Katie Quinn for UPUA On-Campus Representative!!

Many of you in the class know, because you helped me by signing my signature sheet a few weeks ago, but for those of you that don't know, I am running to be an On-Campus Representative on the UPUA assembly!  UPUA is your student government, and many students are campaigning for positions now anticipating the elections that will be held next week on Wednesday the 30th.  On this day the students decide who their student representatives will be..as long as they vote!

I am becoming increasingly busy with my campaign, and am hectically trying to balance it with my schoolwork.  However, I am enjoying the experience because I have an interest in the way government and politics works and think its even cooler at the University level. One reason I think its cooler is because the students that are running honestly have and interest in making the lives of Penn State students better. Few of them are running for a power climb, and most of them are running with the students interests at heart.  Many times in politics voters have to deal with corrupt politicians, but not in student government, and I think that makes the races more exciting.

Yesterday, I started my first round around campus flyering, and trying to get the word out to vote for me! Let me know if you've seen any of these flyers, I would love to hear that you did!

I am running for an On-Campus Rep spot and I have formed my platform around my desired position.  I am still in the process of perfecting my platform, and I would love to hear any suggestions or things you would like to see changed at Penn State in your comments.  The only way student government can effectively represent the students is with student input, and I will be very receptive to your ideas. For now here's a general outline of my platform:

Residence Life:   - make recycling easier for students and dorms more eco-friendly by ensuring recycling bins on each floor of EVERY residence hall. (this is inconsistent now).
                             - increase the community of residence life by facilitating the means of finding friends with similar interests, and hosting more events to increase communication between on-campus students, celebrate diversity and foster closer relationships between students.
                             - address the issue of dorm security and take steps to increase security in areas where students feel unsafe.

Student Health:    - increase the number of vegetarian options in the dining halls and increase the variety of healthy choices for non-vegetarians.
                               -increase the accessibility to healthy food by keeping healthy (i.e salad) vendors open later.
                               -make gym hours more flexible, and cater to student's schedules
                               -make gym more accessible to students by decreasing its cost for membership

Student Voice in Government:    -expand our relationships with other Pennsylvania universities to place united pressure on our State Representatives. 
                               -initiate more constant contact with our State Representatives throughout the year.
                               -increase voter awareness and involvement on campus because voting is our strongest means available to promote our interests as students.

I hope you liked my platform and if you have any questions, ideas or suggestions email me at kmq106@psu.edu, or just comment on my blog!  I want to hear your ideas, and would love to represent you next year as an On-Campus Representative.  If your living on campus next year please vote for me on March 30th!! Thanks and if you'd like to join my face book group here it is: Vote for Katie Quinn!
Anyway, thanks for reading my blog and let me know what you think! :) 

My letter in Response to Governor Corbett

Hey guys, so my blog post is a little different today. In response to the massive proposed budget cuts to higher education in Pennsylvania, especially the 52.4% cut in Penn State's appropriation, I have written a letter to my state representatives.  My letter is long..but I am mad. I encourage all of you to read my letter, and send out mine or a similar one to your state representatives. If you are not sure who your state representatives type in your address to this website :

http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/findyourlegislator/

Our voice needs to be heard now more than ever! This is the most drastic state appropriations cuts Penn State has ever faced, it could change the university as we know and love it, and it will no longer be affordable to many students!  So please, write to your legislator, send this letter, or sign a petition. They need to know that we are angry at the cuts and that we do not approve! Thanks guys!

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing to you as one voice representing 96,000 students, 47,000 employees living in each of the 67 counties of Pennsylvania who are outraged at the recent budget proposing a $625 million cut in state appropriations for higher education.  The numbers above represent only the students and staff of Pennsylvania State University, and do not include the hundreds of thousands of students and employees within the Pennsylvania higher education system that will be negatively affected by the current budget proposal.   As a Pennsylvania registered voter, who voted you into office last fall, I would like to express my wholehearted disappointment in and disapproval of the proposed halving of the state appropriations for higher education. I would like to serve as a representative voice of your constituents, the students and employees who receive innumerable benefits from higher education in Pennsylvania. The budget proposal will hurt these constituents, and their communities will also suffer.  Education is one of the best services our state government provides, it positively affects the lives of students and provides many quality jobs for citizens across the state.  I will fight to continue funding higher education because the current and future benefits are apparent and important, and I hope you will understand the reasons for my passion and urgency through my letter.

I am lucky enough to be a freshman at Penn State main campus, and experience a prestigious education at an affordable cost. Penn State is one of the top student-research institutions in the country, and employers respect a Penn State degree. In fact, employers love hiring Penn State students as reflected in the school’s #1 rank in job recruitment in the country recorded in a study completed by the Wall Street Journal in September 2010.  Penn State is unique because its state appropriations provide the school with the funds necessary to provide a reduced in-state tuition for Pennsylvania residents. This gives the land-grant university a special connection to the state of Pennsylvania, and students the incentive to study, research, and eventually work in Pennsylvania and give back to the state.  However, this year the state appropriations have been reduced by $182 million and this 52.4% reduction of state appropriated funds for Penn State will effectively change the face of the university and destroy its land-grant legacy. If my family is able to make the sacrifices for me to continue to be able to attend Penn State, I will be one of the fortunate ones.  Many students here struggle to pay in-state tuition now, and if the state appropriations are cut by another 52% the inevitable and drastic tuition hike that follows will deny many bright Pennsylvanian students the ability to receive a high-quality education from our state. Governor Corbett’s budget cut will drastically change the quality and composition of the Pennsylvania State University.  Bright students will be denied a college education in Pennsylvania because they cannot afford it, and Pennsylvania lose students to other states where the student will research, innovate, work in and give back to other states.

The hundreds of thousands of voting students are not the only group of your constituents that are affected by the drastic state appropriation cuts. Quality teachers and employees are also forced to carry the burden of Governor Corbett’s poor decision making.  Penn State’s President Graham Spanier said that to avoid placing the entire weight of the budget cuts on the students, programs would be cut, teachers and staffs’ salaries would be frozen, employees would be laid off, staff would not be replaced, and many people who enjoyed quality jobs provided through higher education would become unemployed.  Penn State hires 47,000 Pennsylvania residents as employees and is considered one of the largest single employers in Pennsylvania.  This number accounts for only a fraction of the amount of possible unemployment from cutting the appropriations to higher education. Other state schools rely more heavily on appropriations than state-related schools such as Penn State to fund their staff and programs. Therefore the budget cuts in higher education affect more than just students and student votes.

Finally, a $625 million cut in state appropriations to higher education would have a negative effect on the state of Pennsylvania as a whole.  In Obama’s State of the Union address he stressed the importance to “win the future” through education, innovation, and research.  What kind of backwards thinking is taking place in Pennsylvania state government for a governor to propose to effectively break down the type of capital good that will help us become profitable and successful in the future?  According to President Spanier, Penn State alone generates over $17 billon in direct and indirect economic impact in the state of Pennsylvania.  Penn State only accounts for one large university in the Pennsylvania higher education system pumping huge amounts money into Pennsylvania’s economy. However Penn State is just one of 14 state schools receiving these cuts.  By cutting the current appropriations for higher education Pennsylvania is choosing not to invest in a capital good that can increase the possible profits of their markets in the future.  While Governor Corbett stand by and lets the gas companies drill for Marcellus Shale in our backyards, the gas companies get off easy with minimal taxes while the voting citizens bear the weight of Pennsylvania’s destructive budget.  As a Pennsylvania student and citizen I fear for Pennsylvania’s future, as the state government chooses to cut an invaluable good for the future welfare of the state.

Governor Corbett’s recent budget proposal has devastated my future as a student in Pennsylvania. I have taken the time to write this letter because I am passionate about my education, my future and the future of my classmates, and the future of Pennsylvania.  Students, employees and the future economy of Pennsylvania would be drastically and negatively affected by the cuts to state appropriations.  If your concern for the people who elected you to represent them and the welfare of Pennsylvania is not enough for you to vote against Governor Corbett’s budget cuts to higher education, then recall the number of voters that are as passionately against the cuts as I am, but frankly too busy to write a letter.  Penn State is comprised of 96,000 student voters, 47,000 employee voters, along with passionate, successful, and powerful alumni of 514,000 Pennsylvania voters. We are Penn State and we are proud of our educational experience, and will fight to defend its quality.  However, we are not alone, there are 13 other state schools who are equally passionate about their education.  Now is the time to respond to your voters who supported you, and vote against the devastating budget cuts on Pennsylvania higher education. Please listen to our voice now, or you will hear our widespread disapproval at the polls when it is time for reelection. Please help the students, employees and future of the state of Pennsylvania by refusing to pass Governor Corbett’s budget cuts to higher education.

Sincerely,

Kathleen Quinn

War On Women

This year as Congress prepares it annual budget, most Americans are expecting cuts in many of the programs that serve some of the greatest good for our country.  Some of you, like me, may have only recently heard that Planned Parenthood is one organization that on the chopping block for budget cuts. While some trimming of their public funding is unfortunate but understandable, conservatives in the House of Representatives have recently taken up an initiative to cut all of the $371 million dollars of federal aid for family planning (nytimes.com).  This course of action will put millions of low-income women at risk.

If you didn't already decipher my political leanings from my previous blogs when I mentioned my involvement in the College of Democrats.. you guessed it I'm a Democrat.  However, I was also raised Roman Catholic and am ProLife when matters of abortion are discussed.  I wanted to make this clear because true debate on an issue is often avoided with the use of these tags.  In fact it is similar to the situation taking place in Congress as our representatives immediately tag Planned Parenthood with abortion.

I am strongly opposed to cutting out the family planning budget, or making large cuts that will defeat its purpose.  I will start by saying that none of the public funding for Planned Parenthood goes towards abortion. It is currently restricted by the government.  However it does go towards contraceptives, family planning, H.I.V counseling, treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, cancer screening and other services.  These services are especially utilized by low-income women who cannot afford reproductive health care on their own.  The Conservative members of the House of Representatives have initiated a war on these women by moving to cut the entire family planning budget.

Most of us, luckily, are able to afford this type of care, and if we are unable to, our parents can. However, each of us can think of a friend, or even themselves, that has used Planned Parenthood as a minor in order to receive discounted contraceptives to avoid an accidental pregnancy.  That is one reason why the conservative's movement should alarm and bring us into action.  Why else should it matter to us?  Well, if over five-million unprotected and uncared-for women is not enough to move you to act, consider what Susan Cohen from the Guttmacher Institute, a research institute said, "For every dollar spent on contraception for low-income women, the government saves four dollars in medical costs within the next year by averting unwanted pregnancies"

Seems like the conservatives in Congress are thinking a little backward to me...Save one dollar now to spend four later doesn't sound like a sound economic plan. Their thinking is short-sighted and extremely dangerous for women.  If you feel strongly like I do about this event help raise public awareness of it, and let your Congressmen know that you do not support these type of cuts.  The public voice can make a difference and the College of Democrats will be hosting an event soon to raise awareness of the growing War on Women.