WOW! One of the Marquette scholarship skaters just noted on FB that their scholarship funds have been scrapped! Bad call Washington D.C.
Yeah - it sucks. So it appears that
current taxpayers (i.e., those of who are
providing the funds that have been ‘cut off’) will no longer be investing in the
future taxpayers who will help fund all the programs being created for the
non-taxpayers. Our taxes fund so much bull$h!t - why does something like
this get cut?
Here’s an article I saw posted by a friend on FB about the subject (with some quotes by
Kimberly Derrick).
The date of this article was Feb 20 – Jordan's Tweets were just last week. Does this mean that the verdict is in?Olympic bronze medalist, former congressman Bart Stupak respond to potential elimination of B.J. Stupak Olympic scholarshipBy Danielle Emerson | The Bay City Times / February 20, 2011
www.mlive.com/news/bay-city/index.ssf/2011/02/olympic_bronze_medalist_former.html#cmpid=v2mode_be_smoref_faceKimberly Derrick is a 25-year-old bronze medal Olympian in women's speed skating, and she trains for her sport while also enrolled as a student at Northern Michigan University.
But a federal scholarship program that helps Derrick and other Olympic student athletes is in jeopardy. The scholarship was set up with the help of former U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak, a Menominee Democrat whose district included northern Bay County.
The scholarship was created in 1998 and later renamed for Stupak’s son, who died tragically in 2000. It offers a pool of about $1 million a year, based on student need.
President Obama’s proposed budget does not include funding for the scholarship program. The Education Department says it lacks evidence the scholarships are effective and there are other ways for talented athletes to get help, The Associated Press reported.
But Derrick disagrees.
“I think the scholarship is very valuable for us because it allows us to pursue more than just a sport,” she said. “It's really important to be able to have a high level of education as well as achieve a high level in a sport at the same time.”
Today, Derrick is one of about 100 Olympic student athletes training at the U.S. Olympic Education Center in Marquette, on the campus of Northern Michigan University.
Many are there with financial help from the B.J. Stupak Olympic Scholarship.
Stupak says the scholarship is designed to help Olympic hopefuls, many of whom train intensively for at least six years before trying to compete, making time for higher education difficult.
“It's a unique scholarship in that if a you're a speed skater, for example, this is a busy time for you,” he said. “You may only be able to take two or four hours at a university and the scholarship allows for that flexibility.”
Stupak said concentrating on high-level competition can come at a future cost to the athletes involved.
“After the Olympics, unless you win a gold medal, what do you have left? In many cases, you have nothing,” he said. “That's why we thought it was so important. It's important that they go to school and get an education so that after we ask them to represent us they can have a job.”
Jeff Kleinschmidt, director of the U.S. Olympic Education Center, said in the years the scholarship program has been available, more than 500 athletes from 40 different states have been able to train at Olympic training centers in Colorado Springs, Col.; Lake Placid, N.Y.; Chula Vista, Cal.; or the Education Center in Marquette.
Eligibility for the scholarship requires that a potential athlete is approved by his or her sport's governing body and the U.S. Olympic Committee to live and train at one of the training centers while they go to school. After filling out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid, a candidate is evaluated based on need.
“The request we put in of Obama is $3 million a year,” said Stupak. “That's what we need to cover all the demands that other scholarships do not fill.”
Stupak said the scholarship program has been funded at around $1 million since 1998, but the demand for the program has since grown.
The Revolving Door Policy prohibits former U.S. Congress members from lobbying present members to vote a certain way, but Stupak is confident that, just as before, the U.S. Olympic Committee, its affiliates and past as well as present Olympians will help to maintain the program when that time comes. As such, Stupak does not see a reason to give up hope.
“I go through this with every president,” he said. “Once you explain the uniqueness of (the athlete's) schedule, they realize it's different for them to take a college class.
“I don't feel slighted. I feel like it's an opportunity once again to educate many of the new members of Congress about this program,” he said.
Tags: Kimberly Derrick / Short Track Speedskating
