Gov. Perdue gets petitions
October 8, 2004 by SARA PAUFF
Filed under News
Representatives from student governments across the state head to the Capitol today to present Gov. Sonny Perdue with at least 26,911 reasons why he should reconsider budget cuts to higher education.
The University contributed more than 10,011 student signatures to the petition against the budget cuts — meeting the Student Government Asso ciation’s original goal of 10,000 signatures.
|
Initially falling short of their goal early Thursday night, SGA members went back out and canvased the campus until they reached 10,000 signatures.
“We’re really pleased with the results,” said SGA Vice President Mallory Grebel. “Never before have schools across the state united like this.”
Student governments across the state came together in September to protest the proposed $68.7 million budget cut to the University System of Georgia.
The signature goal across the state was modified from 100,000 to 50,000, Grebel said, because it seemed more “realistic.”
Gretchen Stewart, student government president of Armstrong Atlantic University in Savannah said her school had about 1,600 signatures. Stewart said she was happy with what her school accomplished.
Though students at Georgia Tech hoped to collect enough signatures to represent half of its student body, Amy Phuong, Georgia Tech student government president, said the petition only represents about 25 to 30 percent of its students.
She said she thought the 4,379 signatures they collected was “pretty representative” of Georgia Tech’s student body.
Grebel said she hoped the petition would make the governor take notice.
“I just hope there is a reaction,” said Grebel, a junior from Leesburg. “I hope he realizes that the people who signed these petitions are between the ages of 18 to 25 and are registered to vote.”
Some student leaders doubted the power of the petition.
“I don’t think the petition will be enough to make the governor reconsider, but it will at least make him think a little before he ultimately decides or does something like this again,” Heather Giroux, student government elections chair at Southern Polytechnic State University, wrote in an e-mail.
“(Perdue) seemed pretty steadfast in his decision this past Saturday when we met with him for breakfast,” she said.
Grebel said the petition shows the governor that students pay attention.
“We know where our money is going, and we care,” she said.
