long run because of the skills learned.
"Take science degrees, for example," Ginther said "Science is the future of new development."
Lynch said that while the majority of the stimulus package was aimed at boosting the economy by creating jobs, the education portion would ultimately fit that goal by providing job training programs and easy access to college degrees.
"The goal is to get people working, and to get people to go to college who normally wouldn't go." Lynch said.
While the majority of the education clause is directed at primary education, Ginther said it would still help higher education indirectly. She said states were required to fund primary schools, but not higher education institutes.
"If the stimulus package provides money to the states for primary education, there will be less of a need to cut funding for higher ed," Ginther said.
Edited by Casey Miles
by the numbers
Number of students enrolled for 2007-2008 school year
Total: 29,260
Undergraduate: 20,828
Graduate: 8,432
Average tuition and fees for 2007-2008
Resident undergraduate: $7,398.86
Graduate: $8,120.44
Nonresident undergraduate: $16,905.86
Graduate: $15,511.44
The average cumulative debt for December 2007 and May 2008 graduating seniors with federal loans (omits parent loans but includes private/alternative loans) was $20,902.
Source: Office of Institutional Research and Planning
CRIME
FBI: New leads in 1982 poisoned Tylenol case
FBI agents carry boxes out of the apartment building in Cambridge, Mass., Wednesday after searching the apartment home of James W. Lewis, who was linked to the fatal 1982 Tylenol poisonings that triggered a nationwide scare.
BOSTON — James W. Lewis has a habit of getting into trouble. And a knack for getting out of it, too.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
He was charged with killing and dismembering a man in Kansas City, Mo., in 1978, but the case was thrown out. He was jailed on rape charges decades later in Massachusetts, but went free when the victim refused to testify.
And while authorities in Chicago have long suspected Lewis was responsible for the deadly 1982 Tylonen poisonings, the only thing they ever pinned on him was an extortion attempt against the maker of the pain reliever. No one was ever charged in the seven cyanide deaths.
Now the FBI says there are new leads in the Tylonel case and on Wednesday seized a computer and boxes of files from Lewis' Boston-area home. The mysterious and sudden flurry of activity has raised hopes of a long-awaited break in the sensational 26-year-old case.
"Up until yesterday, I thought this would never be solved in my lifetime or ever," said Jack Eliason, whose sister, Mary McFarland, a 31-year-old mother, died after swallowing poisoned Tilenol.
Exactly why investigators have suddenly taken so much interest in the self-proclaimed "Tylenol"
In a space of three days beginning Sept. 29, 1982, seven people who took cyanide-laced Tylenol in Chicago and four suburbs died. That triggered a national scare and a huge recall, and eventually led to the widespread adoption of tamper proof packaging for over-the-counter drugs.
Caught after a nationwide manhunt in late 1982. Lewis gave investigators a detailed account of how the killer might have done it, and eventually admitted sending a letter demanding $1 million from the manufacturer of Tylenol to "stop the killing."
But he said he was only trying to exploit the crisis, and denied he had anything to do with the deaths. He was convicted of extortion in 1983 and spent 12 years in prison, getting out in 1995.
Lewis's life both before and after his prison sentence is full of strange and disturbing twists.
Police said that he was arrested in 1973 and 1974 for fighting with his stepfather and spent time in mental institutions.
In 1978 he was accused of dismembering a 72-year-old man
who had hired him as an accountant. The charges were eventually dismissed because the cause of death was not determined and some evidence had been illegally obtained. Lewis denied killing the man.
He and his wife, Leann, moved to the Chicago area in the early 1980s, their activities shrouded in secrecy. Authorities said Lewis was chameleon-like in his ability to change his identity, using at least 18 names and posing as a freelance writer, real estate salesman, computer assistant and importer of Indian tapestries.
In 2004, Lewis was charged with kidnapping and raping a woman. He was jailed for three years while awaiting trial, but prosecutors dropped the charges after the victim refused to testify.
Lewis is listed as a partner in a Web design and programming company called Cyberlewis. On its Web site, he complains about being known as "the Tylenol Man."
enjoy twisting and contorting what I say into something ominous and dreadful which I do not intend.
"Somehow, after a quarter of a century, I surmise only a select few with critical minds will believe anything I have to say," he says in an audio clip. "Many people look for hidden agendas, for secret double entendre, and ignore the literal meanings I convey. Many
"That my friends is the curse of being labelled the Tylenol Man. Be
that as it may, I can NOT change human proclivities. Listen as you like" Lewis said.
OREAD (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
"It's horrible, this place tears your car up." Stoll said.
Kraig Stoll, Mulvane junior, lives in the Oread neighborhood. Stoll's main concern was street conditions.
"Our main goal is to brainstorm and prioritize the strengths, weaknesses, issues and opportunities of the neighborhood." Leininger said.
"I see so many girls eat it," Norton said.
Alexandra Norton, Chicago senior, said the broken, uneven sidewalks combined with and poor lighting created a dangerous situation.
any concern
Dan Hamilton, Baldwin City senior, doesn't live in the area, but said he had been visiting Lawrence since he was young.
Norton doesn't have any noise complaints. She said she expected to hear rowdy noises and deal with drunken people because it's a student neighborhood.
"We have always called this the ghetto," Dan Hamilton, Baldwin City senior, said.
Hamilton said parking was sometimes troublesome, especially on streets that don't have alleys, such as Ohio Street.
Jennifer Stanton, Wichita senior, said students living in the area knew what they were getting into when they moved into the student ghetto.
She found some of its problems endearing.
The Oread neighborhood is east of campus and ends at Massachusetts Street. Its outer boundaries lie between Ninth and 17th streets.
"It makes it feel more like a college atmosphere," Stanton said.
Stanton said she thought students in the area didn't care much about how well the neighborhood was maintained because most only lived there for a short period of time.
Norton agreed with Stanton and said the neighborhood was great for students because it was close to campus and had a large student population.
-Edited by Sonya English
ELECTION Franken asks Minn. court to give him Senate seat
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Lawyers for Democrat Al Franken told Minnesota's highest court Thursday that he should be certified as the winner of his tight Senate race with Republican Norm Coleman without waiting for the outcome of his rival's legal challenge.
The Minnesota Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Franken's request for a certificate of election now, at least on an interim basis, so that Minnesota's empty seat can be filled without waiting the months it may take for the courts to resolve Coleman's separate lawsuit over the recount, which gave Franken a 225-vote advantage.
The justices took the case under advisement and didn't say when they might rule, but their many questions suggested they were skeptical of Franken's arguments.
GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Democratic Secretary of State Mark Ritchie have rejected Franken's demand for the certificate, which he would need under Senate rules to take the seat Coleman had to vacate early last month as the new Congress convened.
Associated Press