Students protesting for more money

Students at Pitt, Penn State and Temple universities are preparing to challenge the governor. … Students at Pitt, Penn State and Temple universities are preparing to challenge the governor. The schools are three of four ‘mdash; the other is Lincoln University ‘mdash; left out of Gov. Ed Rendell’s Tuition Relief Act, which would give students up to an additional $7,600 toward tuition, fees, room and board if they attend one of Pennsylvania’s 28 community colleges or state schools. Student government officials at Pitt, Penn State and Temple are organizing protests and planning trips to Harrisburg. Lincoln student government officials couldn’t be reached for comment. Student Government Board President Kevin Morrison said Pitt’s SGB is starting a letter-writing campaign that encourages both students and faculty members to write to their state legislators before they vote on the budget by the end of June. Morrison said the group also hopes to take at least 35 people to Harrisburg to protest the act. ‘We’re just starting to organize it, so there’s nothing definite yet,’ said Morrison. Penn State and Temple universities also plan on organizing letter-writing campaigns. Penn State organized a rally earlier this month that 100 people attended. The school’s student government president, Gavin Keirans, said students will protest again in March. He hopes at least 400 or 500 people will participate. Keirans said the students hold a rally every March and ‘usually it’s for whatever is a big issue at the time.’ ‘We just want to bring attention to the legislature that Penn State and the other schools left out want to be included in the act,’ he said. He added that some Penn State students plan to attend Temple University’s rally, which will happen on Monday. Temple’s student body president, Nadine Mompremier, said she and her colleagues made a Facebook event for the rally and publicized it in local papers. Mompremier said that they may also try to go to Harrisburg, but hasn’t finalized any plans to do so yet.