Linfield Review Issue #5 October 26

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The Linfield Review October 26, 2015

Linfield College

McMinnville, Ore.

121st Year

Issue No. 5

Perkins loan no longer funded

By Katelyn Prendergast For the Review

Photo courtesy Teighlor Tanaka

Scaring for a cause

Zeta Tau Alpha hosted its annual haunted house collaboration with Delta Psi Delta on Oct. 23. Students were required to bring cans of food in order to enter. This year the haunted house was themed after the popular TV show “American Horror Story.”

New counseling fee yields student, faculty reactions By Helen Lee For the Review Linfield College’s new $15 a month fee for campus counseling services has stirred resentment among members of the student body and faculty. The fee was instituted at the beginning of fall semester, but was not announced to the Linfield com-

munity. In fact, the health center web page was just updated this week to reflect the change in policy. In previous years, the health center charged students for medical treatment, but not counseling. This year, it joins a tiny minority of college counseling centers around the country, fewer than 8 percent, in charging for counseling services, according to Psychology Professor

Tania Tompkins, who has emerged as one of the fee’s leading critics. “At a time when we continue to see more students entering college with a pre-existing mental health diagnosis — and more developing significant problems with depression, anxiety and eating disorder behavior in the transition to college — it seems we should be thinking about ways to expand services, not

providing additional barriers to seeking care.” Tompkins is also upset about the lack of transparency, citing the college’s failure to inform students and faculty in advance. “No one knew — not students, not faculty advisors, not resident advisors or peer advisors,” she complained. “I often encourage students to seek out formal support from the >> See counseling on page 5

INSIDE Editorial .......... 2 News ............... 4 Features............ 7 Arts................... 8 Sports................12

News

Read about students and parents who chose to volunteer this past weekend during Make A Difference day. >> Page 4

Features

Arts

See how the Linfield cheer team has changed and advanced this year.

Read about the new satirically inspired exhibit that was recently installed in the Linfield Gallery.

>> Page 7

>> Page 8

As many college students are watching their school bill slowly increase in size, some opportunities to help are being discontinued. The Federal Perkins Loan is a program that provides low interest rates to help students with financial needs and afford the cost of postsecondary education, according to the U.S. Department of Education. When a student applies for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), they have started the application process for a Perkins Loan. The Perkins Loan was created in 1958 and was a part of the Higher Education Act of 1965. This act is to be renewed each year through the Senate. The program provided $36 billion in aid to 30 million low-income families, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. It was the oldest federal studentloan program, until Sept. 10. On Sept. 10, the Federal Perkins Loan Program was discontinued by Senator Lamar Alexander whose goal is to “simplify student aid.” The Perkins loan was overshadowed by the Stafford loan program, which is subsidized and unsubsidized loans for eligible students to help cover the cost of higher education. Another problem that was seen with the Perkins loan was its overly complicated nature. Under federal law, the Perkins program was set to expire at midnight on Sept. 30, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. Many supporters of the program pushed for extending the deadline in an effort to save the program. The bill to extend the deadline passed the House of Representatives on Oct. 5. However, the Senate is where it went wrong. Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Republican Chairman of the Education Committee, stopped it from passing. Senator Alexander is in charge of renewing the Higher Education Act in the Senate, yet he has guided >> See Perkins on page 4


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