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Students fight back
 Media Credit: Michael Martin/Managing Editor Sarah White, an SCSU sophomore elementary education major, marches down John Ireland Blvd. to the steps of the Capitol in St. Paul Wednesday for Student Lobby Day.
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 Media Credit: Michael Martin/Managing Editor First-year SCSU student Jenni Rauchbauer one was of nearly a hundred SCSU students that attended Student Lobby Day Wednesday in St. Paul. Students marched from St. Paul Technical College to the Capitol for a rally. Students were also encouraged to meet with their individual legislators.
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 Media Credit: Michael Martin/Managing Editor Students gather in the Minnesota State Capitol Rotunda area Wednesday. They listened to a variety of speakers who spoke about the current state of education in Minnesota. Earlier in the day an amendment failed that would have saved the University of Minnesota and MnSCU systems from any proposed budget cuts this year.
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 Joe Opatz
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 Dave Kleis
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ST. PAUL � About 1,000 students from around the state lobbied outside the Capitol Wednesday to show their anger that legislators intend to cut about $32 million from higher education funding.
Outraged at the possibility of facing double-digit percentage increases in tuition in the coming academic year, the students from the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system protested loudly in the cool morning and afternoon, air as their shouts and cries echoed off the outside walls of the Capitol.
Chanting slogans such as "We're on a mission for lower tuition" and "We are the source of Minnesota's workforce," the students also called for Gov. Jesse Ventura to come out and talk to them, but to no avail.
Some 100 SCSU students were among the protesters at the annual Student Lobby Day.
All those present wore yellow plastic "hard hats" in keeping with the buttons that some wore on their clothes. The buttons read "Danger! Falling Higher Education Budgets."
But even as the students gathered outside the State Office Building earlier in the morning, the House Higher Education Funding Committee shot down an amendment to its bill that would have guaranteed that no cuts be made to higher education funding.
In tabling the amendment, Rep. Lyndon Carlson (DFL-46B) said that while budget cuts were necessary in order to overcome the state's $2 billion deficit, there were other areas that could be cut.
"The state spends $865 million a year on consulting fees," he said, "and that has not been cut."
The amendment was put to a vote and was defeated by a count of six to four. Among those who voted for the amendment was Rep. Joe Opatz (DFL-16A), the representative for St. Cloud who is also an SCSU administrator.
Carlson refused to give up and addressed the crowd gathered outside the Capitol later in the day.
"The House DFL caucus has its priorities and that is no cuts in education," he said. "The state currently spends about $865 million in consulting fees. And not one cent has been touched. If we could just take 5 percent of this, we could fund education."
Tuition at the 53 MnSCU campuses increased by an average of 10.9 percent last year. SCSU students face a 13 percent increase in tuition next year and this has probably led to the record number of its students attending Lobby Day.
The previous record was set last year when 58 students showed up to show their displeasure at budget cuts. However, the overall number of students declined from last year when an estimated 3,000 descended on the Capitol.
Earlier the crowd had marched less than a mile from the St. Paul Technical College to the steps of the Capitol. There, several legislators and other individuals turned out to speak to the students.
Among them were Sen. Dave Kleis (R-St. Cloud), Rep. Gene Pelowski (DFL-32A), MnSCU Chancellor James McCormick and Inter-Faculty Organization president Jim Pehler. All of them voiced their support for the students and vowed to try to fight budget cuts for higher education.
"We have a $2 billion deficit and we are in a recession," Kleis said. "But what you don't do in a recession is cut higher education."
Pelowski said he had three themes that he held on to: "education, education, education."
"Education for our pre-K students," he said. "Education for our K-12 students. And last but not least, education for anyone past K-12."
He said students should voice their opinions to their respective legislators.
"If they say, 'I am for jobs,' you say 'I am for jobs, too. I am for education.' And if they say 'I am for health care,' you say, 'I am for health care, too.' Where would we be if we don't educate nurses? If we don't educate doctors?" he said. "You send that message to the governor. If he doesn't listen, you send that message in November (during the gubernatorial elections)."
McCormick said he had heard the students' calls to keep education affordable.
"We are the future of this great state," he said. "And what you are doing today is not only about your education, but about the future of this state and the education of those in the future."
Pehler encouraged the students to lobby as loud as they could.
"You're the voice that makes the difference in where we go in terms of the future of Minnesota," he said.
All the speakers drew shouts of approval from the crowd who were carrying placards and posters calling for higher education budget cuts to be taken away. Some posters took a swipe at Ventura, including one that said, "We don't want a future as stupid as your past."
Shahjehan Ganny, SCSU Student Government president, also addressed the crowd, as did student government presidents from other universities in the MnSCU system.
"These people (the legislators) are here to represent you," he said. "Are they doing that?"
Ganny worked up the crowd and led them in shouting, "We will remember in November," again alluding to the November gubernatorial election.
Other than higher education budget cuts, one area which has the state's student population up in arms was a proposed tax on student meals.
The rally, organized by Minnesota State University Student Association and the Minnesota State College Student Association, also called support for MnSCU's bonding request of $251 million for building projects.
This year's Lobby Day is the first for Noel Clark, an SCSU first-year Mass Communications major. Clark said that the event was a good cause.
"It's the best way to get people to listen," he said. "We can sit around at our own places in our schools and talk about it all day.
"But that's not going to help any. What better way is there to make your voice heard than to make your voice felt?"
Clark said he was happy with the turnout for Lobby Day, especially with how many students from different colleges and universities, including SCSU, had come together.
"It's interesting to see all these students from different universities gathering together," he said. "I'm proud of our people."
Gordie Loewen, MSUSA representative for SCSU, said it was a great experience for many people to attend Lobby Day.
"I know a lot of people have never done this before," he said, "and it will be very helpful for the future. It's a good starting point.
"I think we've had a successful gathering. We brought a high number of people.
"You never see the results of these things immediately, but you always know when you're here. You get a feeling of how things are going and I think this has gone quite well."
Loewen said he thought that the students did not get enough support from legislators to see off budget cuts totally.
"But I think that we have significant support in the legislature behind us to keep (budget cuts) low," he said. "And I think we're drumming up more support everyday."
As speakers outside wrapped up, the students flooded into the Capitol through its three doors. They headed for the rotunda where more speakers were scheduled to address the crowd.
And if anyone thought the boisterous crowd was loud outside the Capitol, it was even more so in the close confines of the elegant building.
As the speakers finished up for the day, the students began to slowly leave, boarding the buses they arrived in earlier in the morning.
There are about 162,000 students at the various state universities and colleges. These students are represented by MSUSA and MSCSA, who were the sponsors of Lobby Day.
Leslie Andres can be reached at: [email protected]
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