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Brockel, Kaiserman likely out for season

Trent Lootens — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:12:19 +0000

JOSH RASMUSSEN/THE ARBITER. Freshman receiver Kirby Moore will carry a heavier load as the season progresses due to injuries the Broncos have sustained on offense.

Boise State routed Idaho last week 63-25, but at a high cost for BSU.

Senior fullback and NFL prospect, Richie Brockel, injured his foot early in the game against the Vandals. When he returned to the sidelines he was in street cloths and on crutches. The diagnosis at this time is not exactly known, but according to BSU head coach Chris Petersen, Brockel will miss the remainder of the season, ending his career at BSU.

“It means a lot because Richie brings more intangible things than he does even physically,” Petersen said of his missed captain. “He’s a physical tone setter for us on offense. He’s also the voice of reason and he’s the most mature guy that we have on the entire team.”

Brockel is the unsung leader of the offense on and off the field. Losing a player of that caliber late in the year is hard for a young team, but his presence will still be with the team wherever they go.

“He was a pretty vocal guy in the locker room and during the pre game,” freshman wide receiver Kirby Moore said. “Losing Richie is a big deal.”

Austin Pettis, who had four touchdown catches against Idaho, knows just how much Brockel meant to this team and is still trying to cope with the fact that the captain will not be in the huddle again.

“It’s a lot of leadership that we’re losing on the field, but he’s still going to be a part of this team no matter what,” Pettis said.

The Broncos must now turn to sophomore fullback, Dan Paul, from Boring, Oregon. The sophomore has played sparingly during the season and has big shoes to fill in the absence of BSU’s only starting offensive senior. Coach Petersen feels confident Paul will step up and keep the Broncos playing at a high level.

“Dan’s been making great strides all year long and I think he’s in a place where we need him to be to take that next step and really carry that flag for Richie,” Petersen said.

Another unfortunate loss came to up-and-coming freshman running back Matt Kaiserman, who broke his leg late in the Idaho game after throwing his first touchdown on a trick play to tight end Kyle Efaw. Kaiserman’s injury is a significant blow to the already beleaguered BSU backfield. The running game lost junior D.J. Harper to an ACL tear earlier in the season against Fresno State. The Broncos are now down to only two productive backs with Jeremy Avery and Doug Martin.

“Kaiser’s going to be okay down the road. It’s just such a bummer for us and for him. He’s had a hard year anyway getting going and we were just starting to get him in the mix in a bunch of different things,” Petersen said.

Sophomore receiver, Tyler Shoemaker, was also injured during the victory over rival Idaho and also left on crutches after the game. His status is questionable for this weekend’s game at Utah State. Petersen said they’re still waiting on the doctors to evaluate him before they make any decisions going forward. Kirby Moore will likely step into Shoemaker’s slot position this weekend against USU.

Art Department shines off best work for accreditation evaluation

Evan Westerfield — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:46:36 +0000

The National Association of Schools of Art and Design, or NASAD are evaluating the Art Department for accreditation this week.

ZACH GANSCHOW/THE ARBITER The Public Affairs and Arts building has become a temporary display gallery for student work collected over the last few years.

“We were first accredited in 2003,”said professor Richard Young, chair of the Art Department. “Since that time we have worked to adhere to NASAD standards regarding curriculum, facilities, safety, finances, class size, and library.”

The NASAD is the association responsible for all art and design curriculum, as recognized by the Idaho Department of Education. It accredits educational programs in art and design, and established curricular standards for specific degrees and credentials.

The requirements Young refers to can be found in the NASAD Handbook, which dictates the minimum standards institutions and programs must meet to remain accredited.

Most of the basic guidelines set out in the Handbook are simple. For example, it requires a program to have library space and the resources appropriate to an educational program.

“Faculty have been working on the self-study for over two and a half years,” Young said. The self-study is inter-institutional, which means this study was conducted by the department itself.

In preparation for the review the Art Department had to produce a comprehensive effort on the part of the institution to evaluate the program’s objectives. Young said the self-study is an analytical evaluation of the program, with a format and structure established by the NASAD.

The process of accreditation is a system for academic review. It periodically evaluates and produces independent judgments by peers about the extent to which a program achieves its educational objectives and meets the standards set by the NASAD. By receiving accreditation, a program states agreement with a set of standards and procedures, indicating the program’s ability to upholding of external criteria.

“The visiting evaluators will be looking at student work from all classes and at all levels,” Young said. “The evaluators will analyze the self study; (they will) compare the information to a series of on-site interviews with students, staff, faculty and administrators.”

Young asserted from the information in the self-study and gathered during the interviews the evaluators determine whether the program meets the standards it sets out.

“The process is very similar to the recent re-accreditation of the University.”

Students can see the art on display for the evaluation. It is up in the halls and classrooms of the PAA building on campus, which is located across from the parking garage on Brady Street beside the MPC Building.

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Boise State establishes itself in world of college hockey

Josh Rasmussen — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:09:07 +0000

JOSH RASMUSSEN/THE ARBITER - Bronco netminder Dan Beaudrea prepares to stop a break-away shot from a University of Montana forward during a home game Nov. 6. at Idaho Ice World.

Boise State University football may make national headlines, and the women’s soccer players may call themselves Western Athletic Conference Champions, but none of their accomplishments came on ice.

The BSU hockey club, however, is in full swing, taking the ice by storm and has already played 13 of its 38 games this season.

Club president and team captain Dalton Smith, and his father, Lee, claim responsibility for starting the club 3 years ago.

“A lot of these kids came up together and want to play hockey,” Lee says. “They had nowhere else to go.”

It’s no small project to start a club either. It takes more than $40,000 yearly to play a full season. Lee is no longer designated the head coach though he handled those duties for the first two seasons.

JOSH RASMUSSEN/THE ARBITER - Boise State center, team captain and club president Dalton Smith extends toward the net during a shot in a home game against the University of Montana Nov. 6. at Idaho Ice World.

“I basically dumped my American Express into the first year just to prove we were serious,” Lee says.

To make matters more difficult, head coach Ken Beaudreau, in his first year coaching the Broncos, says, “I volunteer. The parents volunteer. The team manager, the assistant coach — no one gets paid. We are self-funded.”

He adds, “We’re always looking for sponsors. We’re always looking for support.”

The Broncos play as part of the ACHA (American College Hockey Association) in division II. The Broncos may play DII, but a DII hockey team doesn’t carry the same second-tier connotation as a DII football or basketball team. Other notable ACHA DII teams include Harvard, Ohio State University, New York University, Virginia Tech University, Arizona State University and the University of Idaho.

The rules most closely compare to those of the NCAA. Players must wear a full-cage on their helmets and fighting is forbidden. That doesn’t mean fights don’t happen. The penalty is an automatic ejection with a 1-game suspension as well as a 5-minute major another member of the team must serve during the game.

Like many sports, hockey demands a great deal from its players. To keep eligibility, each student must be a full-time, degree-seeking, with a minimum of nine credits and maintain a 2.0 GPA.

“It’s definitely been taking its toll on the whole team with grades, being gone every single weekend,” Dalton says. “It’s definitely intense. I don’t think somebody could hold a full-time job, go to school and play for a team. I personally don’t think it’s possible.”

But the reward is worth it to the players, most of whom grew up playing hockey. They manage themselves like any other hockey team.

“We don’t really allow any kind of drama between the players,” Dalton says. “Everyone shows a certain amount of respect for each other.”

BSU junior and 3-year-veteran of the WHL (Western Hockey League) Aaron Roberge’s several-team, multiple-league, hockey career came to an end 3 years ago in Canada but he maintains a love for the sport. Because of a by-law disallowing players with professional experience (WHL included) to play college hockey, he is ineligible to play with the Broncos but practiced with them a few times prior to receiving the news. The ACHA is not the WHL but some things never change.

“When I stopped playing hockey, I took a good, couple years off so … ya know how it is with guys on hockey teams — everyone’s really good, close friends,” Roberge says, “and there’s good camaraderie and everyone seems to get along. You get a feeling of being on a team and being with a group of guys who like to have fun and compete together.”

While athletes are often most-known through their sports, they are still responsible for daily life.

“Everything that happens at Boise State, the club sports, the varsity sanctioned sports — all of it’s important,” Ken says, “They’re all student athletes. These are people who are putting an enormous amount of time into their game, practice, school work and trying to get a degree. To me, they’re the finest of the finest.”

Ken has been coaching for 15 years at a variety of levels in multiple leagues including Peewees, Bantam, U-18 and the Idaho Rattlers. Youth soccer and YMCA roller hockey also help account for his coaching history.

“The game is almost secondary to what we’re trying to do,” he says, “which is make better men out of them — get them ready for the world.”

Ken’s son Dan Beaudreau, also the club vice president, serves as a 6’, 220-pound goalie for the Broncos. Coaching him has been really easy according to Ken.

“I’ve coached him for so many years and so many different teams that when we’re on the ice, he’s not my son and I’m not his father. We have kind of zoned that out, because I don’t understand goalies. They’re a totally different breed than anybody else. You’ve got to let him be who he is and trust him.”

The Broncos have a 23-man roster including former Idaho Junior Steelheads forwards Kevin Costello and Tyson Barnes and former Junior Steelheads AA defenseman Blake Englund. Boise is listed as the hometown for 13 of the 23 players.

A couple of the more-experience players are Dalton and brother Cortland Smith who combined for 54 of the team’s159 points in the 2008-2009 regular season. Cortland gets credit for leading the team in both goals (12) and assists (20) last season though he was followed closely by Dalton who tallied 11 of each.

Dalton’s hockey resume includes time with the Columbus Blue Jackets Midget Major AAA, an affiliate of the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets.

Dalton says the team looks for “experienced players who are passionate about playing hockey.”

The club doesn’t only benefit players and fans. It also gives medical staff a chance to familiarize themselves with a new sport and learn its challenges. Gen Ludwig, the coordinator for injury prevention and care through Boise State says some of the most important differences are the rules and procedures. Also of educational value to new trainers are the pads and the order in which they are put on and likewise, taken off, should it be necessary during the treating and/or diagnosing of an injury.

The Broncos practice once a week on Wednesday.

The Broncos’ next home games are Friday and Saturday at Idaho Ice World at 10:00 p.m. against BYU.

To those who are new to the sport, Ken says, “Come out and learn the game. Come out with somebody who knows the game, learn it and (you) will fall in love with it when (you) see it live.”

Notes from ‘The Stratosphere’

J. Freeman DeJongh — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 21:57:07 +0000

Arbiter journalist Jacob DeJongh attended and performed at his first poetry reading Friday night at A Novel Adventure downtown. Here’s his story:

I sat clammy and sweating caffeine bullets. I had drunk too much coffee and it only sharpened my already razor-tipped nerves. The notion of reading poetry to an audience outside of a classroom scared the hell out of me.

ZACH GANSCHOW/THE ARBITER J. Freeman DeJongh, a creative writing major and Arbiter journalist, produces poems and short stories from a brick closet known as "the Stratosphere."

I feel poetry is the most naked form of expression. There is no canvas to hide on, no diverse set of mediums, no instrument and no band for support. Only my voice, my words and of course, my tender little feelings. The microphone stand provided slight consolation, a hiding ground, though a device used to augment vocals can’t provide too much relief.

Being that this was my first poetry reading, I had no set routine or ritual for warm up. I read only a short bit, one poem. I thought to myself, “OK, if I can read this in two, maybe three breathes, I should be able to maintain stability.”

After a very minimal introduction, I read my single poem. It was fast and painless. I actually rather enjoyed it, to my surprise.

As for my actual writing process, I don’t really have one. I am really, very, lazy. I can never force creativity, I only write when I feel like, when the poem sort of just drops onto the paper. I do however make a minimal effort. I carry around a small leather-bound book. In it I write down my random thoughts, groovy lines and smooth words. I am an avid eavesdropper, I steal conversations from everyone around me.

I find myself writing mostly at night, late at night. My brain is dying, my stress has run out. As I begin to ponder sleep, fantastical thoughts creep up to greet the day’s experiences. This encounter produces my most desired content.

Poem: Untitled

You know when I lived as a catfish in the Nishnabotna
I would hold my breath as I swam past pipe fixtures
Even if they were just floating by
Lost limbs of the pesticide factory

My whiskers erect
There goes a threaded leg

Gasoline rainbows enshroud a 1912 T-model carcass
Coziest machine hosts a home collection of impaled worms

Catfish love crucifixions
I myself prefer funerals

Sharp dressed skeletons sway
Cinder blocks laced to their shiny black shoes

They say bridges are cliffs of hell
See their soggy faces
I chew their soggy eyes

A dead sex machine fell from one’s coat pocket

Rubber lust stuck in the mud
He always liked to deceive the people he loved

Poem assembles childhood summer

The tone is rather murky, it is set in a somewhat dark place, at the bottom of a murky river. You see broken fishing lines, baited hooks acting as worm crucifixions, a dead man who may have been an unsuccessful mobster, old automobiles, chemical pollution.

Despite these rather drab images, this poem hosts somewhat of a personal humor for me. As a kid, I spent my summer in the Iowa country side, My dad lives out there, outside of a little town, Red Oak. We lived pretty close to a river, the Nishnabotna, I spent much of my time down there on the sand bar, fishing, building sand castles, lighting off fireworks, cutting trees down, all the childood jazz.

One day while trekking around, my friend and I found a large battery-powered dildo stuck in the sand. I will mention I was probably thirteen years old at this time. We threw it in the four wheeler basket and drove back to his dad’s farm to prode him into an uncomfortable situation,we wanted to make him tell us what it was. Of Course we already knew, what thirteen year old in America doesn’t recognize the familiarity of such a device?

His dad was confused, he attempted to uttter a quick response. What he came up with was, “Yea, uh, that’s a, that’s an old fish trap, they used to use those back in the 80’s to catch fish, sorta an electro er shock kinda trap.”

It got thrown in the trash, end of tale. I forgot about this incident. Though one day recently while drinking coffee, by some odd influence this memory began to tickle me. I mean really? A dildo in a sandbar out in the middle of nowhere Iowa? How could it possibly get there? Of course, only vulgar conclusions come to mind, of which I wont elaborate on. But the poem is derived from this experience, writting from the perspective of a catfish, beneath the water.

I try to imply that the dead man was perhaps a nymphomaniac mobster who was murdered by design of cinder blocks being tied to his feet, being pushed off a bridge and drowned with his sexual device. With this I’ve attempted to view an odd situation from an even odder perspective. Do fish wonder why … why is this here?

Poem: Transient attraction

I’ve canned transient attraction.

Our loose palate roots will digest you with raw hunger. You stroke their bowels and ponder a million. Numbers are abysmal. You are forgotten without an orgy of tears.

Over indulgence has bred me anew and celibate. I thirst and lick at a casket of salt; rusted letters illustrate morbid reminiscence of when you swam like a fattened halibut in my belly. The salt cures this and I rest fulfilled.

I am a loose nut whose response to the wrench is un-mechanical.

I am surreal and chemical; my synthetic soul is wooed by overhead static of the trolley car cable. I wear suits of blackened styrofoam and spit transgender smirks at fee-line females. Mating calls in the form of jingling George’s sound from my palm. The steeply-priced cats only want green, I refuse to pay tiding and proceed to fillet their mannerisms.

Cannibalism, the opposite sex, feed “Transient Attraction”

Basically this poem is a statement about frustration with the opposite sex. In an absract sense, I attempt to present cannibalism, eating the opposite gender. Canning a woman, as if in a Campbell’s soup can and feeding her to children. Hence the digestion and bowels. The rest that follows, I suppose, is explanation of these undelightful feelings.

From the Blue to You: Risky Business Payoff

Brittney Johnson — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 20:14:00 +0000

Chris Petersen, as a head coach of a top-10 program on the brink of the third undefeated regular season, you demand respect from the players. As a coach, you want them to listen to you and the things you instruct as they take the field to compete. If someone goes against your wishes, more often than not they will sit solemnly on the bench with their tail between their legs.

Saturday at the big rivalry game, Doug Martin and Titus Young did the unthinkable that turned into the unbelievable.

Before taking the field to receive a kickoff with 22 seconds left in the half, with the wind behind the kicker, and the ball likely going into the end zone, Coach Petersen told Martin to advise Titus to take a knee and get the touchback. Martin disobeyed, egging Young on to return a ball caught six yards deep in the end zone. The decision will likely go down in Boise State versus Idaho lore.

After a quick hand motion from Martin to take it up the field, Young rambled 100 yards for the game changing momentum shift that stamped a big W in the win column for Boise State. One of the most exciting parts of the play wasn’t the one that will show up on the stat sheets forever, it was the steamroll block by Martin mere seconds after the decision to motion Young out of the end zone. The hit put the exclamation point on the exciting special teams play that littered Sports Center Highlights Saturday night.

A risky decision of Young to ignore Coach Petersen turned into a huge smile on his face, risk turned into reward. If you are going to go against the Coach’s wishes you might as well notch six points on the board in doing so. Six points that will save your booty as you face your coach on the sidelines. Six points that will put the rival teams fans on sitting on their hands dumbfounded. Six points shifting momentum back to your team.

Thank goodness for Young’s and Martin’s risky play that contributed to the 63-25 shellacking of the instate rivals. The Broncos scored on offense, defense and special teams.

As Coach Petersen and staff look back on the victory, surely they will not be too worried about the decision made against their wishes that turned into the icing on the Bronco Cake and the thorn in the Vandal’s side.

EDITORIAL: Battle of the budget

MCT — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:47:37 +0000

Nov. 8 – John Boehner of Ohio often says something along these lines: “It is irresponsible for Democrats to continue spending taxpayers’ money we don’t have to fund an agenda that would destroy the jobs we need to get our economy moving again.” The House minority leader sees a political advantage in highlighting the country’s whopping budget deficit ($1.4 trillion in the fiscal year that just ended) and its mounting debt (nearly $12 trillion).

What Boehner doesn’t acknowledge is the full story.

No question, the country must get its financial house in order. China and others playing the role of creditor expect the necessary discipline. This generation owes such action to the next. That doesn’t mean the country should act immediately to soak up the red ink. The government’s deficit spending has been essential to softening the blow of the harsh recession.

Look at Ohio, where, for starters, stimulus money has protected the jobs of thousands of teachers (who then spend money with local businesses). As it is, the economy continues to struggle, the early recovery generating few jobs, foreclosures still mounting, many small businesses having difficulty securing credit. Congress has moved to extend jobless benefits and, along with the Obama White House, is considering other steps to bolster the fragile economy.

What deserves attention is that such spending amounts to one-time money. The sum triggers a spike in the deficit. Then, it cycles out of the fiscal picture. Worth notice, too, is that the massive financial bailout and the $787 billion stimulus package account for roughly one quarter of the annual deficit.

The rest of the shortfall? Here’s what Boehner doesn’t share. Substantial contributors to the deficit are policies pushed by Republicans, most prominent, the tax cuts of George Bush the younger. More, Bush and the Republican Congress presided over an expansion of Medicare without finding a way to cover the cost. They took a similar approach toward the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Add the downbound economy, and the Obama team has good reason to argue that it inherited a fiscal mess. Now the president finds himself trying to strike the right balance between aiding the economy and applying discipline to the budget.

Some members of Congress, Democrats and Republicans, support the concept of a deficit commission, a bipartisan panel that would propose remedies for the deficit, even require lawmakers to vote, up or down, on the proposals. Hard to see such a coming together in the words of Boehner. For now, it is well to see why the federal government must spend. The immediate health of the economy is the first priority.

Idaho Aviation Hall of Fame inducts Educator-in-Residence Barbara Morgan

Arbiter Staff — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:31:49 +0000

Boise State University’s Distinguished Educator in Residence Barbara Morgan is one of three exceptional individuals who will be welcomed into the Idaho Aviation Hall of Fame during a ceremony at the Boise Airport at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 4. Morgan also is the event’s keynote speaker and will address the audience at 8:30 p.m.

Morgan is a veteran educator who taught at McCall-Donnelly Elementary School for many years before being selected as the alternate for NASA’s Teacher in Space program in 1985. She went on to become a mission specialist on the crew of STS-118, a 2007 shuttle mission to the International Space Station.

The following year Morgan accepted a joint appointment in Boise State’s colleges of Engineering and Education and advises the university in policy development and advocacy for STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education while providing educational vision and leadership throughout the state.

Also being inducted are David Hinson and the late Maj. Gen. Robert F. Molinelli. Now retired in Ketchum, Hinson was a pilot, instructor and director of flight standards for multiple airlines in addition to being one of the founders and CEO of Midway Airlines and an FAA Administrator appointed by Bill Clinton in 1993. Molinelli was a Pocatello resident and highly decorated combat pilot during the Vietnam War who served as Army Aviation Officer for the U.S. Department of the Army before his death in 1987.

COURTESY/MCT Barbara Morgan showed her young counterparts a thing or two about making the best of weightlessness in March during a NASA and BSU microgravity experiment at Ellington Field in Houston (left, Dan Isla).

The Idaho Aviation Hall of Fame is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1991. It has inducted 39 individuals thus far and has displays in the eight major airport terminals in Idaho. Its mission is to preserve the history and document the growth of aviation in Idaho through recognition of aviation pioneers.

Mismanagement of state funds will impact student organizations

Kim King — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:20:13 +0000

Auditors are meeting with university officials to investigate the mismanagement of funds. Student organizations have received funding without following the appropriate guidelines, according to Assistant Vice-President of Student Affairs Leslie Webb.

“There are gray areas that need to be identified,” she said. “Organizations funded by student fees operate differently from others that receive state funding. But at the same time we have to show we are compliant.”

Current policy requires funding requests to be submitted four or more weeks in advance. Exceptions have been made in the past and funds have been granted in as little as two weeks.

ASBSU Sen. Pro Tempore Justin White argues the four week rule is only a guideline and is hoping for quick approval for his funding request.

He is sponsoring a bill for a meet and greet event for students to learn more about senators and their role in government. The amount requested is $900 to cover chili, cookies, and drinks.

The proposed date for this free event is set for Nov. 12.

Sen. Chase Johnson said funding may be refused because it does not meet the four week requirement.

“I’m not advocating going against policy,” he said. “Exceptions are being made, but we risk denial.”

Johnson said the plan of action should be to follow the required steps closely, hope for the necessary funding, and then educate other organizations about the guidelines.

ASBSU President Trevor Grigg spoke to other senators and guests about possible changes and modifications.

“Until the new guidelines are in place we have to comply with all university and state laws,” he said. “What many organizations do not realize is that they can raise money, but once it goes into their account, it’s not their money anymore.”

He expressed concerns over possible solutions in an interview Friday.

“This is government,” he said. “When money comes from the state, they want to control how it is spent. With temporary solutions come mistakes and then more bureaucracy and more rules.”

“I would like my lasting legacy to be a year with no change in student tuition and fees,” he said. “An additional six million is expected to come from student fees next year, but there are other ways to accomplish this.”

Campus Motion: Rollerblades

Zach Ganschow — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:04:01 +0000

Commuters of the Quad, strollers of the Greenbelt and pedestrians in general, welcome to Campus Motion. This investigative series is an online-exclusive feature profiling various students and topics on the BSU campus, operating under the guidelines of one condition – all interviews must occur in motion. The Arbiter’s side-hack duo are field reporters who seek out pedestrians to capture his or her confessions on film. Do not be alarmed — we are experienced pilots and cameramen who perform in authentic sidecar fashion.

Case one: On-campus transportation.

Featured this week: Samantha Deroy, freshman, criminal justice

Transportation: Rollerblades

House passes Student Aid, Fiscal Responsibility Act amid cheers, jeers

Benjamin Mack — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:22:52 +0000

GLENN LANDBERG/THE ARBITER

More federal aid is on the way for students struggling to pay for college, thanks to new legislation passed by Congress Sept. 17. Called the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, the legislation knocks private lenders from the student lending market while beefing up funding for Pell Grants and, the Congressional Budget Office reports, save taxpayers an estimated $13.3 billion between 2009 and 2014.

The bill, passed largely along party lines, sets a deadline of July 1, 2010 for all American higher education institutions to switch their loan systems to the federal direct loan plan, creating savings by eliminating the Federal Family Education Loan program, which allows private banks to originate loans for students at subsidized rates.

According to the bill, the Secretary of Education will be able to “implement activities and services that increase students’ persistence in and completion of post-secondary school,” and develop a database to track students’ success in schools and in the workforce. It also permits states to make grants to nonprofit organizations “including student loan guaranty agencies to implement the program.”

“This is (the) right thing financially,” U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said of the bill. “This is the right thing economically. This is the right thing educationally.”

Duncan added that the bill will be a good long-term investment for students as well as for the overall health of the economy.

“The Student Aid Fiscal Responsibility Act will allow us to invest $87 billion in savings,” Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., said, who wrote the bill. “That will help us make college more affordable, to build a world class community college system, to improve opportunities to help our younger students succeed and pay down the deficit.”

Seen as a victory for Democrats and President Obama, Republican leaders derided the act as a federal takeover of the student loan industry and complained that despite the act’s title, little about the bill reflects fiscal responsibility.

“Today’s vote was about expanding the size and scope of the federal government through tens of billions of dollars in new entitlement spending and the elimination of choice, competition, and the innovation of the private sector,” Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., said. “This job killing legislation is rife with hidden costs that will be passed on to future generations.”

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Under the current program, the government pays subsidies to lenders and guarantees the loans.

The student loan legislation will provide $40 billion to increase the maximum annual Pell grant scholarship to $5,550 in 2010 and to $6,900 by 2019, from $5,350 today. Starting in 2011, the amount of the scholarship will link to the cost of living, rising along with the Consumer Price Index, plus one percent.

The bill also includes about $10 billion for community colleges and increased investment in two-year community colleges that enroll about six million students nationwide a year. It also provides about $8 billion for early-childhood programs and $2.55 billion for historically black colleges and universities.

As of press time, university officials were unclear exactly how much the bill will benefit Boise State specifically.

Locally, Idaho’s representatives were split on the issue. Democrat Walt Minnick voted for it, while Republican Mike Simpson was in the opposition.

The bill now goes to the Senate, where it must await approval by a majority before making its way to President Obama’s desk. Obama has said that he will sign the bill if it arrives at the White House.