By Michael Connors

ST. JOHN'S, Nfld. (CUP) -- A summer-long or- deal based on one clerical error has lefta Memorial University student frustrated with Student Aid.

Steven Bailey, a first- year student, applied for his first student loan last January.

As far as he knew there were no problems until June

17, when he received a letter from Memorial University say- ing he still owed them $1,450 in tuition fees, the exact amount of his loan.

Two months of letter- writing and phone calls later, the matter was still notresolved and Bailey was in danger of not being allowed to register for the fall semester.

The problems were the result of an incorrect date on Bailey's loan form. According to Bailey, someone at Student Aid filled in the year 1998 instead of 1996.

As a result, he never received the Canada Student Loan he needed to cover tui- tion for the winter.

"I gotanother letter July 6, and at that point I was phon- ing [the bank] and Student Aid, and I didn't get in contact with [Student Aid operations man- ager] Karen Tucker until mid- July," said Bailey. "She said she was talking to someone at [my bank] and that it had been cleared up."

But Bailey received an- other letter from the university saying he still owed tuition fees for January, and under univer- sity policy, students can't reg- ister for courses until all out- standing fees have been paid.

Atthat point Bailey ap- proached student council vice- president Zaki Saleemi to take up the matter on his behalf.

The Panther Prints @> News

Typd Screws Up Student's Loan

"So far I've received three formal complaints [about Student Aid]," said Saleemi. "This is another one of those areas of Student Aid thatneeds reform. In the larger picture there are other issues as well, but this is definitely a con- cern."

On top of his registra- tion problems, Bailey was also charged the late registration fee by the university.

"I was charged .. . $30.29 in late charges, a fi- nance charge it was called, back

in August," said Bailey.

Bailey did in fact get the late charge reversed, and the university allowed him to reg- ister, but the matter of the mis- dated student loan has still not been cleared up.

"The loan is tied up in Ontario," said Bailey. "[Stu- dent Aid has] to write a letter saying that they made a mis- take."

"I asked them to cancel [the loan] and issue me a new one, but they can't do it be- cause ithas already been signed

It's been sitting on somebody's desk for five months."

"It's just nonsense. This has been floating in the back of my head all summer. I've had to appeal -- I still might not get my full loan."

Haywood Harris, direc- tor of Student Aid, said the matter of the loan "was still outstanding," butthat he didn't want to discuss the specifics of acase involving an individual student.

Human Resources Minister Wants to Decentralize Power

By Samer Muscati

OTTAWA (CUP)-- The federal government will push to transfer more power over social programs to the prov- inces, says the new Human Resources Minister Pierre Pettigrew.

He will meet with his provincial counterparts to dis- cuss how the federal govern- ment will off-load responsibil- ity on programs such as educa- tion, student employment and loans, said Pettigrew after a cabinet shuffle appointed him to the post on Friday, October 4.

"| intend to give itmy all toensure thatthe [government] reform that has been on-going since the Chretien government came to power . . . continues and achieves the appropriate results." he said.

Pettigrew says that there needs to be a "redefinition of Canadian federalism" and that transferring responsibility to the provinces is in the best interest of Canada, since it isa key issue for the government

of Quebec.

But David Robinson, research director for the Coun- cil of Canadians, a national public interest group, says that further decentralization will erode national standards and createa patchwork of programs across the country.

"It's a recipe for disaster inthe long-run," said Robinson. "The government is off-load- ing these programs on to the provinces but are not giving them any money."

Robinson says that it makes no difference who the new Human Resource Minis- ter is, since the position holds no power. He says that the balance of power is held in the portfolio of Finance since that department ultimately deter- mines which programs and services are cut. The Cabinet shuffle did not affect the Fi- nance ministry as multi-mil- lionaire Paul Martin kept his job as minister.

"It's clear from day one of this government that the Fi- nance ministry dictates social policy and everything else,"

said Robinson. "They talk about decentralization but in their own government the power is becoming incredibly centralized within one portfo- lio."

Bloc opposition leader Michel Gauthier is not im- pressed with the new appoint- ment and had harsh criticism for Pettigrew.

"Here is a minister who has done nothing and said noth- ing." said Gauthier. "[The po- sition] is a big challenge for a

‘minister without a lot of expe-

rience."

The 45-year-old rookie Liberal MP was only sworn in last April and assumed the Minister for International Co- operation post.

Previously, he was an executive assistant to Quebec Liberal leader Claude Ryan during the 1980 referendum, and foreign-affairs advisor for Prime Minister Trudeau from 1981-84. He ran unsuccess- fully as a Liberal candidate in the 1984 general election.

October 8, 1996