October 12, 2011

Page 1

SHOWMETHEMONEY

MSU is an economic powerhouse in the Wichita Falls community. The Wichitan tells you exactly how much the university pays out.

KICKIN’IT

Lady Mustangs soccer roll over WTAMU 5-0.

READ pp. 6 and 7

READ pg. 11

wichitan

ht e Wednesday

October 12, 2011

www.thewichitan.com

your campus/your news

Partisan politics polarize the U.S. CHRIS COLLINS EDITOR IN CHIEF American politics today is rife with polarization between conservatives and liberals, according to political analyst Mark Shields. The contributor to the Washington Post, CNN and PBS spoke to the MSU community Tuesday night on the state of political discourse in the United States. “There is more political polarization than at any time since I have been in Washington,” said Shields, who has covered nine presidents in his 45-year journalistic career. Two factors have contributed to this shift toward party politics. One is congressional redistricting, which affects how the congressional lines are drawn, he pointed out in an exclusive interview with The Wichitan. “The lines are drawn in a partisan

fashion,” Shields said. “So if it’s a Democratic state legislature and a Democratic governor in the state, they’re going to draw the lines so that they benefit Democrats. And vice-versa. Republicans, of whom there are more in control, draw the lines in favor of Republicans.” This way, candidates up for election don’t have to worry about doing well in the November general election, Shields said. Instead, they have to be concerned only about the primary elections. “You have to worry that someone’s going to challenge you for not being sufficiently orthodox, sufficiently zealous in your commitment to the cause, ” Shields said. This discourages what Shields called “working across the aisle,” which he summed up as politicians finding solutions to problems regardless of their political affiliation. In the current political climate, a Democrat, for example, who supports a Republican’s idea, may draw criticism from his/her fellow party

members. “What we saw in 2010 is the Tea Party challengers not only mounted challenges, but they were successful against Republican candidates for the Senate in Nevada, Colorado, Alaska, Delaware, Kentucky,” he said. “And the pattern was the same in each one of them. The person who was running had been too friendly to the other side. They worked across the aisle in a bipartisan fashion.” The second factor contributing to the growing trend of political polarization is where the representatives live. If Shields had his way, representatives would all live in Washington, D.C. They would also meet for three or four consecutive weeks, Monday through Friday. Currently representatives meet Chris Collins in the nation’s capitol on Tuesday and leave Thursday. Political commentator Mark Shields visited MSU Tuesday to discuss the polarization of If repreAmerican politics. sentatives pg. 3 all lived in

Where’s the

SHIELDS

?

The lime (or the party, as Americans say) was at Sunwatcher Plaza Friday. Hundreds of students, faculty and staff gathered for Caribfest, an annual event full of food, fun and dancing.

Kerde Severin

Student loan default rates on the rise

Student loan default rates of MSU students hit 7.1 percent in 2009, brought on by borrowers’ struggles with unemployment in the weak economy. DONACE WILKINSON The default rates for fiscal year 2009—the most recent data reFOR THE WICHITAN leased by the Department of Education – show national student loan default rates at a high of 8.8 percent. The last time rates were this high was in 1997. Texas’ overall state average default rate topped 10.1 percent. Kathy Pennartz, MSU financial aid director, said the rates will continue to rise because unemployment is the biggest factor in loan defaults. She said student loans, on average, run from $23,000 to $27,000. She said her office does its best to provide students with alternative repayment options. Students need to take advantage of the services offered by financial aid counselors to prevent an increase in MSU’s default rate and the consequences that come with defaulting, she said. “Students who default do not realize the jeopardy they put schools in,” Pennartz said. “Their default affects the entire school and the financial aid program for everybody. Schools take defaulting seriously.” A statement by the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators said rates jumped 25 percent—from 7 percent in fiscal year 2008 to 8.8 percent in fiscal year 2009. The FY2009 Cohort Default Rate measures the percentage of students whose first loan repayments came due between Oct. 1, 2008 and Sept. 30, 2009 and who defaulted before Sept. 30, 2010. The CDR has been steadily creeping up from the historic low of 4.5 percent in 2003. Pennartz said schools with default rates higher than 10 percent for three consecutive years are required to delay Base Financing Rate loan disbursements for beginning freshmen and cannot disburse single-semester loans in one disbursement. Their financial aid offices have to make multiple disbursements in the fall only. Schools with default rates of 25 percent or higher for three consecutive years lose their eligibility in the federal student aid programs. “There are repercussions but there are options,” Pennartz said. “It’s our mission to help our students avoid delinquency and defaults.” She said the financial aid office does a weekly review of its list of delinquents and calls them to offer assistance. “When [students] get into situations that are financially strapping, they panic,” Pennartz said. “Most times students do want to pay but they are having problems. When students are experiencing financial difficulty, they should contact a counselor at the financial aid office before defaults reach the danger level.” Kathi Shilanski, financial aid counselor, said it takes 270 to 360 days to go from delinquent to default on a loan. During that time, a financial aid counselor can help delinquents work on an alternative repayment option to prevent potential default. Borrowers who are eligible for the deferment option can get a temporary suspension of loan payments. During deferment, no interest is paid on a subsidized loan. For an unsubsidized loan, the borpg. 3 rower is responsible for the interest

LOANS


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