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One
thousand professors
from over 300 colleges in all 50 states released a statement declaring their preference for high-quality,
affordable textbooks, including open textbooks, over expensive commercial
textbooks. Open textbooks are high quality open-access textbooks reviewed and written by academics that can be used online at no cost and printed for a small cost. Open textbooks are already used at some of the nation’s most prestigious institutions, like Harvard, Caltech and Yale. Textbooks cost students an average of $900 per year, which is a quarter of tuition at an average four-year public university and nearly three-quarters of tuition at a community college, according to the GAO. Research conducted by The Student PIRGs identifies publisher tactics as the primary cause of escalating prices. Bundling textbooks with unnecessary supplements forces students to purchase items they do not need; unnecessary new editions undermine the used book market; and withholding critical price information keeps faculty in the dark. “As faculty members, our top priority is to choose the textbook that is best for our students. We share concerns about affordability, and face similar frustrations with publisher practices,” said Sandra Schroeder, Chair of the American Federation of Teachers Higher Education Program and Policy Council. “Open textbooks and other affordable options, when appropriate for a course, are a win-win for everyone.” Here are some examples of open textbooks: Introduction to Economic Analysis A First Course in Linear Algebra Introduction to Physical Oceanography Check out a great front-page article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |
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Student PIRG chapters across the country released the "Campus Credit Card Trap" report,
which outlined the unfair marketing practices of the credit industry.
Students overwhelmingly support limits on campus credit card marketing,
according to the results of the nationwide USPIRG survey of more than
1500 students at 40 colleges in 14 states. Learn more at: truthaboutcredit.org |
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On Saturday, April 5, ConnPIRG hosted Hungry for Change: Connecticut Symposium on Hunger and Homelessness. Over 100 students from fifteen high schools, colleges and universities attended the conference. Students attended workshops on issues such as youth homelessness, sweatshop labor, hunger and organizing events. The conference ended with a Faces of Homelessness Panel by the National Coalition for the Homeless. Students left the conference with a better undrestanding of the issues and how they can make a difference in the lives of those that are hungry or homeless. |
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On Tuesday, March 25, President Hogan from the University of Connecticut officially signed onto the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment. UConn joins over 500 other college and university presidents who have pledged to make their university carbon neutral. Kristin Sullivan, Coordinator for UConnPIRG's Campus Climate Challenge, spoke at the ceremony on behalf of the student body thanking the administration for its leadership on the fight against global warming. |
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On December 6th, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a 21st Century energy bill that will harness American ingenuity and put us on a path to cleaner, smarter new energy future for America. |
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On September 7th, the US House and Senate passed the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007. On September 19th, Congressional leaders held a signing ceremony to officially send the bill to the White House for the President's signature. UConn senior and ConnPIRG student Trea McPherson was one of several students invited to attend the ceremony. (In the photo above, Trea is in the back row, fourth from the left.) You can also view video of the event at:
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At
the University of Connecticut-Storrs, the UConn Hunger Campaign raised $10,019.25 during the swipe-a-meal
fundraiser. The money will go to support two local shelters. In this event, students donate their dining hall meals to charity. A big thank you goes out to all of the students who generously donated a
couple of their flex passes to local charities. It's students like you who make
a difference! |
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On September 7th, 2007, the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives passed the College Cost Reduction and Access Act by broad bipartisan votes of 79 to 12 and 292 to 97 respectively. The bill now goes to the President who has said he will sign the legislation into law. The College Cost Reduction and Access Act is the most meaningful higher education reform in more than 15 years. The bill addresses the financial challenges of access and affordability that face American college students. It provides billions of dollars a year in additional grant aid to low-income students through the Pell Grant program. It will also help students address the burden of rising student debt through lower interest rates and a new repayment system. The bill also trims excessive subsidies that benefit a handful of banks and directs them to millions of students and families who are working to pay for college. The College Cost Reduction and Access Act will:
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On July 11th, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the "College
Cost Reduction Act of 2007" (HR 2669) by a vote of 273-149. The bill
will substantially increase the purchasing power of the Pell Grant, the
nation's premiere need-based grant program which benefits millions of
low income students, increasing the maximum grant amount by $100 for
five years beginning in 2008-9. It will make student loan debt more
affordable by cutting the interest rate on student loans in half, to
3.4%, by 2012, and by capping loan repayment amounts to a reasonable
percentage of a graduate's income. HR 2669 goes a long way toward
solving the college affordability and access crisis in the country. |
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After the two Oscar wins on Sunday, Al Gore's documentary An Inconvenient Truth
drew a crowd of students, faculty, and staff at UConn Hartford. Movie
goers learned about the extent of global warming and some of the
solutions from watching the movie and then got a chance to write to
their congress members to than them for being great leaders on energy
issues by cosponsoring the Safe Climate Act and also to ask them to
cosponsor a bill that would set a national renewable electricity
standard of getting 20% of our electricity from renewables like wind
and solar by 2020. |
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Today Trinity Campus Climate Challenge along with Green Campus delivered over 250 valentine messages to the President, the VP of Financial Affairs, and the Trustees of Trinity College. Each valentine stated a student's own reason that they would like to see renewable energy on campus at Trinity. By showing the admistration the massive support from students (over 10% of campus signed valentines), the Campus Climate Challenge hopes to sway our administration and convince them that investing in renewables on campus is the smart thing to do. |
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Members of the Undergraduate Student Government at UConn Storrs and the Student Government Association at Trinity College testified at a public hearing regarding need-based grant aid for Connecticut students. The students urged our congress to adopt raised bill no. 6106 to fully fund the Connecticut Aid to Public College Students (CAPCS) and the Connecticut Independent College Student (CICS) grant programs, which have been underfunded since their inception. The student governments at both colleges have passed resolutions stating their support for this bill and will be following up with their representatives to urge them to vote in favor of these vital programs. |
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The Trinity College Campus Climate Challenge recently got their Buildings and Grounds Department to donate as many energy-efficient CFLs as we can use! With this resource, we'll be swapping out lightbulbs all over campus and hopefully by the end of the semester, you'll be hard pressed to find a bulb that doesn't have that beautiful CFL spiral. |
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Trinity ConnPIRG kicked off thier spring spring semester this year with lots of new and old faces at our meeting. Our Campus Climate Challenge got off to a great start by planning out an event to collect valentines for the top dogs on our campus urging them to make Trinity greener. Our Hunger and Homelessness group is planning several fun events for this semester including a sleep out, lots of volunteering in Hartford, and a week in which students experience what it's like to live on only $4/day for food - the equivalent of being on foodstamps. It's shaping up to be a great spring! |
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We had a great spring kickoff for the UConn Hartford Chapter - 35 students were at the meeting and we heard from both Andy MacDonald (Student PIRGs) and Lola Elliott-Hugh (UConn Urban and Community Studies Dept) about how effective students can be at making change. The Hunger and Homelessness group is organizing volunteer trips right away, the Campus Climate Challenge started to plan a showing of An Inconvenient Truth, and our Higher Education group is organizing students to attend and testify at a hearing for state-funded grant aid programs. The semester is off to a great start! |
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The U.S. House of Representatives voted to increase the size of the maximum Pell Grant by $260, to $4,310. This is the first time the size of the Pell Grant has been increased since 2002. The Pell Grant is the federal government’s premier need-based grant aid program, providing aid to more than five million low-income students. Over the last five years, while students have paid more for college, the maximum Pell Grant has remained frozen. As a result students have had to make up the gap between tuition and aid with more work and larger loans. This increase will start to provide students with the aid they need to access an affordable college education. To fully restore the Pell Grant to its historic value, we’re continuing to call for the maximum to be increased to $5,100 in the coming budget cycle. |
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On
January 18th, by a vote of 264 to 163, the
U.S. House of Representatives passed the Clean Energy Act. The U.S.
PIRG-backed measure closes some tax loopholes for big oil companies, recovers
billions in lost royalties for drilling in public waters, and shifts more than
$14 billion to investments in clean energy. For more information, read http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7006189616. |
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On January 17th, by a vote of 356 to 71, the U.S. House passed, by an
overwhelming bipartisan majority, legislation to lower the interest rates on
student loans over the next five years. According to an analysis by the Student
PIRGs, the move would save the average low or middle-income borrower starting
school in 2007 $2,300 in debt. For more information, read http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/18/us/18loans.html |
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After an effort to register and turn out voters by ConnPIRG through the national, non-partisan New Voters Project, turnout from the polling place near the UConn Storrs campus was amongst the highest in the country. Nationally, the increase in youth voter turnout was four times the rate of the general population’s increase (4% for youth, 1% overall). The result was widely praised as one of the best youth turnouts in Mansfield. |
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On Sunday, Oct 15, UConn Hartford students held an item drive to benefit My Sister's Place, a shelter in Hartford. The students asked customers of the Stop 'n' Shop in Newington if they would donate things like paper towels, soap and detergents, diapers, garbage bags, and grocery store gift cards. Four hours of work in front of the store yielded $171 in cash and gift cards and close to 200 items donated! |
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UConn New Voters Project held their voter registration blitz at UConn Hartford this week at registered 146 voters! Working with the School of Social Work, they registered voters in and around the undergrad building, drawing them in with writstbands, lanyards, banners, candy, and a chance to help float the vote boat - everyone who registered got to add water to float the boat so they could see the progress as the boat rose to the top of the tub. By the end of day two, the tub was almost overflowing! |
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With an attendance of 50 new volunteers, UConnPIRG kicked off our campaigns for the semester. Students are excited and ready to gear up the campaigns for the semester. |
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Last night, nestled in the oversized computer chairs in the ultra-swank conference rooms in the new portion of the student union, student leaders from various groups on campus put their heads together to figure out how best to register as many students as is humanly possible here on campus at Storrs. The outcome? A coalition comprised of UConnPIRG, USG, SUBOG, WHUS, the Daily Campus, College Democrats, College Republicans, National Organization for Women, The Connecticut Citizen Research Group, and many of the cultural centers, who have decided to register between 3,000 - 5,000 students on campus. Look for free t-shirts, and wristbands at all of our registration stations on campus. www.UConnVotes.org |
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Trinitys Campus Climate Challenge team exchanged nearly 500 incandescent bulbs for energy-saving fluorescent bulbs around campus. These bulbs will save approximately $3,000 in energy costs over their lifetime and nearly 44,000 lbs. of carbon dioxide! |
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Over 500 Trinity students donated a meal from their meal plans to a local shelter, raising $1,000! Coordinator Julian Loo worked with Chartwell's dining services to transfer donated meals into monetary contributions, and then put together a team of volunteers to get the word out and record the students donations. Good work Julian! |
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