Begging for His Chance To Go to College

Wearing a sandwich board saying FUTURE NOBEL PRIZE WINNER, Frier McCollister, 17, has been walking the sidewalks of Chicago's chic Michigan Avenue this summer with a pewter mug in his hand. McCollister has been admitted to Columbia but needs money. He is probably ineligible for various grant programs because his family's income is $25,000 a year, yet his parents have barely been able to raise the $7,000 to pay for the basics: room, board and tuition. So McCollister, who tried to find a summer job, has taken to an old form of free enterprise: begging. His plea: "Send a bright young boy to college." One woman gave him $20, but most passers-by simply pass him by. His net for 25 to 30 days of panhandling, spread over the summer: $330. Many people ask him why he doesn't get a job. As far as McCollister is concerned, panhandling was hard work. Says he: "Some guy even took a swing at me."

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