At the Centre County GOP Victory Headquarters, a handful of dedicated Republican students, led by College Republicans officer Anthony Christina, phoned local residents. Republican Lieutenant Governor candidate Jim Cawley, who was in town for the Grange Fair, made a scheduled stop at the headquarters. Hailing from Middletown, a Philadelphia suburb in Bucks County, he fondly recalled his time at Penn State, where his college girlfriend attended while he went to Temple University. Cawley answered a series of questions about issues affecting students.

Cawley was quite sympathetic to the tuition issues that plague higher education, noting how he found it “offensive” that state-related higher education institutions were held hostage by the Rendell administration during a budget dispute last year. Cawley declared that he would like to produce a well-educated populace by ensuring that all institutions have the resources they need to flourish, but he was a bit sketchy on how he would do this.

Cawley emphatically declared that raising taxes is “out of the question.” To support the growing financial responsibilities of the state, he mentioned a preliminary proposal currently under study to lease state-owned land for natural gas exploration and drilling. Another possibility of raising money includes selling the state liquor stores.

Jim Cawley is definitely an affable candidate, and a potential friend of students. The general election is still more than two months away, and Cawley deserves an honest appraisal by each student before they cast their ballots.