u Hangin' in there 1 Doug i\ill>lebvlEXPONENT The MSU ROTC participatea in the "Night Court" held last Frida: the F dhc .e. Besides repelling "Aussie­ style, n as seen here, othe' activities included summo wres 1g, ba::. etb,q I and volleyball tournaments. Alumnus eads guilty t lking charge did," said Judge Frank Davis, d I am Attorney Marty Lambert , Sidonio admit­ Kate Reynold uncomfortable shooting from ~ e hip ... ted to violating the restraining order at least Exponent staff writer about the conditions of restitu on and eight times. deferred sentence "Davis mdicatea in court "I exercised poor judgment in some of N 0 V E M 8 E R 16, 1 9 9 3 A Montana State alurrmus 1as sen­ tha a full sentence would be im"JOSed by my dealings with Suzanne," Sidonio said tenced Monday in one of first ~ under the end or November. during the hearing. the state's new anti-stalking law Sidon v •as sentenced for s ing his Sidonio has a history in court on 8 7 N U M 8 ER 24 Joseph Sidonio, 35, pleaded guilty in ex~ If ie nd, S zanne Hall, on " inter­ charges related to the victim. He was served Gallatin County District Court to one state 1eai Bozeman m May. Li er the a temporary restraining order in March, felon~· charge of stalking. The 1u 1ge or­ stalking la1.< ?assed Apr 9, 1 ..,, 1t is a 1992, shortly after the relationship with FE ATU RES dered Sidonio to serve 15 days in the felony offense to stalk someone who is Hall ended. In April 1993, Sidonio was Gallatin County Detention Center and under the protection of a temporary re­ sentenced in Judge Jim McKenna's court pay restitution to the victim. The dollar straining order to 10 days in jail for repeated violation of amount and payment of restitution is still Hall, 32, had filed for a restraining the restraining order, given a six-month to be decided, as will the conditions of order againstSidonio in April of 1992, and suspended sentence and ordered to seek Sidonio's probation. had renewed the order in April, 1993. "There is no excuse for what you Under questioning from Deputy County See Stalker page 2 Montana State gets shiny new loan program "We will actually be dispersing the money to them, either John Pettit initially with a check that we would have cut here or eventually Exponent editor we hope to just credit them electronically," Groseth said. Montana State President Mike Malone received a letter The new federal program will mean a diminished role for Monday from the US Secretary of Education, Richard Riley. It banks as far as financial aid loans go. said, "your school is one of the 105 institutions selected to "This direct lending program is designed to replace the participate in the Federal Direct Student Loan Program in its Stafford Loan program, which is our largest one, which prob­ iS p 0 R T first year, 1994-95." ably amounted to about $14 million this year," he said. "Essen­ s "We think this is a credit to our university financial aid tially, the banks over the next four or five years, nationally will office. It means we can flatten out the organizational structure be phased out of a large portion of the money that they are now and provide better student service without adding staff," Malone lending." said in a press release. "There have parts of the banking community nationally Under the current federal system, students apply for loans that have lobbied against it and they have felt in some ways that through MSU. Their applications are evaluated and they are they had portrayed as the bad guys since they were making 'Cat/Griz approved for a loan award consistent with federal guidelines. some money on their loans," Groseth said. "[certainly don't Students must then fill out another set of applications to a view them that way. Those loans have been an important help guaranteed student loan agency or a bank, MSU News Service to our students and there were certain costs and risks the banks page reported. Those are processed and the loan check is returned to were taking.11 the university for transmittal to the student. According to Groseth, banks in Montana don't have that "In the past the student has had to fill out one application big of a stake in loans to students, anyway. 11 for one for the general Pell Grant and a separate application for "With a couple of exceptions, here in Montana, most of the the Stafford Loan Program," Rolf Groseth, Vice Provost for loans that students have gotten have been from local banks. Student Affairs, said. "We will now be using just their initial application for aid." See Loans page 2 Loans __ tram page 1 Student lending is not a major part of their portfolio, they don't have 076 + HP5 = B/W staff dedicated to it; it's something that people were doing on top of everything else that they were doing, and so in most of our commu­ nities it's not a big issue," he said. So if banks aren't upset, and the process gets streamlined, who wins and who loses? It seems students win, and nobody loses, as long as financial aid staff are retained. With regard to the former, the new program means less paper­ work and time in line. With regard to the latter, their new workload remains unknown According to Groseth, "What we do know is that for the students it will be a lot faster. We don't know what the additional workload, if any will be for the staff. Just the fact that we're doing all the processing and decision making on campus is just going to make everything faster." Groseth predicted that the new program would not affect defer­ ments or students who currently have student loans out. Interest rates will bestmdardized in the federal program, and may even decline, he said. As reported m the MSU Nev..'5, the bottom line is efficiency for the federal student loan buck. "The federal government will still act as the lender. It will contract with private agencies to service and collect payments on the loans. The US Dept. of Education has estimated that it will improve the default rate nationwide and save approximately $4.3 billion through fiscal year 1998 by making loans directly through designated universities " Given the impetus for the federal program to curb defaults, MSU doesn't seem a likely candidate for the program. According to the MSU Financial Aid director, "We have under a five percent default rate which is way below the national average of 25 percent." Groseth speculated that MSU was picked to give the program a broad application. In the end, though, he expressed what the upshot Rory Grinde, a photo major works on his latest project for Studio Illustration Photography in the is for students: "What we hope is that people will be in those [financial darkroom the the Visual Communications Buildmg. aid] lines a Jot fewer times." Stalker from page 1 professional counseling. ders, both misdemeanors. These the hearing, some from sizable dis­ Lambert regarding the terms o f thorities. In May, Sidonio was charged charges will remain on his perma­ tance. The victim's parents came in Sidonio's probation. These recom­ ~notconsidereda ainl with one count of stalking, a felony, nentrec.ord, although the felorry stalk­ from Massachusetts, her brother from mendations include approximately in Montana unti Senae Bill 37, and held on $20,IXXl bond for a day. ing charge will notifSidoniodoes not Utah and a sister from Helena. $10,000 in restitution by Sidonio to "stalking bill," passed in ~ r:i 1 Siclonio pleaded guilty, with sentenc­ violate his probation. Sidonio offered an "apology to Hall and long-term counseling by a The law is intended to "aim.inalizie ing held over until yesterday. "I want to be assured of my the Hall family," saying, "I accept psychologist for Sidonio. Under these punish the activities of peqlle IAlho re­ As part of the plea agreement safety ... to be able to live in responsibility for my actions." recommended terms, Sidonio would peai:rllywaldl, fdo..v, t-aass, er madebetweenl.ambertandSidonio's Bozeman," Hall said when ques­ Sidonio graduated from MSU in surrender any firearms in his posses­ attorney Charles Watson, Sidonio will tioned by the judge about what she May of 1993 with a degee in ac­ sion to authorities for the duration of someone when such cdivity causes appear in Bozeman City Court to­ thoughwouldbeanappropriatesen­ counting. his probation and any future travel vi::lim substantial emotional distress a morrow to plead guilty to two charges tence. The judge has taken under ad­ into Montana would be reporled to reasonOOle ~ffiion of bodily n. of violating temporary restrairung or- Most of the Hall family attended visement recommendations from state and local law enforcement au- ;..tiy or death." Family matters: televison, children and familie been done since 1962, 86 percent reported When the television is on, the quality and important to children Steve Duncan that prolonged viewing of television can cre­ quantity of interaction changes. Families may Discuss what you watch Several studies MSU Extension ate more violent, hostile and aggressive atti­ gather around the TV but remain isolated in have shown that parents can filter the in U· tudes and behaviors in children and adults their experiences and reactions to the program. ence television has on their children thro BOZEMAN - Recently, concerns about Heavy TV viewing can desensitize us to hu­ Families spend more time in each other's com­ discussion.