Students urge legislators to oppose proposed state funding cuts

Sarah Halperin’s educational future became more uncertain after Gov. Tom Corbett announced his… Sarah Halperin’s educational future became more uncertain after Gov. Tom Corbett announced his proposed budget cuts for Pitt earlier this month.

“I’m not originally from Pennsylvania, but my dad was a Pitt alum, and I knew that I always wanted to come here,” said Halperin, a sophomore and Massachusetts native.

Halperin participated in the letter-writing campaign hosted by the Student Government Board and the Staff Association Council in the Kurtzman Room of the William Pitt Union on Tuesday and Wednesday. The campaign collected 50 letters addressed to state legislators, asking them to oppose the budget cuts.

“I wrote to Senator Wayne Fontana because my parents and I are not sure that I will be able to afford the cost of out-of-state tuition, and I may have to transfer in the future,” Halperin said.

Pitt’s Governmental Relations partnered with the Pitt Alumni Association to provide participants with informational packets outlining how to contact legislators and background information regarding the proposed state funding cuts at the letter-writing event.

On Feb. 7, Corbett announced his $27.4 billion state budget proposal, which slashed spending and suggested cutting Pitt’s state funding by 30 percent — from $136 million to $95.2 million — for the coming fiscal year.

Diane Bartus, an SAC administrative support employee, directed participants to the four computers provided for letter writing.

“Letter writing is important because it is a way for people to have their voice heard without being there, and it is so important to have your voice heard,” Bartus said. She collected the printed and signed notes to be mailed directly to the legislators’ offices.

Bartus said that Pitt conducted a similar campaign last year, and that this year’s campaign is one of a few events that will be targeting the state legislature directly before the budget is passed in June.

“If students can attend the upcoming Pitt Day in Harrisburg, that will be another great way to show that we are being affected,” Bartus said about the March 13 event at the state capital.

Student Government Board member Natalie Rothenberger lives a mile away from state Sen. Mike Brubaker in her hometown of Lancaster and chose to write her letter to him directly.

“I included a personal story when writing to Brubaker and tried to tug at his heartstrings. I told him, ‘I live right down the road, and I’m being affected,’” sophomore Rothenberger said.

Rothenberger said it is important to focus on the way that students can positively impact the current situation and work on cutting down or eliminating the cuts in Corbett’s budget proposal.

“We must use what we have and focus on enhancing our school and our community for the future,” she said.

Junior Kaitlyn Suber said that the impact of the proposed budget cuts would affect more than just Pitt’s campus.

“We all like to hate on Penn State, but we can’t anymore because we are all in the same position,” Suber said.

Pitt political science professor Jennifer Victor said in an email that letter-writing campaigns can still be effective even if all letters are not read by legislators.

“The benefit of such campaigns comes more in the publicity of an issue to a population rather than in the direct effect on legislation,” Victor said. “The goal of letter-writing campaigns is often to raise awareness about an issue (among the general population or among legislators) rather than to try to impact a piece of legislation in the process.”

And while the letters might raise awareness, she said they often don’t have much impact in terms of actual legislation.

“The probability that legislators would affect the substance of a bill or its position in the process based on letters received by constituents is very low,” Victor said.

Though students acknowledged that writing letters might not succeed in changing their legislators’ minds, they agreed that it is still an effective step in having their voices heard.

“I don’t think that you should have to change the quality of your education because you can’t afford it,” Halperin said. “The stack [of letters] is a pretty good size and growing, so even if the legislators don’t read them, hopefully they’ll at least see how many people are upset by this.”