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College Scholarship Fraud Prevention Act of 1999 introduced Congress

CARBONDALE, Ill. - A bill currently being presented to Congress aims to prevent incoming college students from losing millions of dollars to fraudulent scholarship scams.

The "College Scholarship Fraud Prevention Act of 1999" adds 10 years to prison sentences of people convicted of fraud if criminal activity involves education. The bill also requires the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Education to maintain a website that contains information about legitimate college scholarships.

Sen. Spencer Abraham, R-Michigan, and Russell D. Feingold, D-Wisconsin, sponsored the legislation, which went before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing a week ago.

Monica Brahler, public relations coordinator for the Financial Aid Office at Southern Illinois University, said students should be leery of unsolicited scholarship services that provide information through the mail or via e-mail.

"A good rule of thumb is that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is," she said.

Brahler said the Better Business Bureau and Attorney General's Office are great resources for checking the validity of a scholarship service's claim. She said if students are curious about a company or service, they should not hesitate to look into the business' past.

"If a business is not willing to give you references or work with you, I think red flags should be going up," she said.

The first legal action against scholarship scams began in fall of 1996 when the FTC launched project Scholar Scam and shut down five fraudulent companies. Mark Kantrowitz, publisher of the FinAid website (www.finaid.org), said scholarship scams have always existed.

"If you have to pay money to get money, it is probably a scam," Kantrowitz said. "A scholarship is about gaining money - not giving money."

The eight organizations that have since been shut down by the FTC defrauded more than 175,000 consumers of $22 million. Kantrowitz estimates total consumer losses from scholarship scams to number in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

"By the time I could assemble proof that an organization is fraudulent, the organization has already been in existence for well over a year," Kantrowitz said. "By the time fraud is proven, they have changed their name and address."

Along with a crackdown on fraud, the FTC has launched programs to educate students about what types of scams are fraudulent.

"Educating consumers on how to recognize these types of scams will do more to thwart these scams than any law enforcement," Kantrowitz said.

A type of scholarship fraud, known as guaranteed scholarship services, guarantees students will earn a designated amount of money but require students to pay for the services. Kantrowitz said the claims these services make are unreasonable.

Kantrowitz said there are several legitimate services on the Internet where students can benefit from.

Terri Williams, academic scholarship coordinator for New Student Admissions at SIU, said students can find enough ways to earn scholarships at no cost.

"There are enough scholarship services out there that students can take advantage of without paying someone to do that for them," she said.

House passes 'date rape drug' proposal

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The drug known as "liquid ecstasy" is one step closer to being in the same category as LSD and marijuana, after the House of Representatives voted 423-1 Tuesday night in favor of a bill sponsored by two Michigan lawmakers that will designate GHB as a federal controlled substance.

Inspired by the death of a Grosse Ile, Mich., teenager in January, Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., worked with Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich, to draw up the legislation in June. Though gamma hydroxybutyrate is banned in Michigan and two dozen other states, federal law only restricts the marketing and sale of the drug.

"We've done a lot of work on it," Stupak said while awaiting the vote. "We got a lot of bipartisan support on it."

Stupak, a former Michigan State Police trooper, introduced a similar bill last session but that legislation stalled. Several high-profile incidents linked to GHB have helped propel Upton's bill forward.

"There are very few roadblocks in the way of getting it passed," said Dave Woodruff, Upton's press secretary. "We're hoping to capitalize on the momentum of the House vote."

Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) cast the lone vote of opposition.

"We've been on top of this for three years, and I'm pleased to see it go through," Stupak said.

Commonly referred to as a date-rape drug, GHB is also called easy lay, lemons, grievous bodily harm and scoop. Effects of the drug can progress from euphoria, drowsiness, dizziness and confusion to blackouts, comas and sometimes death.

"It's called a date-rape drug, but it's probably being used more commonly as a relatively new drug of abuse," said Hernan Gomez, a toxicologist in the University Hospitals' emergency medical center.

Noting that the hospital's emergency room treated eight cases of GHB overdose several weeks ago, Gomez acknowledged that GHB use is on the rise.

"We have seen more cases of GHB in the last year than we have in the last several years," Gomez said.

Originally, GHB was used by weight lifters to build muscle mass, but once its dangerous side effects were known, it was pulled off shelves. One medical research firm in Minnesota is studying the benefits of GHB for treating narcolepsy.

Stupak said the legislation includes a provision that allows the firm to continue researching the drug, which quieted the bill's primary opposition.

The two main ingredients of GHB are GBL, or gamma butyrolactone, and lye, the corrosive element in liquid drain cleaners.

"GHB is very easy to make," said Felix Adatsi, supervisor of the state police toxicology unit, who testified at a hearing Upton hosted in March. "Anyone surfing the Net can have all the information they need to make GHB."

The Website of Biogenesis Laboratories offers GHB for sale at the price of $48 for 25 grams - more than double a potentially lethal dosage.

"Once the drug is taken, it has a very quick onset," Adatsi said. As little as two to three tablespoons of fresh GHB can cause blackouts within 15 minutes, he explained.

Food and Drug Administration spokesperson Laura Bradbard said the FDA supports a federal crack-down on GHB.

"If it becomes a controlled substance, the FDA will have an easier job pulling these people in that are marketing it," Bradbard said.

GHB has been implicated in dozens of deaths nationwide, including several in Michigan. In January, 15-year-old Samantha Reid of Grosse Ile died from a GHB overdose after unknowingly ingesting the drug in her drink at a party.

"Michigan has had a disproportionate number of instances, it seems," Woodruff said.

Toxicology reports revealed alcohol and traces of GHB in Courtney Cantor's body following the University of Michigan first-year student's fatal fall from her sixth-floor Mary Markley Residence Hall window last October.

Several Lake City, Mich., teenagers were hospitalized in July after lapsing into GHB-induced comas.

Many students addicted to video game systems

U-WIRE

EVANSTON, Ill. - For an hour or more every day, Northwestern University freshman Paul Flaig becomes a Tenchu Stealth Assassin.

Instead of a sword, he carries a video-game controller. Punching buttons at a furious pace, he advances to another level of the game.

If Flaig is not playing Tenchu, a Sony PlayStation game, he is transporting himself into Metal Gear Solid or Twisted Metal II. After an hour-long mental vacation, he returns to reality.

Flaig is one of many students at Northwestern who own a video game system or use one regularly. His hobby follows a decade-long national trend of teenagers and college students increasing their time in front of video games, said sociology Assoc. Prof. Bernard Beck. Many students spend hours each week playing games.

But games do not distract Flaig from homework, he said.

"It's a social activity that's as fun as any other board game or other activity," Flaig said. "It's a good way to relieve stress too."

Even though most students who play games use PlayStation or Nintendo 64, many students, such as Weinberg sophomore Scott Medlock, still make use of the original 8-bit Nintendo system.

"It's not complicated," he said. "You've got three buttons instead of eight. You don't need all that other complicated stuff."

Medlock plays games on his computer more often, but dabbles with his Nintendo for an hour or so weekly. Last year he didn't bring his system, but he and his neighbors played video games at midnight one day each week.

Neither Medlock nor Flaig said that video games interfere with their coursework.

"Whatever floats your boat, as long as it doesn't hurt you," Medlock said. "As long as it's not detrimental to your health or grades (it's harmless)."

Many parents raise their eyebrows at the violent content of some games, such as the popular James Bond: Goldeneye. The game places players in scenarios from the movie with the mission of killing a progression of enemies. Players choose from weapons including small handguns, compact missile launchers and fully automatic machine guns.

Violence in games is not as harmful as many make it out to be, Beck said.

Research shows only a short-term connection between violent games and the player's behavior.

His main concern about video games is not the violence aspect, but rather "the way that they monopolize time, the so-called hypnotic effect."

As video game consoles grow in popularity and drop in price, college students from all over are attracted the machines that aid in putting off school work. It's no exception at top-tier schools such as NU.

Yale University student Alex DeMille said he became too involved with games last year. He and his friends played several hours each week, usually on week nights.

"It was kind of a procrastination tool," DeMille said. "It was too easy to turn to, instead of reading or studying."

While many find that game-playing relieves tension in their busy lives, he said that it increased his load.

This year, he left both his Nintendo 64 and his habit at home.