Monday, July 11, 2011 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 3 Incoming freshman fights for U.S. citizenship Facing deportation, Michigan resident voices her support of the DREAM Act By PAIGE PEARCY Daily Staff Reporter For incoming LSA freshman Ola Kaso, the amount of time she will study at the University is uncer- tain. The University hasn't revoked her admission and she isn't looking into transferring - instead her status as an illegal immigrant in the United States is hindering her from pursuing a post-secondary education. Kaso, who is at risk of being deported to her home country of Albania after moving to the United States with her mother when she was five years old, recently tes- tified in front of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommit- tee on Immigration, Refugees and Border Security at a hearing on June 28 in support of the DREAM Act. Introduced by U.S. Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich.), she shared her story and appealed for the Act to be passed. "Despite my compliance with the law, there is no way I can obtain citizenship under current law," Kaso said in her statement. "Despite all my hard work and contributions, I face removal from the only country I have considered home." Kaso graduated from Cousino High School in Warren, Michigan with a 4.4 grade point average and is hoping to follow the pre-med track at the University in order to eventually become a surgical oncologist, according to her state- ment. The DREAM Act would allow children of undocumented immi- grants like Kaso to be granted citizenship as long as they fulfill a list of requirements, including being between the ages of 12 and 35, either graduating from high school, obtaining a GED in the United States or being accepted into a higher educational institu- tion, as well as living in the U.S. for at least five consecutive years. Silvia Pedraza, professor of sociology and American culture, has focused much of her studies on immigration and said that while there are laws that allow undocu- mented children to obtain a high school education - since no one in the country, regardless of sta- tus, is denied a basic education - the public is divided on if higher schooling should be allowed for those who reside in the country illegally. "The feelings about college are different because people feel that college is a privilege, that college is something that you earn not some- thing that you deserve," Pedraza said. "But I have to say that in the society in which we now live, a col- lege degree is what a high school degree was two generations ago: a basic level of education that every- body should have." Sherrie Kossoudji, associate professor in the School of Social Work, said that since the Act has been through U.S. Congress sev- eral times, including in December 2010 when it failed to be passed to the Senate by five votes, reintro- ducing the Act keeps it fresh in the public's memory. R "It also helps to remind us that lots of people who contribute or hope to contribute to our society just need a little help from us to regularize their legal status," Kos- soudji said. However, Pedraza said it is diffi- cult and rare for students like Kaso to speak out for the Act because it acknowledges that members of their families are also undocu- mented. Despite this, she said she believes the number of students who would be affected by the DREAM Act is substantial. "They want to put a human face on it," Pedraza said. "They want people to realize that they are stu- dents, that they are young people, that they are studying, that they are doing well. That they are hav- ing their lives and their hopes and aspirations thwarted by not being able to obtain a college education." Pedraza added she is skepti- cal about whether the Act will be passed before the 2012 presiden- tial election because it is a "politi- cal hot football," which leaves an entire year of waiting and worry- ing for students like Kaso. At the end of her statement, Kaso acknowledged that a large number of students like her would be affected by the Act. "There are thousands of other Dreamers just like me," Kaso said. "All we are asking for is a chance to contribute to the country we love." PREHISTORIC PLAY DATE 'U' to better prepare students Obama instates new plan to help students land quality jobs after college graduation ByALYSSAADLER Daily StaffReporter As part of an initiative to pro- tect students from inadequate career preparation programs, the Obama administration recently announced a new plan that aims to assist students in finding post- graduate employment. The goal of the initiative is to ensure the "gainfu4 employ- ment" of students who've gradu- ated, according to a June 2 United States Department of Education press release, something Kerin Borland, director of the Universi- ty Career Center, said University studebts already experience. In an e-mail interview, Bor- land wrote that while the Uni- versity provides vast resources for assisting students in finding jobs, they are ultimately respon- sible for taking advantage of their education. "The University provides wonderful experiences and strong academic programs for our students," she wrote. "What becomes most important for stu- dents is how they frame those experiences for prospective employers, and articulate why and how they will make contri- butions to employing organiza- tions." Damian Zikakis, director of career development at the Ross School of Business, echoed Bor- land's sentiment, saying he has also witnessed many Univer- sity students receiving jobs after graduation. According to Zikakis, approximately 89 percent of this year's BBA graduates had at least one job offer and 85 percent of them had accepted a job by June 3. In addition to providing addi- tional career assistance, the new policy aids in helping students pay off their loans, according to the press release. Specifically, the plan states that in order for universities to qualify for federal aid in for- profit programs and certificate programs at non-profit and pub- lit institutions, they must follow three regulations: 35 percent of former students at a given uni- versity must be repaying their loans, the loans owed by a stu- dent do not exceed 30 percent of their income and the annual loan payment doesn't exceed 12 percent of the student's total income. Margaret Rodriguez, senior associate director of the office of Financial Aid, wrote in an e-mail interview that the goal of the University's need-based grant program is to reduce the amount of money students borrow in order to help the most students possible attend the University. "The current fiscal year, 2010-2011, resulted in the larg- est-ever amount of financial aid in (University) history at $126 million," Rodriguez wrote. "Notably, 70 percent of our undergrads receive some type of financial aid, and families with incomes at or below $80,000 are paying less than in 2004." Ann Arbor resident Brenda Harvey visits the University's Natural History Muse- um to see the life-sized head of a whale that lived more than 37 million years ago.