Merit-based Pell Grants would reward those truly lazy

I struggle to find a more tired rhetoric than that which
promotes the United States as having “prevailed” over
other countries as a result of its extraordinary work ethic. This
baseless argument, which completely fails to focus on the true
circumstances that have contributed to this country’s rise to
power, once again has been dragged out in Garin Hovannisian’s
poor attempt to discredit the merits of need-based financial aid
(“Pell Grants unfairly favor need over merit,”
Viewpoint, Feb. 18).

Before getting to the issues he raised regarding the Federal
Pell Grant Program, I would like to state just how insulting I
personally ““ as an American ““ find his assertion that
Americans view money as a significant representation of one’s
skills, value and prominence. This may come as a surprise to some,
but there are actually Americans who see the amount of money that
people have as an indicator of little more than the amount of money
they have.

Many individuals actually are concerned more about how people
make their money instead of how much they make. It is not difficult
to find (on a daily basis) headlines about very wealthy members of
the business community that don’t exactly warrant admiration.
I suppose I should admire people like Paris Hilton for all the hard
work she has devoted toward amassing her fortune.

Furthermore, I am just a bit curious as to what Hovannisian is
referring when he states that as a result of having the best
doctors and scientists (a contentious statement itself), the United
States contributes the most to the world at large. Is he perhaps
referring to the unrivaled levels of pollutants, greenhouse gases,
waste, war and political instability that we are contributing to
the world?

Thankfully, some members of the U.S. government do recognize
that there is a strong correlation between poverty, limited
educational opportunities, poorer quality schools and lower
academic achievement.

Some privileged members of society may wish to believe that we
are all given the same opportunities to succeed, yet anyone who has
taken the time to look is aware of the gross inequalities that
pervade American society. To read Hovannisian’s statements,
one is essentially being asked to believe that students from
lower-income neighborhood schools are achieving lower test scores
as a result of laziness.

He further insinuates that the poor themselves are in their
situation as a result of this same laziness. I guess this would
mean that low income neighborhoods are housing growing numbers of
society’s laziest individuals rather than those who are
willing to work many of the most physically demanding jobs that the
rest of us hardworking and overachieving people refuse to do.

The Pell Grant Program never has operated under the pretense of
offering merit-based scholarships. It was clearly designed as a
means of offering assistance to students with demonstrated
financial need. Turning this into a merit-based program only would
enhance the advantages that our society’s structure
inherently offers the wealthy. There is absolutely no reason why
the federal government should be doling out checks to
silver-spooned students over those who cannot go to school without
aid.

I think some members of our society may struggle to appreciate
the meaning of need, or the fact that we do not all come from the
same place. For those who wish to flex their merit-based muscles,
there are a plethora of such scholarship opportunities out there.
Strangely, though, a number of these merit-based scholarships are
under-applied for as a result of qualified (read: hardworking)
students’ being unwilling to devote the time (read: work)
required in the application process.

Greenfield is a fourth-year environmental studies
student.