Echoes of President Clinton’s financial aid speech at SIUC spread through the free-forum area yesterday at a congressional student cook-out protest of Republican financial aid policies, but few people were listening.

The cookout theme of the event stemmed from what organizers called the Congressional majority’s recipe to balance the budget, Dan Piper, a senior in English from Edwardsville who organized the event, said.

Piper, an advocate of the United States Student Association, a student lobbying group, said the rally mirrors what USSA stands for the protection of programs beneficial to students.

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The Undergraduate Student Government Senate voted Wednesday to join USSA with a limited membership contract. The contract was a compromise to the original membership fee of $18,000.

An anonymous student at the rally, dressed as U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, stood in front of a barbecue grill filled with symbols of the cookout protest.

Attendance at the rally was minimal; only a couple students actually stopped to listen to Piper. The faux-Gingrich impersonator, however, with a pillow stuffed down his shirt, drew several smiles from passers-by.

A paper pig cut-out symbolized the preservation of corporate pork, Piper explained, while a binder in the grill was an effigy of the cooked books Piper said Republicans used to make their loan system look less expensive than it actually is.

The congressional majority wants to balance the budget on the backs of students, Piper said loudly, trying to be heard over the loud music of a nearby WIBV radio promotion.

Piper, former USG governmental affairs commissioner, criticized Republican attempts to limit the Direct Lending Program, a loan program supported by USSA in which financial aid is mailed directly to students. Piper contended that the program benefits students and taxpayers. He said the only group hurt by Direct Lending would be banks and secondary markets who turn a profit by handling loans.

Proponents of Direct Lending say it reduces the red tape students and financial aid administrators have to wade through to obtain financial aid.

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After the cookout Piper conceded that attendance may had been better if the event had been more publicized. He added that the starting time of noon is a time when many students are busy.

USG Senator Jamel Powell also attacked Republican financial aid policy after the rally.

It’s money politics, Powell said. This is nothing more than paying back the student loan industry for their support (in the 94 congressional elections).