Letter to the Editor

NYPIRG campaigns allow student voices to be heard; action meeting Tuesday

We’re already over one month into a new year. For NYPIRG (the New York Public Interest Research Group) on campus, this semester will be filled with lots of numbers. 2013 marks 40 years NYPIRG has been fighting for students’ rights and the public interest all across New York state. As the state’s largest student-directed nonprofit organization, we are always looking to engage students on issues that matter most to our generation.

Our six campaigns this semester all have students at the helm working for positive legislative change in Albany. Specifically, the Higher Education Affordability campaign aims to fight against continued cuts to funding and the rising cost of tuition. New York students are graduating with over $26,000 in debt and landing into an ever-sinking quicksand pit that is the U.S. job market. In addition, we look to enact the NY DREAM Act, which would extend TAP (the Tuition Assistance Program) to some 4,500 undocumented high school graduates who are seeking a higher education. This grassroots pressure will culminate in a Higher Education Action Day at the State Capitol Building on March 12, where students will have a chance to speak with their legislators and demand reforms to combat these problems.

This semester, our other campaigns include environmental protection, hunger and homelessness, consumer action, student empowerment and hydrofracking.

History shows that student voices make a difference and create change. Students looking to get involved with any of NYPIRG’s campaigns can attend a weekly chapter meeting, on Thursdays at 5:15 p.m. in our office above Faegan’s, or our Student Action Meeting, featuring a speaker from our central office in Manhattan, this Tuesday, Feb. 12 at 6:30 p.m. in Schine 304.

– Nicole St. James, NYPIRG Project Coordinator



 





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