BY NATASHACAIRNS 
     
     Treasurer CFS - PE] 
     
    
   
   
    
     Not unlike most other 
     
    
   
   
    
     AUDITIONS 
     
    
   
   
    
     Stude 
     
    
   
   
    
     students today, you are probably 
     
     concerned with how you're going 
     
     to pay back your student loan 
     
     after you graduate. Well, the gov- 
     
    
   
   
    
     The Cadre 
     
    
   
   
    
     Theatre Society > 
     
     Will be holding E 
     
     aditions os 
     
    
   
   
    
     Thursday Jan 22 = 
     
     To —& 
     
     Sunday Jan 25 
     
    
   
   
    
     Times will be postec 
     
     at the BREEZWA *. 
     
    
   
   
    
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     Lu 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
          
     
    
   
   
    
         
     
    
   
   
    
         
     
        
     
    
   
   
    
     January 20, 
     
    
   
   
    
     urges that you read this article 
     
     so you know exactly what you 
     
     may be facing in the near fu- 
     
     ture as a student, and then a 
     
     graduate with more likely than 
     
     not a fairly substantial debt in 
     
     your name. 
     
    

    
     Income Contingent Loan 
     
     Repayment Programs, or 
     
     ICLR plans, have been pro- 
     
     posed as a loan program that 
     
     sets the repayment of the stu- 
     
     dent loan debt with a pre-de- 
     
     termined percentage based on 
     
     an individual’s annual income 
     
     over a designated period of 
     
     time. Support for an ICLR pro- 
     
     gram was initially contemplated 
     
     in 1955 by economist Milton 
     
     Friedman who saw the ICLR 
     
     as an excellent way to fund 
     
     post-secondary education 
     
     through user fees. Friedman 
     
     also suggested that govern- 
     
     ments should establish an ‘edu- 
     
     cation market’ where capital, 
     
     in the form of loans, would be 
     
     made available to students as 
     
     individual purchasers of their 
     
     education. 
     
    

    
     Many supporters of the 
     
     scheme, which ts designed to 
     
     make repayment of student 
     
     loans contingent upon one’s 
     
     level of income after gradua- 
     
     tion, propose it is an impartial 
     
     and efficient way of offering 
     
     students financial aid. How- 
     
     ever, the Canadian Federation 
     
     of Students (CFS) along with 
     
     numerous others including fac- 
     
     ulty associations, anti-poverty 
     
     associations, labour councils, 
     
     unions, and even banks con- 
     
     demn this so-called student aid 
     
     program. 
     
    

    
     Basically, itis known that 
     
     ICLR plans do not appreciate 
     
     the socio-economic realities 
     
     facing students today, such as 
     
     huge debt loads, high unem- 
     
     os and many livingat or 
     
    

    
     low the poverty line. They 
     
     especially donotconsiderthose 
     
     harsh realities facing women, 
     
     all ethnic minority students, stu- 
     
     dents with disabilities, students 
     
     with parental obligations, 
     
     among others. It is also known 
     
     that ICLR plans take student 
     
     aid responsibilities and control 
     
     away from the government, 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     ee) 
     
    
   
   
    
     nt loans anyone? 
     
    
   
   
    
     ernment of Canada has a few 
     
     ideas regarding this subject 
     
     and the Canadian Federation 
     
     of Students (CFS) strongly 
     
    
   
   
    
     equity and equality. This pro- 
     
     gram also transfers money 
     
     from the students, govern- 
     
     ments, and families forthe gain 
     
     of private financial institutions. 
     
    

    
     There are several cru- 
     
     cial factors about ICLR plans 
     
     that are ‘conveniently’ not re- 
     
     ported by supporters of the 
     
     program. 
     
    

    
     First, the principal orthe 
     
     full amount of the original loan 
     
     isnot reduced contingent upon 
     
     one’s income level and must 
     
     still be repaid in the full. 
     
    

    
     Secondly, Graduates 
     
     with a lower level of income 
     
     will be forced to take much 
     
     longer to repay their loan and 
     
     will therefore be paying a great 
     
     deal more interest payments 
     
     than those graduates with high 
     
     incomes. (This fact also sheds 
     
     light on the notion that some 
     
     jobs are obviously ‘more valu- 
     
     able’ than others, which sends 
     
     the message to students that 
     
     we should all be entrepreneurs 
     
     and big business owners de- 
     
     spite our interests). 
     
    

    
     Thirdly, ICLR plans have 
     
     historically gone hand in hand 
     
     with the implementation of 
     
     higher tuition fees. 
     
    

    
     Fourth, ICLR plans have 
     
     their sights set on becoming a 
     
     way to replace public funding 
     
     for post-secondary education, 
     
     and therefore would inevitably 
     
     mean that the Canadian post- 
     
     secondary system will be set 
     
     up like the American-style two 
     
     tiered system where those who 
     
     have the means can pay more 
     
     to get a higher quality educa- 
     
     tion. 
     
    

    
     Workable alternatives to 
     
     the ICLR plans have been pro- 
     
     posed by such groups as the 
     
     CFS and it is crucial that the 
     
     students not be deceived by 
     
     any claims about how ‘great’ 
     
     the program is supposed to be. 
     
    

    
     ICLR plans will only in- 
     
     crease the financial barriers to 
     
     a post-secondary education, 
     
     and therefore take away from 
     
     the premise that post-second- 
     
     ary education, which is be- 
     
     coming a necessity today, 
     
     should be a right for all stu- 
     
     dents, and add to the idea that 
     
    
   
   
    
     ; which in tum causes the lossof only a piatinnt few are re-