Daily Archives: March 31, 2011

by | March 31, 2011 · 5:56 pm

The House Democratic Whip Is on Our Side, but…

From yesterday’s Centre Daily Times, Rep. Mike Hanna, the House Democratic Whip, expresses his strong support for funding PASSHE and rejecting Gov Corbett’s budget proposal.

He strikes just the right tone, reminding the Governor (or whoever on the Governor’s staff does his reading for him) that PASSHE tuition hasn’t, in fact, skyrocketted or “gotten out of control,” a mistake (?) the Governor made during his budget address.  [The Governor seems unable to understand the difference between state-owned and state-related universities.]  Rep. Hanna also strikes the tone in his strong reminder that middle and working-class families in PA are the ones who suffer most from this proposal–exactly the people who seem to have voted for Governor Corbett because he convinced them he was on their side. 

I have one quibble with Rep. Hanna’s position.  Throughout the piece, he makes moves like this one:

These efforts now further complicate our ability to deal with the extreme budget cuts proposed by the governor.
He uses the terms extreme, catastrophic, etc, all of which are correct.  My concern, however, is that by so empatically labeling the cuts as extreme, Rep. Hanna is setting the stage for the Legislature to rationalize smaller but still horrific cuts and claim credit for compromising while doing so.
We need to do everything we can not to let that happen.  So I recommend writing a letter (not on university e-mail or letterhead!) thanking Representative Hanna for his support, and reminding him that even a fraction of the cuts Corbett has proposed are still nearly impossible for the universities to bear. 

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Filed under Advocacy, APSCUF, Budget, PASSHE, Penn State University, Representative Mike Hanna, Tom Corbett, University of Pittsburgh, West Chester University

by | March 31, 2011 · 2:46 pm

We Need YOU! For about half an hour…

Come join members of the campus community (students, faculty, staff, administrators, friends) in Sykes Ballroom C at 12:30 on Friday, April 1.

Legislators (members of the PA House and Senate) will be visiting campus to receive the hundreds of postcards students and others have filled out, explaining the impacts that Governor Corbett’s proposed budget cuts will have on us.  They will also talk to us about the situation from their points of view and help us refine our strategies as we move forward. 

It’s important that we draw a strong crowd to show our legislators that we really are committed to protecting our university at all levels and for the well-being of all campus community members. 

The event should be finished by 1 pm. 

I’d say “We hope to see you there,” but the need is bigger than that.  It’s really important we turn out in numbers.  Be there if you can. 

–Seth

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Filed under Advocacy, APSCUF, Budget, Communities, PASSHE, Student activism, Tom Corbett, Tuition increase, West Chester University

by | March 31, 2011 · 11:26 am

Coverage of Rallies, Links to Budget News

Folks: I’ve been a little slow getting this list of links out; fortunately, our colleague Kevin Mahoney at the KUXchange put them all together so I don’t have to.  Nothing I can say about these that he hasn’t already… 

–Seth

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Filed under APSCUF, Budget, Kutztown University, Links, Lock Haven University, PASSHE, Rally, Student activism, Tom Corbett, Tuition increase, West Chester University