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A proposed $2.4 million budget cut to the University of Maine System sparked two resolutions at the Jan. 20 meeting of the General Student Senate.
Sen. Suphatra Paravichai sponsored a resolution to require all senators to write a letter to a Maine senator stating why they attend UMaine, whether they will remain in the state after they graduate, and how they feel about the outcome of the budget cuts.
Student Body President Cortlynn Hepler said the budget cuts would further harm the state’s economy.
“Maine currently has the lowest percentage of college graduates in New England, at only 22 percent,” Hepler said. “We have one of the lowest per-capita incomes in the country and certainly not one of the lowest tuitions. Cutting the University of Maine’s budget will only increase tuition, which will make graduating high school seniors less likely to remain in the state due to the expense of tuition and the salary they can expect once they graduate.”
After some debate, the senate passed the letter-writing resolution.
A second resolution supported formally recommending to President Peter Hoff that classes be canceled on Friday Feb. 6, allowing students to protest Maine Gov. John Baldacci’s proposed budget cuts. The resolution garnered heated debate among the senators. The senators said that although some students may want to protest the budget cuts, many would like to attend the classes they paid to attend.
“When we arrived at the university, we were told every class you skip is like throwing out a $20 bill.,” said Sen. Ross Barlett. “With 8,600 students missing their classes that Friday, that’s about $160,000 in the trash. And since the state subsidizes about half our tuition, that’s about $160,000 of their money in the trash.”
Some argued that state senators would not look fondly on such a waste of the state money, increasing the likelihood that they would accept the UMS cuts. The senate voted down the resolution.
The senate voted to allocate $1,500 from unallocated funds to the Tappi-UMaine Energy Challenge Team. The team has constructed a wind surfer and hang glider from paper fiber, and now seeks to construct a snowboard out of paper fiber and compete in a nationwide competition in Winter Park, Colo., April 1-4.
Phi Sigma Tau, a new philosophy honors fraternity, was granted preliminary approval to be recognized by the GSS. The UMaine Forensics Team, a speech club that hopes to build students’ speech presentation skills, was also granted preliminary approval.
“Hemlock,” formerly known as “Apostasy,” the university’s literary magazine, was granted final approval. Lamda Pi Eta, a communication and journalism academic honors society, was also granted final approval to be recognized by GSS.
David Miller from Legal Services presented a breakdown of services students have sought from his office in the past month, including students with injuries and those seeking a divorce from an abusive marriage.
Bangor Daily News