By Julia Yetter And Alexandra Sailor
Those University of Louisville students who attended the Rally for Higher Education in Frankfort yesterday shared one common emotion: anger toward state legislation.
With Gov. Steve Beshear’s budget recommendation under review by the Kentucky General Assembly, many students wonder how much damage Beshear’s proposed 12 percent cut to higher education funding will do to them.
“I came to U of L because I wanted to have this education, but I feel like I have to fight to be here,” said Cassandra Rausch, a sophomore anthropology major. According to Rausch, she is nearly $40,000 in debt after two years of college.
“I’m here on a scholarship but budget cuts would make it hard for students like me to get scholarships for the future.” said Sara Noori, a sophomore art major. “KEES money pays for my art supplies and books, without it I would really struggle.”
U of L students waved signs and shouted along with college students from all over the state, with some professing how big of an issue these budget cuts should be to most Kentucky students.
“It really affects the average middle class student,” said Anna Ramsay, a finance major. “It’s not fair to mandate U of L a research university and then to place the burden of funding on students,” said Ramsay.
Joshua McCollum stressed how much of a toll that the budget cuts could take on an average student.
“I’m not poor enough to get a large amount of financial aid and I’m not rich enough to pay the price of education myself,” said McCollum, a senior liberal studies major.
Students attending the rally were given free transportation to Frankfort, lunch and t-shirt as well as an exemption from class that day.
According to Kate Brueggemann, the Executive Vice-President of the Student Government Association, letters were written to faculty asking for support and letting them know that students may miss school. SGA also placed approximately 200 yard signs throughout campus in order to notify U of L students of the rally.
“We needed to come out in masses to back up what we say to legislators through SGA,” said Brueggemann, a senior political science major.
Yet, even with the university wide absence exemption, rally participation wasn’t as high as other universities participating at Frankfort.
“My professor told us that even though it would be exempt we wouldn’t be allowed to make up the work that we missed,” said McCollum “I think that’s why a lot of students didn’t show up.”
House Democrat Mary Lou Marzian, who opposes the cuts to higher education, offered a group of students some insight regarding Frankfort politics.
“The funding cuts are devastating but it’s up to you and U of L’s faculty to make noise and get the attention of the policy members,” Marzian said. “We’ve lost three billion dollars in Kentucky to the war in Iraq and what legislators are doing is passing that tax on. It’s simply not acceptable.”
Marzian reiterated that the burden is on college students to make their disdain for the budget situation known to state legislators.
“Your age group of 18-24 year old voters are not unified enough to become a threat to the legislators,” Marzian said. “As a result, you, as a student, will absorb that tax if you do nothing.”
