As I witnessed egos and tempers flair at the ACFC meeting Wednesday night, a deep sadness overcame me. A sadness that felt like the death of a dear friend. That friend isn’t OSPIRG, it is students’ power and voice in the world.
Slowly and surely, the current ASUO Executive has been cutting away at students’ ability to have a voice on issues beyond our campus borders and the ability to make real change on them. Cutting OSA’s campus organizer, cutting USSA’s travel expenses, and eliminating the over-realized funds are all absolutely disempowering moves by the executive.
At a time when our generation is facing huge issues that are directly affecting us, such as rising college tuition costs, catastrophic climate change and job security, students need all the voice we can get. We know students want to impact the world beyond the University; just look at the institution’s 95 percent voter turn out in this year’s election. We need and want a voice in the real world.
OSPIRG gives us that.
OSPIRG is our voice on public policy that affects students, simple as that. Students choose the issues and OSPIRG gives them the ability to make real tangible changes in public policy and society – not only on campus, where OSPIRG is very active, but where the real decisions are being made.
The bottom line is this: When we get beyond the silly ASUO politics and OSPIRG slandering, OSPIRG is a group that gives students a voice in the real world of public policy. Any cut to OSPIRG is a cut in University students’ power to make systematic change for student interests. For the sake of student voice and empowerment, I urge the ACFC to ascend the ASUO Executive’s strong-arm attempt to stifle the student’s voice in the world and fully fund OSPIRG’s current service level.
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OSPIRG provides students with voice in public policy
Daily Emerald
February 5, 2009
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