Is Blake Loaiza serious? When I read her letter calling the LINKS program racist because it has requirements for its recipients, I couldn't believe it. I've never heard of a no-strings-attached scholarship. Financial Aid reports on its Web site that excluding Gateway Scholarship recipients
Athens campus students must be registered for at least 16 credit hours for each quarter during the academic year for which you receive a scholarship.Scholarships are not entitlements. By their very nature, scholarships discriminate based on a certain set of standards. When Ms. Loaiza accepted her LINKS scholarship, she agreed to meet the requirements of the program. The LINKS program is not unique in making its students comply with a set of rules. As a member of the Ohio UniversityForensics Team, I accepted a scholarship that requires me to write a minimum of three speeches, with which I must compete at a minimum of three tournaments on the weekends. (Oh no! When will I find time to party?) I also have to attend a team study hall once a week and attend practice every Tuesday night. In order to receive the financial aid, I agreed to these terms. I don't have to stick with them if I don't want to, but the school doesn't have to give me the money either. If Ms. Loaiza is unhappy with the mandatory study tables and would rather be rushing a sorority with her friends, go for it, but don't expect your check to come next quarter. And don't accuse the university of being racist because it gave you money and asked for a little bit of your time in return.Stop throwing around the racism card. Doing so dilutes the seriousness of actual inequality. When people like the Jena Six and entire nations like Burma are forced to fight for their freedom and for their lives daily, how anyone can have such a myopic, negative view of a program as beneficial as LINKS is bewildering.Chris Glaser is a senior advertising management major. 17
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