USU students present petition to state legislature
The Utah State University Student Lobbyists visited Capitol Hill last Wednesday to present the petition which has been circulating throughout campus this semester as a part of continual efforts to persuade state legislators to save higher education, said Jackson Olsen, ASUSU vice president.
Olsen said the lobbying group presented the petition to president of the Utah Senate Michael Waddoups and House Speaker David Clark. The petition, which has been posted around campus for students to sign, accumulated 4,936 signatures, which Olsen said was well received by the legislative leaders.
“They couldn’t come out and say, ‘We support you and everything you say 100 percent, and will not cut any of your budget’, but they were very respectful and said, ‘We appreciate your efforts. Stay involved, don’t let up,'” Olsen said.
With the petition, the lobbyists also presented a letter outlining efforts already made by many students at USU, and an explanation why extensive budget cuts to higher education would have an adverse affect on the state of Utah.
“Our bottom line message was, we are not angry, we are not bitter, we simply want to work with (the Legislature) to create a solution so that higher education isn’t punished unfairly or unequally compared to the rest of the state’s institutions,” Olsen said.
Olsen said the USU lobbyists have been continually involved in impressing upon legislatures the importance of saving higher education. While he said it can not be clear at this time what will happen with budget cuts at USU, the meeting between the group and the two legislators went very well.
This was not the first time the USU student lobbyists have gone down to speak to legislators, Olsen said. They have visited the Legislature every other week since the rally on Capitol Hill last month, where students from around the state protested for the cause of saving higher education.
“At the rally last month we really rattled the cages of the state legislators, but it’s been a month and if we had done nothing over that span of time the legislature might have thought it was a fluke thing,” Olsen said. “But we will continue going down to show that we will not take these cuts lying down.”
Olsen said he believes USU is making progress with the Legislature; however, until March 12 when the final budget numbers for 2010 are released, he said there is know way of knowing how affective their campaign has been.
“I know we’re making progress with the Legislature, I know our message is being heard by the Legislature and I know that they are respectful and appreciative of all our efforts; but whether that will translate into smaller budget cuts or not, I don’t know,” Olsen said.
Michael Kennedy, special assistant to the president of USU for state and federal relations, is doing similar work on behalf of the university and said he appreciates Jackson and the other USU student lobbyists for their continual efforts to support the university.
“Jackson and his colleagues are doing a great job representing the interest of Utah State to the Legislature,” Kennedy said. “Their presence adds a human voice to USU’s concerns. I am very appreciative of them.”
Although Kennedy is a USU employee, he is permanently stationed at the state capital until the end of the legislative session. He is also focused on convincing legislators to lessen budget cuts for higher education, and has been shepherding bills through the Legislature to ensure higher education does not take a drastic hit.
This being said, neither Kennedy nor Olsen is naive to the fact that there must be budget cuts. Olsen said he knows the Legislature has been burdened with the heavy task of balancing the state budget, which means certain programs must be cut.
However, Olsen said the lobbyists will continue to ask the Legislature to consider the consequences of thinning the budget of higher education too much.
“We’re not trying to convince them not to cut higher education budgets,” Olsen said. “We’re just asking them to cut fairly and cut smartly because too many cuts to higher education will have a negative affect on everyone in the state.”
Olsen said many people hold the mentality that severe cuts will only affect those who continue attending USU. However, he said he believes that, while the affects may not be immediate, the cuts could come back to smack those who are graduating this year.
“I’m graduating this year and do not plan to return; however, my degree has a stock value and that stock value rises and falls with the prestige and the standards and the accreditation’s of this university,” Olsen said. “So if all of a sudden Utah State starts to fail and cut programs and start to look like a community or junior college then I think it will affect me; and that may not be for 10, 15 years down the road.”
–greg.boyles@aggiemail.usu.edu