Accomplishments
Students at ASU Tempe show Congressman Mitchell their love for public transit
Students at ASU Tempe bike for public transit.
We certainly have our share of problems, from the rising cost of
higher education, to the failing economy, to a broken health care
system, to the challenge of solving global warming.
But we've also got a lot to be proud of this year:
Arizona Student Vote Coalition: Here in Arizona and
nationwide, we helped register and turn out young voters. Here at
ASU-Tempe we helped nearly 2,000 students register and made over 5,000
reminders to students during the days leading up to Election Day
through emails, calls, canvassing, tabling, and text messages.
There
were 3.4 million more young voters in 2008 compared to 2004. The youth
share of the electorate also surpassed that of people over 65 - an
impressive feat.
Hunger and Homelessness: We are facing
one of the worst economic crises since the Great Depression.
Unemployment rates keep going higher and more people are forced into
poverty every day.
This spring we joined the national Hunger
Cleanup, a day of service and fundraising, to serve our local community
and raise money for local, national, and international agencies
addressing poverty. Here at ASU's Tempe campus, volunteers raised over
$500 dollars to fund Lodestar Day Resource Center, a local organization
that provides wrap-around services for homeless adults in downtown
Phoenix.
Making Higher Education Affordable: In January,
we helped convince Congress to include several key measures in the
economic stimulus - a $17 billion increase in Pell grant funding, more
work-study aid, and bigger tax credits for low-income students and
their families.
And, at the end of February, President Obama
proposed a budget for 2010-2011 which significantly reinvests in the
Pell grant and makes sure it increases each year according to
inflation. The proposal pays for itself by cutting excessive subsidies
to bank and lenders in the student loan program.
Here at school,
we've been collecting petitions, making phone calls, and even meeting
one on one with Congressman Harry Mitchell to make sure he stands up
for students, not banks, by encouraging his fellow congressmen to keep
these provisions in the budget.
Global Warming: In
January we worked to make sure that the economic stimulus package
included critical funding for programs that will create jobs and
protect the environment, including $16 billion for public transit and
$78 billion for clean energy and green infrastructure.
This
semester, we have collected nearly 1,000 signatures of support and
public comments on campus to make sure Congressman Mitchell fights for
legislation to put us on a path to solve global warming by increasing
clean energy, reducing emissions, and creating new jobs.
Protecting
Students from Bad Credit Card Practices: Our report, "The Campus Credit
Card Trap," received national attention for exposing the bad practices
of credit card companies on campus and has been quoted in newspapers
across the country, including the New York Times. We used this
attention to educate our elected leaders and help pass the national
Credit Card Holder Bill of Rights to stop some of the worst credit
terms and conditions that can plunge students - and all consumers -
into debt.
On campus, we have been collecting signatures of
support as well as working closely with student government leaders to
protect ASU students from predatory credit card marketing tactics.
No
matter your level of involvement, we're only able to do this work
because of your support - so thanks again for another great year.
We're looking forward to hitting the ground running next year on our fall campaigns, and we hope to see you around!