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Shqipo's Virtual Mumblings

Shqipo's personal blog, about anything and nothing.

One can kill but one can't smoke ganja

Many of the students who attend the college where I teach pay for their education either through tax-payers' money. Frankly, I've never used or seen any of these applications but one of my co-workers pointed something out to me that just left me in shock.

So I went to Fafsa's website and found the application. Here's a copy and paste of one of their questions:
Have you been convicted for the possession or sale of illegal drugs for an
offense that occurred while you were receiving federal student aid (grants,
loans, and/or work-study)?
And underneath it:
A federal law suspends eligibility for some students with drug
convictions.

WHAT? OK, I am not a consumer of illegal drugs, but I think this is way off. So, in the eyes of our gov't, someone who was convicted for smoking a joint is a much more dangerous criminal who doesn't deserve federal funds for education than someone who gets convicted for molesting children, larceny, drunk driving, rape or even murder.

Is this a great gov't or what?

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 22, 2007 at 10:22 PM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.

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By Blogger ELAIS, at 12:49 PM EST

Hmm I might be way off on this one but I read the sentence as
"suspends eligibility for SOME"
i.e. not necessarily meaning that all petty drug related offences make eligibility void.    



By Blogger shqipo, at 2:22 PM EST

you're not way off... ok, just a little maybe. based on my experience, that "some" is just as a cover up and they never really make any exceptions.    



By Blogger ELAIS, at 4:42 PM EST

If the only reason why they have written "some", is so they can cover their asses in case someone complains, than it sucks BIG time.    



By Blogger Christi, at 11:23 PM EST

That is crazy, but no different than our justice system. Steal something get 5 years in jail, rape a child get 9 months if even that.

Don't get me started. This is a hot topic for me.    



By Blogger bizele, at 1:09 AM EST

I might be wrong here, but I think the point is that a person could potentially use grant/loan money to buy narcotics or any other drugs. this way they do not even consider the application of someone who has such a prior record. for the rest, simply "good faith" that the money will be used for educational purposes...    



By Blogger Josue', at 10:40 AM EST

"Only in America"    



By Blogger shqipo, at 10:42 AM EST

@bizele: applicants never get a hand on that $$, it's transferred straight to their school of choice, so they can't abuse it. it's not like a loan you take from a bank and you can do whatever you want with it.    



By Blogger bizele, at 2:52 PM EST

I know people that I went to school with who waited for their financial aid money to pay their rent. Often times a student might have a scholarship that pays tuition partially. They can still apply for FAFSA so that they can get the rest of the tuition covered and also get loans if they need to cover living expenses. The money awarded from the grants or loans is transferred into an account to the school (like you said). Whatever sum of money is left after tuition has been covered, it is sent to the student as a check, which can be cashed and used for whatever purposes! I don't know how it works in other states, but i know that this is true for Florida.    



By Blogger Besnik Mehmeti, at 8:56 PM EST

Bizele is right. If the determined financial aid is more than your tuition, then the rest is sent to the student in the form of a check. Thereafter, the student can dispense the money however he/she wants.

Just a question though, because I don't remember this very well: Could it be that there are other questions that could cover the molestation scenario you are talking about, such as: Have you ever been convicted of a felony?

-Niku    



By Blogger shqipo, at 10:26 PM EST

it could be, I never received FAFSA so I'm not an expert on it.

I don't think there's a question about other types of conviction: http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/fafsaws78c.pdf    



By Blogger tetena, at 5:05 AM EST

shqipo (na falni po po shkruaj ne shqip), me sa di une edhe per te hyre ne amerike, ka nje pyetesor ku pyetjet shpesh jane idjote (!).

Kam edhe nje pyetje tjeter, mundohem te krijoj nje flux rss te blogut tend por eshte e pamundur ?! tek netvibes    



By Blogger Rich | Championable, at 11:38 AM EST

Hey, freakboy, why do none of your freaking feeds work?    



By Blogger shqipo, at 8:19 AM EST

@rich: how did become a freakboy?! I'm not sure what happened to the feed. please try again and let me know.

@tetena: mos kerko falje hic se s'te fal! bej shaka. te lutem provoje edhe njehere e me thuaj a punon apo jo.    



By Blogger tetena, at 9:56 AM EST

jo shqipo, nuk arrije, shikoje dhe vete tek sita www.netvibes.com    



By Blogger Amour Monde, at 5:06 PM EST

nuk e di nese eshte perkethim i drejt ne ang:"goverment is govermet ,and people are people"    



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