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August I, 2012
Empowering the Vote
Affordability, in addition to ac-
c o n t i n u e d f r o m front
As students take on a larger
share of the cost of their educa-
tion because of decreasing state
budgets, there is a perception
that elected representatives are
countability, is also an important
reason to why registration is so
important, said Stevens, because
those who attend schools like
PCC are enrolled in a public
educational center, meaning that
Page 9
$1.00
lege and university students from
throughout Oregon rallied on the
steps of the Capitol for adequate
funding for post-secondary edu-
cation. Several students from „
PCC attended, along with stu- I
dents from the other 16 commu- "
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ingpopulation.
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population.
W hether that perception is
correct or not, the best thing for
students to do right now is to
register so they can help change
that,” W estover said.
She said the OSA has long
been a champion for the student
more affordable.
affordable
She said, however, 2010 was
the first time in Oregon history
that students paid for a bigger
chunk of education than the gov-
emment itself, which is making it
hard for students to stay out o f
debt.
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sity
The rally drew support from
the sta te ’s largest te ach e rs’
unions, the Oregon Education
Association and the American
Federation of Teachers-Oregon.
“We hope that students, with
Amplifying the student voice
through voting is a priority for
the campaign, because we want
to make sure that the decision
makers who get elected in
November know that students
across the state participated in
the election in a significant way.
our help, will be more aware of
the issues that are affecting them
and their power to affect change,
and that the state government
and federal government will re­
spect students as an active and
important part of their constitu­
encies,” Desautels said.
Stevens said the rally was an
example of the kind of political
momentum that can win real
victories for students.
W estover is confident that Or­
egon students will make a huge
impact on this year’s election.
“We hope that the long term
-SarahWestover.OregonStuderrtFoundationvoteorganlzer.PCCCascade |
, ha, e|ected
voice by running strong and
impactful voter registration, edu-
cation and get out the vote drives,
and this year, Oregon students
have prioritized running what
could be the largest non-partisan
voter registration drive in the
state.
“Amplifying the student voice
through voting is a priority for
the campaign,” said Westover,
“because we want to make sure
that the decision makers who
get elected in November know
that students across the state
participated in the election in a
significant way.”
According to Amy Stevens, a
member of the student govern-
ment at PCC, their efforts have
gone really well so far. She said,
however, she is excited to bring
in even more new voters once
fall term approaches.
As summer moves into Au­
gust, voter registration cards
continue to be passed around to
students from all walks of life in
classrooms, where an ASPCC
volunteer‘rapper’ with the PCC
student government informs their
peers of key points on how reg-
istration directly impacts their
individual lives and the institution
they are a part.
.
—
|ook w
students as a key constituency
Tuition costs for students have in O regon that deserves to be
doubled from $39 per credit hour taken into account and priori-
at PCC in 2001 to $82 a credit tized,” she said.
hour this year, which Stevens
believes has a lot to do with the
rising percentage of what stu-
dents are required to spend for
their degrees.
“It is important for elected
officials to recognize students as
a constituency,” W estover said.
“That should be taken into ac-
count, especially when making
Truly making a difference in the lives of
difficult budgetary decisions be-
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“Having registered so many
We are located on the
students gives us much more
corner o f MLK and Russell
power in our lobbying efforts,
Street, on the second floor
which include advocating for the
rights of minorities,” said Trieste
above the coffee shop.
Desautels, communications di­
rector for PCC student govern­
ment.
Great strides have been made
The Oregon Opportunity Grant
program received an additional
Parking Area
$10 million worth of funding af-
00
ter the student groups got in­
volved politically. The money was
enough to provide an additional
5,000 students with financial aid.
Rusäell St.
In April, more than 300 col-
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Zchon R. Jones, DC
333 NE Russell St., #200, Portland, OR. 97212
(503) 284-7838
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