Join MSU students staging Feb. 3 “State of the People” rally and march

The Michigan State University Undergraduate Alliance (UGA) is staging its “State of the People” rally and march to the state capitol on Wednesday Feb. 3. The rally will begin at 4 p.m. at the MSU Administration Building, 150 Hannah in East Lansing, and with the march slated to arrive at the capitol, where they will join other groups taking action during Governor Granholm’s  State of the State address.

“At MSU, tuition is rising rapidly–10% in two  years,” reports Sam Inglot, an MSU student from Grand Rapids. “Programs are being eliminated. Graduate and non-tenure positions are being lost. Fewer sections are planned, meaning larger class sizes. Increased reliance on iClickers will essentially replace TA instruction. You will be paying more for less. The administration is squeezing the funds of every student while decimating or destroying the programs that many of us came here for.”

UGA believes that only a united effort involving both students and faculty can effect a change in these devastating tactics. As MSU is a public institution, the public at large should also raise its voice for quality education and reasonable tuition costs.

“At the State level, politicians are quickly dismantling education,”  Inglot relates. “Funding for K-12 is being slashed. The Promise Scholarship, a vital financing source for undergrads, is being stripped. Politicians on the Left and Right are denying education its place and voice.”

UGA has issued the following call to action:

• Let’s ensure that Governor Granholm and those responsible for helping produce the dire state of education in Michigan hear our cries that education matters and cannot be a line-item budget cut.
• Let’s ensure that education assumes its proper place in the State of Michigan.
• Let’s demand that politicians keep their “Promise.”