Though the state budget has been postponed until March, student government and politics at Penn State saw a whirlwind couple of days this weekend. On Friday, the Student Activity Fee (SAF) Board met, as did the Council of Commonwealth Student Governments (CCSG) on Friday and Saturday. Also at Council were the student government presidents at Temple, Lincoln, and Pitt, respectively, the second meeting of the Pennsylvania Association of State-Related Students (PASS).
This weekend, members of student government from the University of Pittsburgh, as well as Temple and Lincoln universities will descend on State College to figure out how to go about lowering tuition. On Saturday, the three universities' representatives will present at this Council Weekend of the Council of Commonwealth Student Governments.
However, PASS is fighting an uphill battle. Not only has Harrisburg been slowly pulling the plug on supporting Penn State and other public colleges and universities, but the big Republican swing this past November completely stacks the deck. That Tom Corbett and the Pennsylvania legislature should decide not to decrease these state appropriations borders on impossible. Oh hey there, tuition hike.
This Friday and Saturday, the Council of Commonwealth Student Governments will hold its fourth Council Weekend of this academic year. The Council, as always, has a very busy weekend planned. Most notably, representatives from the three other PASS schools (Temple, Lincoln, and Pitt) will make presentations on issues at their universities as well as statewide. The Council is also working on legislation to link equivalent clubs at all the campuses, voting on what the Student Activity Fee will be next year, and will also be looking at legislation for a Capital Day in Harrisburg. The featured speaker will be Madlyn Hanes, Vice President for the Commonwealth Campuses, and former Chancellor of the Harrisburg campus.
The University Park Undergraduate Association will be hosting its annual Encampment event this Sunday. UPUA Director of Public Relations Emily Enders explained, "Encampment is a long standing tradition of [Penn State], aimed at bringing student leaders and organizations together to engage in celebration and accomplishments of the Penn State community."
Last night's University Park Undergraduate Association was a tough one to sit through. The end result of it was productive but we should have been out of there a lot sooner. As a constituent who can vote (as most of you probably can too), it was frustrating to see my elected representatives bickering over minute, largely irrelevant details rather than putting the appropriate focus on crucial aspects of the issues.
Let me say before I begin: a lot of good things came out of this meeting, but the way the Assembly looked at them, the spirit of conducting business, was far less than ideal—there was way too much emphasis on politics in itself, red tape, and bureaucracy.
At a December 19 meeting in Philadelphia, the student governments at Penn State, Pitt, Temple, and Lincoln universities agreed to form a unified Pennsylvania Association of State-Related Students (PASS).
The measure is a joint resolution between the four universities, who are still currently on winter break. Once fully formed, PASS will be a unified student voice for Pennsylvania's largest public universities, especially with regard to tuition. It will be a much stronger force and presence in Harrisburg. UPUA President Christian Ragland said that events such as a joint pep rally were already planned.
Penn State is the first of the universities to formally join the organization, having passed legislation to that effect last night with a vote of 38-0-2.