Ride the CART, Niki Messmore, at-large senator, urged members of the Undergraduate Student Government.

Last night at the USG meeting, Messmore spoke to the senators about supporting the Coalition Against Rising Tuition.

CART was founded in January 2004 by members of USG and the Graduate Student Senate who wanted to take action against the penny sales tax repeal.

This year, CART’s goal is to fight state cuts to higher education by informing state representatives about how the cuts affect students, Messmore said.

Legislators should be reminded that students care about funding for higher education, Messmore said.

Students should take action against state funding cuts, because two things happen when state funding is cut, Messmore said. First, tuition increases and then on-campus programs and services get cut.

This pattern can be seen in the university’s recent history.

In 1989, the state funded about 57 percent of the university’s budget costs, and tuition and fees covered the remaining about 43 percent of costs, according to Messmore. But last spring, the University estimated the state would fund about 36 percent and tuition and fees would cover the remaining 64 percent.

Services that have suffered recently because of state funding cuts include the Women’s Center and the Victim’s Advocate Program.

On December 31, 2004, the state grant funding the Women’s Center was cut, and because the University was unable to cover the lost funding, the Women’s Center lost its secretary and ability to have a full time Director.

Last year, state cuts almost resulted in the loss of the Victims’ Advocate’s position until the student-run Victims’ Advocate Longevity Effort raised funds to keep the position.

But legislators often don’t hear about the program cuts or about how tuition increases makes it difficult for students as they do when funding to K-12 is cut.

When K-12 funding is cut “It’s a big issue, and [legislators] have tons of people telling their legislators from superintendents to teachers to parents,” Messmore said. But, “when they cut higher education funding, they don’t hear anything.”

To help students voices be heard, CART plans to conduct letter-writing campaigns and bring legislators to campus so they can hear the students’ stories first hand.

Messmore thinks it’s important for legislators to come to the University because it “will give them a better way to see why funding higher education is so important.”

The personal interaction between students and legislators will also help change the negative image many legislators have of college students.

“They think of us as the people who throw beer cans on the lawn,” Messmore said. “We want the legislators to see the average kids – the kids who are going to class, playing video games, and working.”

CART has already brought legislators to campus last spring and has conducted two letter-writing campaigns, the first in spring 2004 and the second in spring 2005.

The previous letter-writing campaigns have been effective and legislators “are beginning to notice that university students care,” Messmore said.

In spring 2005, CART also brought legislators traveled to Columbus and lobbied legislatures to provide more funding.

To help out-of-town students talk directly to their own representatives, the Board of Trustees members have discussed the possibility teaming up with students and personally going with them to talk to legislators, according to Raquel Colon, undergraduate student representative on the Board of Trustees.

Board members can either go with students from their own districts, they can also go with students from another district, Colon said.

Students and board members teaming up could have more of an impact on legislators because it could really “help legislators see what difference it makes to students.”

Trustee members are more likely to try to team up with students if Trustee members hear that students are interested in doing this, Colon said. Ways that students can show their interest is by contacting USG, Linda Dobb, assistant vice-president and trustee secretary, or Larry Weiss, associate vice-president of governmental affairs and university relations.

Messmore encourages students to get involved in fighting state funding cuts.

“We need a lot of voices because that’s the way that Columbus is going to hear us,” Messmore said.

At the meeting, senators also talked encouraging voter registration, work study cuts this year, and the upcoming Board of Trustee meeting in one week and a half to decide the issue of mandatory student health insurance.

Students interested in CART can contact Messmore at [email protected].