Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 7, 1995 TAG: 9502070073
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: ALLISON BLAKE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
"I don't pay that much attention to the news," admitted Morrill, who first came to Virginia Tech from New Hampshire to study geology.
"Normally, I would never do something like write a letter to my delegate," continued the senior, who took a year off to establish Virginia residency to pay lower tuition, and has since switched to a geography major.
But like hundreds of students who have watched tuition go up, class sizes bulge, and now hear that deep budget cuts could devalue their degrees, Morrill decided that writing a letter was the least she could do for her school. In a daylong lobbying effort, Tech students set out, by phone and by fax, to tell their government to leave higher education budgets alone.
It could be argued that the wind had been plucked from their sails the day before. Sunday, both the House and Senate money committees restored $49 million in cuts that Gov. George Allen had wanted up until late last week, when he was forced to drop his tax-cut plans. But since it ain't over till it's over - and the legislative session doesn't end until Feb. 25 - students took no chances.
"It's good that they restored funding," said Kirk Speer, a senior from Fredericksburg and a member of the Student Government Association.
"But it's good for everybody to get out and express how they feel about budget cuts," he said.
At the least, students received a mini-civics lesson and learned the identities of their representatives.
By Monday night, Tech SGA representatives were expected at fax machines around campus to dispatch the hundreds of letters scribed during a daylong lobbying effort. Fourteen phones sat at four tables in lobbying central at Squires Student Center for those more inclined to call their delegates directly - or even their governor.
Most opted for the pen - "it's sort of intimidating to call your representative," Speer said - but Michael Aubrey harbored no such inhibitions. He plopped down and dialed up the governor's office. Then Aubrey, captain of the Virginia Tech Rescue Squad, let it be known that he was not happy with the hits to higher education.
"Education is in dire straits in the state right now," Aubrey said after he hung up the phone. "Forestry is about to take a dive here at Virginia Tech. Health Education [at Tech] was moved to Human Resources [from the College of Education] and whether or not the curriculum stays around is a big question.
"Right now, if you go over to McBryde [Hall], I guarantee you'll see students sitting on the floor," Aubrey said.
"They didn't offer enough general chemistry classes. Every class is like that," said Jason Monk, a senior from Newport News.
The overcrowding has been noticeable in his four years at Tech.
"It was nice when the professors knew you by name," Monk said. "Instead of social security number."
The Tech advocacy day, underwritten by a $6,000 grant from the Virginia Tech Foundation, is part of a statewide lobbying effort launched by college and university student governments, said Seth Ginther, president of Tech's SGA.
"A lot of the delegates' response is, 'Don't worry; we've taken care of that.' Well, it's not over until the General Assembly is out of the session," Ginther said.
Melissa Callahan is another student who spends more time with her studies than politics. But the biochemistry major, whose College of Agriculture may be threatened by more than $14 million in cuts, believed she had no choice but to speak out.
"I can't honestly say that I'm well-informed, but I do know that education is important for long-term economic stability," she said.
And that includes the economic stability of Tech graduates.
"If the value of our institutions goes down, the value of my degree goes down," Ginther said.
Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1995
by CNB