An inhumane action was recently passed by both the House and Senate which will create more problems for millions of poverty-stricken individuals. This new piece of legislation is the so-called Republican-designed “Welfare Reform” which simply reinvents welfare by throwing people off of it without having a built-in safety net for survival.

“Welfare reform” is supposed to be (according to the Republicans) a “magic” cure for all poor people in awaiting the ultimate American Dream by fully relying on their own wits while coping in a harshly materialistic culture.

For someone affluent, like House Speaker Newt Gingrich, access to better housing, education and employment opportunities are easily attainable without a lot of public assistance. Whereas, for a low-income single parent living in Ames, Iowa, reaching those higher avenues of socioeconomic success are much harder if no help from the government is readily available. To some, it is in the form of welfare.

I am not advocating that everyone who is concerned about welfare reform should abandon their worldly possessions to become totally dependent on public assistance. No, in fact, I am stating that current congressional “reforms” are heavily flawed for these major reasons:

1. It creates absolutely no solid educational/vocational training programs to keep people from returning to welfare.

2. It lacks major provisions for guaranteeing any kind of security regarding low income housing, Medicaid and school lunch programs.

3. It is also designed to completely bankrupt an already overburdened social services community by forcing them to pacify a raging flood by increased poverty levels.

4. It marks President Clinton’s greatest need for overaccomodating an amorally Republican-led congress in his starring role as the compromising Democrat.

Unlike the negative portrayals of welfare clients by both the media and politicians (from both parties), I have known several people who have actually spent time on welfare and they were not “cheats.” It was seen as a temporary setback until something else came along to put them into a higher socioeconomic position.

Welfare also came very close to home for me. In October 1991, I made a personal visit to my local welfare office for assistance in obtaining alternative financial resources until I started working full-time again. After being financially dependent on my mother when the original unemployment benefits ran out, I was prodded by her to look into it as a possible option. I was not happy in going as I struggled to survive this negative experience with leaving my own dignity intact.

So, I arrived well before the 7:30 a.m. daily cutoff time for client screening. I was called in after a wait of 3 1/2 hours by an overworked caseworker who treated me like a “second-class” citizen because I wanted assistance despite already having a college degree. I was given a return date of January 1992 and told to leave.

By the beginning of 1992, my unemployment compensation was reinstated and I spent the time finding stable employment. (Which was finally found in April of that year). It was a very difficult point in my life.

To make welfare reform more realistic there must be major hard-core alternatives that are more palatable than Congress’ recent legislative scam .

So, this listing consists of humane welfare reforms:

1. Immediately lift any restrictions for welfare recipients to obtain a solid educational program without hampering their overall benefits.

2. Develop stabilized job training programs leading to real employment prospects for individual economic and professional growth.

3. Re-district community zones in building future low-income housing.

4. Formulate a nutritionally balanced school lunch program which doesn’t primarily rely upon fast food being passed off as “healthy” eating.

5. Although the Kennedy-Kasselbaum Managed Health Care Act was a positive beginning in health care reform, reintroduce the McDermott-Wellstone National Health Care Act for Americans for a truly nationalized health care system for everyone.

While welfare “reform” has been officially passed and signed into law, I’m seeking shelter from the incoming Republican poverty hurricane .

Adrian DeVore is a senior in food science from Newark, N.J. She has a B.A. in English from Rutgers University (Douglas College).