bullshit budget

So with this new budget proposed for the state of Pennsylvania proposed by the oh-so-well-liked Governor Corbett I have to ask myself how much I will be affected by the cuts that will be placed on Kutztown University. It has been said that our tuition will go up 32%. I cannot believe that the governor wants to cut budgets at schools, but he wants to raise the budgets for prisons. It is just crazy for me to think about. Doesn’t he see that when the tuition goes up it will force people not to be able to afford college, resulting in less people employed (because they aren’t educated) which could then result in more people having to go to jail because they’d say be forced to steal groceries since they don’t have a job. It’s obvious for me to see. How is he so oblivious to this fact.

Being from New Jersey I wasn’t sure if I was able to write my local legislature about this budget, because my legislature is obviously from New Jersey. So when we were in class we pulled up the website I was able to write a letter to the legislature for the Kutztown area. My tuition is higher than those students in-state to begin with so I don’t even know if I’d be able to attend Kutztown still if this budget is passed. I know that lots of other Kutztown University students are in the same boat as I am in.

I know that having rallies and writing letters to our legislature is showing our opinions to our government, but I still have to think of the facts. I asked the students in our class, who many of them did write a letter to their legislature, “How many of you are actually registered to vote in the state of Pennsylvania?” Not too many people raised their hands. I explained to them that these legislatures are going to take our letters into consideration, but at the same time they understand that a VERY low percentage of those who did write letters expressing their opinions are not registered. So to break it down simply, the letters and rallies can only do so much. Everyone that is being affected by this budget needs to be registered to vote, and they need to actually go out to vote if it is brought to the polls, whenever that may be. I am registered to vote, but again I am registered to vote in New Jersey so I am a little bit helpless when it comes to voting in any kind of election. So the only thing that I can do is beg and plead every single one of my friends to get out and get themselves registered to vote. I am so afraid that this vote will be stalled until May or so and by then I hope people will not lose their drive and devotion because they won’t be at school anymore. I’m afraid that the students who are so fired up about this topic right now will get in the out of sight out of mind phase and nothing will be fixed.