Thread: GA-Around Town: 'No Comprende!'

Around Town: 'No Comprende!'
by Otis Brumby, Bill Kinney & Joe Kirby
May 22, 2010 12:00 AM

IS JESSICA COLOTL the only "Jessica Colotl" at Kennesaw State University? That is, are there any additional students enrolled there who, like Ms. Colotl, are not U.S. citizens and who are in this country illegally? And how many of them are paying the deeply discounted in-state tuition rate? It's a question readers have repeatedly asked.

AT has tried to find out, but KSU spokesman have taken a position of "No comprende!" or, perhaps more accurately, "No want to comprende!"

A recent issue of a KSU publication called "Access," which is produced by the school's media relations office, touted a $660,000 grant received from the Goizueta Foundation to improve the retention and graduation rates of Hispanic students. The item notes that 864, or about 5 percent, of the school's 22,380 students are Hispanic.

But when the MDJ tried to find out how many of those students (or students of other backgrounds) are in this country illegally, KSU officials clammed up.

On Thursday, MDJ reporter Kathryn Dobies emailed Arlethia Perry-Johnson, special assistant to President Dr. Dan Papp, and asked: How many students do not have a Social Security number on file at the school, and of those, how many are paying in-state tuition?

It's not an exact indicator, of course, but we think it's a good place to start.

Perry-Johnson, though, was out sick that day, and our question has gone unanswered. So the public will have to wait a while longer to find out how many illegal aliens, in addition to Ms. Colotl (who has been given a one-year grace period by ICE to complete her education) are enrolled at KSU.


***

ON A RELATED NOTE, Papp - who, you'll recall, initially said he was "thrilled" that Colotl would be allowed to resume her studies at KSU - posted a three-page letter to faculty and students on the University's homepage on Tuesday regarding rumors that school leaders had personally driven Colotl home after she was released May 5 from federal detention.

"Upon notification by ICE that the agency intended to release Ms. Colotl, ICE asked KSU to assist with her transportation. Recognizing that she did not possess a valid driver's license nor any means of transportation, KSU agreed to do so," Papp wrote.

"An Atlanta immigration official drove Ms. Colotl from Gadsden, Ala., to Atlanta. A KSU student success administrator and a representative of Ms. Colotl's sorority picked up Ms. Colotl from the immigration office. Mr. Ted Cochran, KSU's chief of police, volunteered to drive the group in his own private vehicle for this pick up and drop off. She was transported from Atlanta to a residence in Gwinnett. Contrary to published reports, no celebration was ever discussed or planned," Papp wrote, in a shot aimed at AT, which reported Tuesday - based on private comments from a high-ranking KSU official - that leaders there, including a member of Papp's cabinet, had met and discussed parading Colotl back onto the campus in a KSU van, with her sorority sisters in tow.

The letter ends with this statement from the president: "My actions, and those of my administration, were taken in response to the specific circumstances and were aimed at addressing the welfare of a KSU student. These actions, devoid of any political agenda, were purely and simply an act of compassion that we would take on behalf of ANY student who is in good standing at this university."



http://www.mdjonline.com/view/full_stor ... ws_bullets

What I would like to know, about her and the 5 students arrested at John McCain's office the other day, and it wasn't addressed in any of the articles, were they paying "out of state tuition" (a higher rate) or paying "in state tuition" (a lower rate for state residents) when they were attending school.

Were they in school under false ID? All these locals should have been charging them a higher tuition rate as they are not classified as residents.

Meanwhile this state has a 2 billion dollar deficit and has cut benefits for citizens and legal residents. Where the hell is this government's priorities as they sure as hell don't seem to be with struggling and suffering Americans......