Russian scientists bring research to PSU Vol. 96, N 0.39 20 Pages 01994 Collegian Inc Number of defaults on student loans By CALVIN WOODWARD Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON, D.C. Defaults on student loans are declining as indebted graduates scramble to "do what's right" and the government uses new tools to dig into their wages and tax refunds in case they don't. Taxpayers are expected to spend $2 billion this year paying off uncollected student loans, down from a peak of $3.6 billion in 1991, Education Secretary Richard Riley said yesterday. • "After years of rising defaults, it's going the other way," he said. Student travels across ocean to teach refugees By AMY OAKES Collegian Staff Writer Suzanne Wehr didn't get the chance to sleep until noon and spend the rest of the day relaxing by the pool this summer. Instead she awoke in Nairobi, Kenya every. weekday At- 6 a.m. to face the chalienge of teachhig — retil* children Fnglish and religion. Her classroom had cement walls, a wood floor and no heat ing, although it was Africa's coldest months. Other than a chalkboard, Wehr had no other teaching supplies. "I felt like an 18th century school teacher," she said. Unlike other students, who may have gone on vacation or worked in the safe environment of their hometowns, Wehr (junior-second ary education) entered a com pletely different world that had a lower standard of living than she knew. She had the chance to help people less fortunate than herself and to be "a spark of happiness in someone's life." Wehr taught at the Ebenezer School, sponsored by the African Inland Mission, to prepare refu gee children to enter Kenyan schools. "Our goal is twofold," said Kathy Patten, coordinator of vol unteer ministries for the African Inland Mission. "First, we want to reach unreached people with the gospel, and we want to tram leaders." After contacting the mission, Wehr's first task to get the posi tion was to get six written rec ommendations and write an introspective essay. After being accepted by the mission, Wehr had to raise $3,200 for her expenses. She asked several churches for finan cial support. One of the churches that helped Wehr was Grace Bible Greek housing comes Borou hi:rousing By NICOLE OSTROW and NICOLE RADZIEVICH Collegian Staff Writers Fraternity houses are marred remnants of the houses Jim Dees lie remembers when he was a member during the 19605. When he was a fraternity mem ber, Deeslie said his fraternity had adult supervision, even at dinner time. A polished grand piano, leather furniture and ornate rugs decorated the house's interior. But Deeslie, Highlands Civic Association co-president, said Wig still pushing for around-the-clock access to HUB nate President Josh Bokee are working with But Leila Moore, director of student unions, _ administrators to keep the ground floor of the said a USG and Student Life survey taken last attd the clock. spring did not reveal enough student interest to Stalielde Win for-a Place teland io aglitak is now open 24 hours during finals keeP it oPee. , out lite at night might not have to . a t iseek e ; means the projecta.m is passage, "Between the,. hours of 12 a.m. and 2 ~ if *s Undergraduate Student Government gent Ki ng saw, , only nee gestrie were there on average," she s;may t yaw:'wee "I'm not making u nreal is promises," he s aid * 4 Bet nthe - litirli l and head amid ' .a eampettar parades made last said . "We already know we're capable of doing tin " " na l enou g h interest" Mike King and USG Soo- it it's a matter of making it reality." ... , By WIN SThOUT ColigNamStall Writer Congress voting records go online with new service Page 5 Fellowship Church in Harrisburg, which supports missionary work. "People can gain a lot from mission work," said Allen Vivona, pastor of the Grace Bible Fellowship Church. "It gives them the opportunity to experience new things, and it gives them a chance to depend on the Lord in dilfe.rent Wehr's typical teaching day began with an adventurous drive to school with some other teach ers. "The people are crazy drivers," she said. "They just form extra driving lanes and you just have to give way." After arriving at school, the children would run to the gate and greet them. It was a real privilege for them to learn English from an American, Wehr said. Wehr and the other teachers ate breakfast while the children played with spare tires and homemade beanbags in the courtyard. In the mornings, Wehr taught English to the children. She cut out pictures of objects to help teach the children the corre sponding English word, she said. When class was finished, she and the students played games, such as a locally popular variation of Duck-Duck-Goose, she said. In the afternoons, Wehr taught her students Bible stories by reading stories aloud from her own Bible, while someone else translated. School ended at 3:30 p.m. and the children went home. "We had to force them home because they loved school so much, " Wehr said. After the children went home, Wehr met with the other teachers to discuss more efficient ways to teach. those days are in the past. Frater nities today are not conducive to family neighborhoods because they are too loud, he said. "Many fraternities are becoming night clubs on weekends," he said at the Planning Commission meet ing last Thursday. Rick Funk, coordinator of Greek life, said fraternities need to Page 4 the daily The proportion of loans in default dropped to 15 percent in 1992 the latest year for which figures are available from a high of 22.4 percent two years earlier. 'What it demonstrates is that the coun try is not made up of a bunch of people trying to con the federal government," said Leo Rondeld, deputy assistant edu cation secretary. "The large majority of people are trying to do what's right" As usual, federally backed loans for students of beauty, hair and cosmetology schools were among the hardest to recover. She lived in the home of Okshil ArtS Nr.,',.ltflOr Few canplaires. Today, most- Parental Advisow , i i IY lainny with a few high douds, high 115. Tonight. deer and dilly, - ' l7 •,- State representative aims to make km 411. Tomorrow. sal isnw and plessert. NO 611 —24 :. •, -;--.... some albums off-limits to minors ....;„,1 4 , , j ., r —by Paul Uarkowsld .. 0 , tI 1. - Page 16 C 011 e g i l l an 3 ° . The government took it biggest gamble in Nevada, where three gaming schools joined a long list of other institutions to drive up the state's default rate on student loans to 34 percent. Louisiana (23.1 percent), Connecticut (22.3), Alaska (21.1), Florida (20.9) and California (20.1) were the other states where more than one in five student loans was in default. Borrowers in Montana, North Dakota and Vermont were the best at paying up. Less than six percent of ex-students in those states defaulted on their loans defined as going at least six months without a payment. Suzanne Wehr walks with some of her students in Kenya. Wehr spent the summer In Africa teaching English to refugee children. "... they loved school so much." Suzanne Wehr (junior-secondary education) Kim, a Korean woman who started the school. On Friday afternoons, Wehr and other teachers would visit the students' homes. "It was really fun and it helps to become close to the students," she said. And it was these close student ' teacher relationships that made it difficult for Wehr to leave. "The children were full of so much energy and were so fun," she said. "They didn't look at all like the images of malnourished Africans from 1988. I was crying when I left them." Through her teaching experi- under fire address these community con emu. "There needs to be some dia logue between each side," he said. These problems have been ong oing, he said, adding that there has been no permanent solution because the community is con stantly changing. Times have changed, but not in the way Deeslie sees it, said Kerry Small, an alumnus of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, 200 E. Beaver Ave. "I'm the last from the good-time Please see HOUSING, Page 8. Friday, Sept. 2, 1994 ence and her relationships with the students, Wehr learned a great deal about herself and oth ers. "I learned to completely rely on God for everything, and I also learned what works with teaching children," she said. The experience also made her realize that teaching was the right field for her. Wehr said she would like to return to teach in Kenya in the future. And her father, David Wehr said he knows that her experience will help her determine what she'll do in the future. For now, Suzanne Wehr is continuing her studies at Penn State, but her outlook on the future has changed since return ing. "When I go out with friends and spend 10 dollars, I think about what the money could do for the refugee children," she said. "They are just trying to survive." Mike SteinbeN working on Greek housing plan The government has toughened student loan rules in the last few years, lowering the benchmark for penalizing schools with high default rates, garnishing the wages and income-tax refunds of delinquent borrowers and making it harder for them to get credit cards and other loans. "We can see substantial progress through the cooperative efforts of Con gress, schools and the Education Depart ment," Riley said in releasing the default rates." Riley reported a fourfold increase in the amount of money collected from the income tax refunds of delinquent borrow ers. Plane use HUB, Page 8. i'r' A small classroom Is the setting for one of Suzanne Wehes English lessons. Wehr said her close dos to her students made leaving difficult. U.S.-N. Korea ties to be discussed By BARRY SCHWEID AP Diplomatic Writer WASHINGTON, D.C. The United States has agreed to talk to North Korea next week about establishing diplomatic offices in the two capitals. It is a major step toward formal relations with the hard-line Communist government. That would depend, however, on reaching an overall agreement on North Korea's suspect nuclear program, which, after more than a year of quarreling, the Pyongyang government pledged in July to freeze and to partially open to international inspectors. Administration officials said yesterday the talks beginning on Sept- 11/, apparently the first ever in the North Korean capital of Pyciagyang, would concern arrangements for setting up liai son offices there and in Washing- ■ 10 deci,nec,„ The full weight of collection efforts will bring in more than $5OO million on old and newly defaulted loans this year, he said. It was the second straight year defaults have declined. The rate fell to its lowest level since the Education Department began reporting the figures in 1986, offi cials said. The default rate at private trade schools where delinquency is usually highest stood at 30.2 percent, just more than twice the national average. That was a decline from 41.2 percent in the previous year. As well, 376 schools are at risk of hav ing their students cut off from all federal student loans and grants. ton D.C. Establishing mail service, renting office space and real estate laws will be on the agenda. Technical experts from the two sides will meet the same day in Berlin on replacing a five-mega watt experimental reactor that is part of North Korea's nuclear program with new technology that is considered less dangerous. -The Berlin meeting also will deal with ways to safely store spent fuel from the North Korean reac tor and to temporarily provide North Korea with energy during a period of conversion to light-water reactors. Berlin was chosen because of Germany's expertise in technology, officials said. On Sept. 23, senior negotiators will reconvene in Geneva to pur sue North Korea's quest for rec ognition and economic ties with the West and the U.S. drive to halt Please see N. Kern. Page 8.
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