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Trade school defends recruiting of homeless | Houston Chronicle Archives Easy Printing
Houston Chronicle MAY 31, 1989
Trade school defends recruiting of homeless NANCY STANCILL Staff The director of Elkins Institute Tuesday defended the trade school's recruiting of homeless people from other cities and said those students have been propelled by cultural factors rather than financial need to seek free lunches at a downtown food pantry. Darwich Sayed said Elkins has recruited 145 homeless people from Dallas, San Antonio and New Orleans since midApril and has provided the students with sufficient money to purchase food while their federal loans are being processed. But shortly after Sayed spoke at a news conference, about 20 students from Elkins and another trade school, American Masonry Institute, showed up once again to collect sack lunches at St. Paul's United Methodist Church food pantry. And a Texas assistant attorney general said officials of both schools were subpoenaed Tuesday to give statements under oath on Thursday about whether their recruiting practices have hurt students. ``We'll be able to get a better picture of whether they have engaged in deceptive trade practices,'' said Juliet Romero of the consumer protection division in Houston, which is investigating the schools' recruiting. She said investigators from the Houston office interviewed students Tuesday at the church and talked to the food pantry's director, Bobbie Kidd. Kidd said the students are still telling the same story. ``These people were hungry, and they all said there wasn't enough money for food,'' said Kidd. The plight of the hungry students detailed in the Chronicle recently drew the attention of the Texas Education Agency and the Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corp., which also are investigating. Kidd said several Elkins students told her Tuesday that the school has not provided them with money since the $50 they received when they got off the bus nearly two weeks ago. But Sayed said school records indicate that students recruited out of town have gotten living expense checks ranging from $110 to $288 since their arrival up to a month ago. Sayed said some of the students recruited from homeless shelters do not know how to budget and cannot handle large sums of money, an opinion shared by Linda Owens, Elkins' financial aid director. ``We discovered when we gave them $100 up front they bought TVs and watches,'' Owens said. Sayed shrugged when asked why the students found it necessary to seek aid from the food pantry and other area social service organizations. ``What is it, a group culture no matter what you give them?'' Sayed said. Sayed said the school decided to stop recruiting homeless people after bringing in a bus load from New Orleans on May 19. Of the 145 that were recruited over the last month, he said, 40 were given bus tickets to return home, 23 are on academic probation, and 82 are still attending class. http://nl.newsbank.com/nlsearch/we/Archives?p_action=print&p_docid=0ED7AF1D51AA695C
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2/7/2017
Trade school defends recruiting of homeless | Houston Chronicle Archives Easy Printing
``I was initially skeptical about the homeless students, and I certainly am more so, given the negative publicity we have received,'' he said. However, he added, ``We cannot treat these people as the lepers of the city, or as the fire that burns anyone that touches them, or as the hapless lot.'' He said eight of the students have gotten parttime jobs, and all have been provided with furnished apartments. But he conceded that the living quarters do not include cooking equipment, sheets, towels or any of the amenities students say they must purchase out of modest living allowances. Sayed said students are being charged tuition ranging from $4,200 to $5,400 for Elkins' six and nine month programs, and most have applied for government grants and loans exceeding $8,000. The school offers programs to train electronic technicians, medical clerks and data entry specialists. After tuition and other school costs are taken out, students will get living expenses ranging from $90 to $275 monthly, he said. Sayed acknowledged that an Elkins representative had advised students to get free meals at the food pantry, which is near the Elkins building at 2100 Travis, and said he has not discussed the matter with officials at the charity. Kidd said she called the school several weeks ago, but no one called her back. Sayed said he never told the school's recruiters to visit shelters for the homeless and said they apparently did so because it was an easy place to recruit. He said he decided to stop recruiting homeless people because ``we have taken our share.'' Copyright 1989 Houston Chronicle
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