Editor,

The House of Representatives' Committee on Education and the Workforce is poised to debate a cut in the interest rate on student loans, which should result in an $11 billion cut for student borrowers.

The cut in interest rates is scheduled to go into effect July 1, 1998, and would reduce the interest students pay on their loans from a projected average of 7.8 percent over the next five years to 7 percent. This would save borrowers hundreds of dollars in interest.

For example, last year's senior class at OU graduated with an average indebtedness of approximately $14,100. If the planned cut goes into effect, the reduction would translate into more than $675 in interest savings on an average loan of $14,100.

However, the lending community is lobbying hard to reverse the planned cut or reduce the rate of the cut. As they have done many times in the past, the loan industry is seeking to protect their profits at the expense of students.

OU students receive Direct Student Loans and do not use private lenders for loan capital. But if the banking industry has its way, the cuts now scheduled to take effect July 1 will be eliminated or reduced for ALL student borrowers.

Your voice can make a difference. You should call your representative at once and express you support for the planned interest rate change scheduled to go into effect July 1.

You can reach your representative by calling 202-225-3121 (the main switchboard at the House of Representatives) and ask to be connected to your representative, the ranking chairperson of the committee, Rep. Williams Goodling, R-Pennsylvania, or sub-committee chair, Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon, R-California. Both of these members are majority members. Reps. William Clay, D-Missouri, and Dale Kildee, D-Michigan, represent the minority.

This is not a partisan issue; it is an important student issue. Before you leave for spring break, speak up for students. Your call can make a difference in your future.

Carolyn Sabatino, director of financial aid and scholarships
Chubb Hall 020

Voice for your rights

Editor,

I am a regular reader of the Pittsburgh Courier, to which OU Professor Emeritus James E. Alsbrook is a regular contributor.

Like Alsbrook, I am a strong believer in affirmative action remedies that address our social position one century after the death of slavery.

What I dispute about mainstream African-American commentary is the perpetuation of the myth that white liberals are weak or unwelcome allies in the struggle for civil rights.

Whites have fought, died and braved insult, slander and violence in this cause. In the field of education, whites have worked alongside blacks in gruelling years of integration, opening doors for one another and encountering agape (unconditional love).

Recently, the film Amistad presented a politically correct image of the abolitionists as weird, insipid song-singers. Real abolitionists, such as John Brown and William Lloyd Garrison, were actually men of the toughest mettle.

It is my belief that African Americans have been seduced by the workings of fiction concerning their dilemma in American society.

Until blacks recognize that white liberals are their sturdiest, strongest allies in the United States of America, the writings of important commentators such as James E. Alsbrook will be wounded by this disservice to the truth.

James Crary
deafjim@webtv.net