WISPIRG at UW Madison
We're off for summer break but we'll be back on campus in the fall...
Also check out some of our campaign work from this last year...
As we wrap up another school year, we're struck by what a historic year it has been.
We're
at a defining moment as a generation - and over and over again we're
amazed and inspired by what we can accomplish by volunteering our time,
organizing on our campus, and advocating for change locally and
nationwide.
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:
New Voters Project: In
Wisconsin and nationwide, we helped register and turn out young voters.
Here at UW Madison we helped over 6,000 students register to vote and
made over 27,000 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 UW
Madison over 60 volunteers participated in our big day of service and
raised over $6,200 dollars to help give emergency rent assistance to
people transitioning out of poverty. We also held two Poverty Summits
to educate students and provide opportunities to take action on local
issues to help protect the services that assist the hungry and homeless.
Making Higher Education Affordable: In
January, we helped convince Congress to include several key measures in
the economic stimulus package - they included 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, and meeting one on one with
Congressman Kohl to make sure he stands up for students, not banks, by
encouraging his fellow congressmen to keep these provisions in the
budget.
Global Warming: Nationwide,
global warming continues to be one of the hottest issues on campus. 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 holding educational events featuring our elected officials and
collecting thousands of postcards here in Madison and across the state
to make sure State Representative Spencer Black and Senator Mark Miller
fight for legislation to put us on a path to solve global warming by
increasing clean energy, reducing emissions, and creating new jobs.
Conservation and Recycling Efforts:
There is too much waste produced in America. The solution to this
problem consists of three parts: waste prevention, recycling, and
composting. This semester, CARE has researched multiple ways to improve
the systems in place at UW Madison to help be a part of the solution.
We've
helped to make the union more biodegradable friendly, increase the
amount of recycled paper used at the printing office on campus, and
reduce the amount of waste in the dorms by over 60% through the
national Recyclemania competition.
Advance Public Transit: Across
the country, our decision makers are talking about the possibility for
high-speed rail trains that would connect our major cities, not only
making it easier for us to get around, but also decreasing global
warming emissions and reducing our dependence on oil. In Wisconsin, we
are working to pass legislation for Regional Transportation Authorities
(RTAs), which will allow communities to build sustainable solutions to
meet our transportation needs.
On
campus, we have been generating support for RTAs through events,
postcard drives, and getting community businesses and decision-makers
to sign onto our 21st Century Transportation Principles. We have also
attended budget hearings and town-hall meetings to voice our support
for RTAs. Next week we will travel to 10 different cities in Wisconsin
that are on the proposed high-speed rail route to generate state-wide
support for transit by holding press conferences with decision-makers
and community members.
Making Madison a Fair Trade Town: To
ensure our consumer rights, we must demand greater transparency in
business practices. As it currently stands, we as consumers are
provided with little to no information about the conditions under which
the goods we consume on a daily basis are produced.
This
year, we worked to educate students and the community about how Fair
Trade Certification ensures that products made in an environmentally
sustainable and socially responsible manner. We've also been building
up public support and working to ensure that our Alderman fights to
convince the Common Council to use Fair Trade products in their
meetings and government buildings.
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 Congress 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 hosted a town-hall style meeting with Senator Herb Kohl and
State Representative Gordon Hintz to talk about the dangers of
aggressive credit card practices and the legislation they are
supporting that would help protect students from outrageous debt.
Affordable Textbooks: Open
textbooks (free, online textbooks) are really catching on, thanks in
part to our campaign to shine the spotlight on these great
alternatives. Nationally, over 2,000 faculty members have signed our
statement of support for open textbooks and a new publisher just
released 10 new open textbooks! Also, a new bill was introduced in
Congress that would fund the creation of more open textbooks.
On
campus we have been informing students about open textbooks as an
alternative to expensive textbooks as well as setting up meetings with
department chairs and the faculty senate to present the benefits of
open source textbooks for both faculty and students.
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!
Thanks,
Tony Uhl, Chair
Evan Hurly, Vice Chair
Devin Trezise, Visibility Chair
Sheryl Taylor, Secretary
Ashleigh Michael, Treasurer
For more information,
call us at: 608-251-5354
or email: campus@wispirg.org
Visit us at the WISPIRG Office (333 East Campus Mall, Suite 4430)
Join our Facebook Group.
Check out our Big Red Go Green Blog.
Find out what events are happening on campus! Upcoming Events AND WISPIRG Calendar
Come get involved! Attend our next meeting.
Weekly
Meetings:
WISPIRG
Core Meeting
Mondays
at 7 p.m.
On
Wisconsin (Red Gym)
Advance Public Transit
Meeting: Wednesday, 8 pm, WISPIRG Office
Contact: Ariana Grace Kaiser, agkaiser@gmail.com
Affordable Textbooks
Meeting: Thursday, 7 pm, WISPIRG office
Contact: Jared Forney, Jared.Forney@gmail.com
Big Red Go Green (BRGG) – Global Warming
Meeting: Tuesday, 7:30 pm, Red Gym
Contact: Alicia Torres Geary, atg986@gmail.com
Matt Wessale, wessale@wisc.edu
Scott Thompson, scottwisconsin@gmail.com
Conservation and Recycling Efforts (CARE)
Meeting: Tuesday 7 pm, Grainger 1080
Contact: Annie Johnson, aejohnson23@gmail.com
Melissa Flores, sunnycello@gmail.com
Fair Trade
Meeting: Wednesday, 7 pm
Contact: Ben Billick, billick@wisc.edu and Maura Foley,maurajfoley@gmail.com
Hunger and Homelessness
Meeting: Tuesday 7pm, Grainger (room TBD)
Contact: Rashi Mangalick, rmangalick@gmail.com
Samantha Meyer, munka22@gmail.com
New Voters Project-Political Engagement
Meeting: Wednesday 7:30 pm, WISPIRG office
Contact: Jolie Lizotte, lizotte@wisc.edu
For more information email: campus@wispirg.org
|
