Accomplishments:
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:
Arizona Student Vote Coalition: Here in Arizona and nationwide, we
helped register and turn out young voters. Here on NAU's campus, we
helped register over 1,000 students and made nearly 4,000 reminders to
those 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.
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. At NAU, we've been collecting petitions and
generating phone calls to Congresswoman Anne Kirkpatrick to ensure that
she stands up for students and not the banks by encouraging her fellow
members of congress to keep these provisions in the budget.
Also, we helped to organize a rally in support of higher education
funding at the state capitol in Phoenix, a rally which the Arizona
Board of Regents called "the biggest rally they've seen since Vietnam."
The event drew local, state, and national media attention and helped
open communication with our elected state leaders.
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. Now we are raising awareness through hundreds of
student signatures to make sure Congresswoman Kirkpatrick fights for
legislation to put us on a path to solve global warming by increasing
clean energy, reducing emissions, and creating new jobs.
Increasing Public Transit: In January, we generated phone calls
from all of the campuses nationwide to urge members of Congress to
include the Nadler Amendment in the economic stimulus package, which
gave a further $3 billion to increase mass transit options nationwide.
On campus, our "We Heart Public Transit" Day generated more than 200
Valentine's to Congresswoman Kirkpatrick thanking her for her efforts
in passing the Nadler Amendment.
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 hope that you will be a big part of it!