Our guest message today is from Shippensburg University senior Olivia J. Straka. Straka appeared last month with APSCUF President Dr. Kenneth M. Mash on “Behind the Headlines” to discuss the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education’s need for more funding and the importance of attending next week’s rally.
Fellow students,
I hope this letter finds you warm, fed, clothed, and worry-free. I am writing to you about a rally that APSCUF is holding Feb. 8 in the main rotunda of the Capitol. Why am I, a second-semester senior writing to you about a rally? It’s because of students who will be reading this who aren’t warm, fed, clothed, or worry-free because the price of their tuition continues to skyrocket, year after year.
I picked a state school because I was looking for an affordable education, and although three years ago that’s what I had, each semester that opportunity has slipped further and further away from me. As state funding falls for our schools, tuition rises, and so do class sizes. I know of many students who can no longer afford an education from any state school, and they are being forced to drop out of college because of lack of state support.
Although this is a terrible situation, there is something I want you to know: You can make a difference. You, reading this email, getting fired up thinking about friends who are struggling to make ends meet, can do something. Come to the rally. APSCUF is sponsoring buses from every PASSHE school to Harrisburg. Show the state that we need funding and that it needs to invest in the next generation of Pennsylvanians. Be a part of this change.
Olivia J. Straka
Political Science Major
English Minor
Lieutenant Governor’s Intern Pi Sigma Alpha Treasurer
“If you just set out to be liked, you will be prepared to compromise on anything at anytime, and would achieve nothing.” -Margaret Thatcher