I would like to clarify an error that has been repeated several times regarding the ASMSU loan service. More than 10 years ago, when the proposal for a loan program was being considered, it was decided there would be no program without the ability for the ASMSU business office manager to place holds on students’ schedules in the case of nonpayment.

To say that 25 to 30 percent of students never repay their loans is false and not even possible if they would like to graduate or enroll for classes next semester (“Students not utilizing free ASMSU loan service,” SN 11/6; “On loan,” SN 11/7). In addition, the funds for the loan program are kept in a separate account than the general ASMSU budget so that the amount continually rolls over with the approval of the budget each spring, and there have been few increases in the amount in that account since the start of the program. The Student Assembly has little control over the administering of the loan program, which is mainly handled by the ASMSU loan clerk and the ASMSU business office manager, both full-time professional employees of the organization and the university.

Ryan Bladzik
interdisciplinary studies in social science senior