On the brief side... College Aid Help Project

The New York State College Aid Awareness Network (CAAN), a program to provide detailed information on all aspects of college financial aid, was announced last week by state Senator Toby Ann Stavisky (D–Flushing).

The project consists of a year-long series of special programs and events designed to assist students and families to pay for college. CAAN is a cooperative project of the NYS Financial Aid Administrators Association and the NYS Higher Education Services Corporation.

Stavisky explained: “CAAN consists of statewide events, fact sheets and financial aid charts to assist students in determining what aid they are eligible for. These resources are vital to students preparing to go to college, especially those struggling to find ways to pay for their tuition in today’s economy.”

Students with financial aid questions can find helpful information at the NYSFAAA Web site, www.nysfaaa.org or the HESC Web site at www.hesc.org.

Monserrate, Family Mark Somber Anniversary

City Councilmember Hiram Monserrate and Annette Lopez gathered with community members on Sunday, December 11, to hold a candlelight vigil for Lopez’s son, Michael Anthony Berrios, who was slain exactly a year and a day before the date by a group of men at 45th Avenue and Broadway in Elmhurst.

Lopez restated her plea for any information about the still unsolved case. Monserrate said, “We must do everything we can to not only provide some form of resolution for Michael’s family, but also to take every precaution possible to keep a misfortune from happening to another family.”

Michael Berrios, a 22-year-old college student, was stabbed to death by a group of men as he returned home from a night out with friends.

Anyone with information related to the case is asked to contact the 110th Police Precinct at 718-476-9137 or the CrimeStoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS (8477). All information is confidential.

Clinton: Save Purple Heart Stamp

In an effort to continue having the Purple Heart commemorative stamp issued even if the United States Postal Service increases postal rates, U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D–New York) launched a petition drive on her Web site, www.clinton/senate.gov to support her request to Postmaster General John Potter.

For the past several years, Clinton has campaigned for the Purple Heart stamp, which commemorates the Purple Heart, honoring all military men who received the medal for having been wounded in battle.

Ground Breaking At Queens Children’s Hospital

State Senator Frank Padavan (R–C, Bellerose), at left and Assemblymember Mark Weprin (D–Little Neck), center, were among several officials who broke ground recently for a new youth services building on the Queens Children’s Psychiatric Center campus on the Creedmoor grounds in Queens Village.

Padavan and Weprin secured $41 million in funding from the state budget to refurbish the psychiatric center and build a new community services building on the same site.