Laurie Wilbur
Issue date: 2/12/09
With the newly approved economic stimulus plan, many people expressed
concern about the potential consequences of such legislation on
students. As such, UConnPIRG has been an instrumental voice for
students.
Jeffrey Czerwiec, UConnPIRG campus organizer, said in
an e-mail that the organization supports the overall bill in two major
ways. First, provisions in the bill address clean renewable energy and
thus make crucial advancements in solving global warming. Additionally,
the possible increase in Pell Grant allowance will provide students
with greater opportunities to afford college.
However, UConnPIRG stops short of supporting the increase in loan limits.
"Increases
in student loans only subsidize huge loan corporations," Czerwiec said.
"Instead, the U.S. could put that money into funding more grant-based
programs."
Christian Zimmermann, professor of economics, said
through an e-mail, "Education is a market, even if heavily regulated by
state governments [for public institutions]. If students get
significantly more loans, universities will be asking for higher
tuition."
Kevin Wilhelm, a 6th-semester economics major and
UConnPIRG State chair, said that the bill might affect particular
majors differently. Due to the investment industry, medical-related
majors may see an increase in enrollment while other majors may see a
decline.
Wilhelm admitted that if the current state of the
economy had been in its current state wen he applied for college a few
years ago, he may have reconsidered being an economics major.
Still,
UConnPIRG is showing support for the economic stimulus package through
a number of ways. Call-in days were organized when members recognized
an opportunity for more emphasis on public transportation. This
generated more than 100 calls to federal legislators, including Sen.
Chris Dodd (D) and Rep. Joe Courtney (D), according to Czerwiec. In
response, an additional $3 billion was put toward public transportation.
On
Wednesday, UConnPIRG organized an event at the Homer Babbidge Library,
using the slogan: "Love Your Mother - Stop Global Warming." They
collected Valentine's Day cards to send to Courtney, thanking him for
supporting investments in global warming solutions.
Now,
students are asking Courtney to continue to further support and "create
thousands of jobs, including investing in public transportation,
renewable energy development and energy efficiency projects," according
to a UConnPIRG press release.
