The Compass

Issue date: 2/17/10 Section: News

Hundreds of students marched towards the Gold Dome, using signs and chants to express their opposition to the budget cuts.

Media Credit: Wil Petty, The Voice Students at the rally tightly packed into the plaza in front of the Capitol to show the legislators that they are serious in their opposition.

Lisa Shah (right) and Lindsey Pogostin (left) came in their scrubs from the Medical College of Georgia to rally against the budget cuts that would affect several MCG programs.

Wearing a green hat for GSC, student leader Cameron McGinty protested the hurriedness of the budget cuts, claiming that there hasn't been enough time for students to come up with any solutions.

House Minority Leader DuBose Porter of Dublin made an appearance at the rally to give a quick speech to the students.

Dressed in their school colors, college students from all across the state filled the plaza in front of the capitol building to voice their opposition to proposed budget cuts to the University System of Georgia.

The students were protesting the "archaic fix to the dire financial situation that Georgia is in," Daniel Bentley, treasurer and secretary of Gainesville State College's Student Government Association. "Hopefully, we can convince the legislators to find better solutions."

GSC student Tyler Berryman said he was there to "fight the tuition raises and program cuts." Like many of the students at the rally, Berryman advocated that the legislators start from the top instead of placing the financial burden on the students.

"I understand that in this economy, cuts have to be made, but they should at least look at it from a student's point of view first," he said.

GSC student leader Cameron McGinty wanted to protest the timing of the announcement of budget cuts, claiming that they were being enacted too quickly. "It doesn't even give the students a fair chance to do a simple cost-benefit analysis," he said.

Lindsey Pogostin and Lisa Shah, dressed in nursing scrubs, represented the Medical College of Georgia's physician's assistant program. This program is one of six programs that the budget cuts will affect at MCG. They received permission to skip their normal full day of classes because they are allied with their school's faculty in their opposition to the proposed budget cuts, Shah said.

"We're glad for this opportunity to voice our opinions," Pogostin said, "even if it means having to make up for all the lectures we're missing."

"Whenever there's a problem with the economy, their solution is to just slash everything," Eddie Beck, a junior at UGA, said. "Our SGA is talking about how to deal with these cuts. I don't even want the cuts. Every time they cut, it reduces the quality (of the schools.)"

Charles Feagain, candidate for Georgia Southern's SGA president, said that in a meeting with state senators after the rally, the SGA presidents are going to propose "an increase in the cigarette tax and a one point sales tax increase to cover the millions they want to cut."

Primarily through social media like Facebook and Twitter, all 35 SGA presidents from the USG worked with Georgia Students for Public Higher Education to organize Monday's rally. GSPHE, formed at Georgia State, brought a lot of experience to the organization effort from their year of practice since their founding.

The rally started off with a press conference. All of the SGA presidents who attended the rally collectively gave a speech that stressed the importance of public higher education in Georgia. Specific emphasis was placed on Georgia's history as the creator of the country's first state-chartered university.

UGA student Jake Campbell brought a petition against the proposed budget cuts that he wrote two weeks ago. Intending to hand it directly to Gov. Sonny Perdue, he had to carry the petition in a box because more than 36,000 students signed it. "Many students couldn't make it out here today," Campbell said, but because of the petition, "they get to be here anyway."

Despite the General Assembly taking the day off, several state representatives and state senators attended the rally to support the students.

"We've created a world-class education system here in Georgia," said Rep. DuBose Porter of Dublin, the Georgia House Minority Leader. "It's an economic development priority."

Porter was influential in setting up the HOPE Scholarship program. He was the administration floor leader for Gov. Zell Miller when the original legislation for the program was drafted.

State Rep. Pat Dooley of Marietta said she was opposed to the deep cuts in education. "It worries me that we are willing to extend the economic downturn for our students."

This is our future, she said. "I don't know why we are in such a rush to be at the bottom of everything."

Several politicians, including State Rep. Kathy Ashe from downtown Atlanta, have more than just their political careers to justify their support of the rally. Ashe is a former teacher and serves on the board of two universities that will be affected by the budget cuts: Georgia State and Georgia Tech.

"There is no more foolish a cut than one to education at any level," she said.

Gary Horlacher, a candidate for secretary of state, has three children in the public education system. He says that his support of the rally is just as much for them as it is for the cause.

"I've sat back and watched this scam for a while now, and it's deeply troubling," he said. "The only way (the capitol) changes is when media and people turn on the heat."

Even though several politicians showed up, Aaron Paul, SGA president for GSC's Oconee campus, said, "(The rally) is strictly nonpartisan. We're staying out of politics."

However, not everyone who attended was as enthusiastic as the organizers and politicians.

"I was hoping to hear some positive solutions towards (the cuts)," GSC student Randy Roberts said. "Only thing I've heard is an increase in the tobacco tax. I smoke, and I'd be happy to pay a dollar a pack more to support that, but at the same time, that's the only thing I've heard that was a positive solution."

GSC student Shelley Little was disappointed in how few GSC students attended the rally. "There's no excuse for their laziness," she said.

Cameron McGinty said that students who did not show up should "open up (their) eyes, stop being selfish, and be a part of something big."

Despite any bad feelings the rally may have given her, Little still supported it. "I have a son in school … which drives me to be here even more. There are field trips he should've been able to go on, but can't now that there's no money."

With sign-up sheets and fliers ready, GSPHE organizers want to continue the effort. "This is a long-term thing," organizer Ryan Haney said. "It may start here, but it doesn't end here."

To get involved in GSPHE, visit their website at http://gsphe.tk



Photos by Wil Petty, News Editor of The Voice, the student newspaper of Gainesville State College, Oconee campus.

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