10/27/2005 02:43:00 PM|||Jonthon|||

POCKETS OUT!
We wear our pockets out today to symbolically call your attention to the 175,000 students who have been robbed of their education.

You probably remember Question 31 on the FAFSA: “Have you ever been convicted of possessing or selling illegal drugs?” Did it occur to you that people who have to answer yes, or who refuse to answer, are denied college loans and scholarships of all kinds? That’s discriminatory, and it doesn’t make anyone any less likely to use drugs. It only denies them a quality education. That is absurd.

If you agree, wear your pockets out today to show your support. Sign our petition to revoke the HEA drug provision and tell our government that education is a right – not a reward.

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Today about 10 SSDP members went and handed out fliers with the above information on them, and collected 144 signatures. We were also featured on the CBS and NBC newscasts, and I believe we appeared on KBIA as well. Our effort was coordinated with similar efforts on 15 campuses across America. The petition calls for the repeal of the HEA Drug Provision, which denies people federal financial aid based on whether they have been convicted of drug crimes before. As I said so eloquently in my sound bite, "we have to learn from our mistakes, but I wonder what happens when we remove educatiion from that equation."

|||113056504465951123|||SSDP in the Circle