For you WCU English Department subscribers, you’ve seen some of this before…
At this past weekend’s APSCUF Legislative Assembly in Greensburg, statewide CAP (Committee for Action through Politics) chair Brad Wilson provided delegates with a couple of slightly distressing numbers I need to pass along.
1. Statewide, only about 50% of APSCUF members donate our yearly dues rebate back to the organization.
2. At WCU, only about 5% of APSCUF members donate to CAP via voluntary payroll deductions, a system that’s been in place for many years.
I know some people aren’t in position to take extra payroll deductions for much of any reason; if you’re one of those folks, I’m not talking to you when I say this:
APSCUF-CAP needs money.
Brad Wilson, in his report, made what struck me as the obvious version of the point. Right now, Governor Corbett has threatened to slash our budget in half, while he refuses to tax gas companies for extractions from or profits on Marcellus Shale. Why?
I’m not saying we’ll ever outspend huge energy companies, nor should we. I am saying, however, that along with our strong and continuing grassroots efforts to convince legislators not to halve our budget, we can do a lot more, and a lot more effectively, and a lot more sustainably, with just a little help from a lot more faculty members.
An important point of clarification: I imagine that some of you will respond to this request saying something like, “We just had our dues increased last year, and you’re already asking for MORE money?” And the answer is yes. The money we collect from last year’s dues increase goes to pay organizational expenses–office expenses, staff salaries, legal fees, assembly/meeting costs, public relations, and so on. It’s illegal to spend that money on lobbying. Your CAP contribution would go to nothing but lobbying and candidate endorsements.
This isn’t complicated stuff, y’all. Every faculty who can afford to offer a voluntary CAP payroll deduction, we need you. When you fill out the form, which you can find on-line here, you’ll see that you can specify the amount of your deduction. I wouldn’t presume to suggest an amount you should contribute, except to say that we can certainly find useful places to put every penny.
APSCUF-WCU 