Mike Salsbury/The Olympian
South Puget Sound Community College student Lesley Branagan of Tenino studies in the campus Student Union building Thursday as a group of protesters outside displays messages opposing tuition increases. In an adjacent part of the building, Gov. Gary Locke was speaking at a luncheon honoring student achievers. The protest and the governor's appearance didn't distract her from her studies, Branagan said. "There are less interruptions here than at home," said Branagan, the mother of a young child.

Group stakes out Locke visit to protest tuition increases

FARHANAZ KERMALLI, THE OLYMPIAN

Originally published Friday, March 8, 2002

OLYMPIA -- As Gov. Gary Locke asked 400 people at a student awards ceremony to get involved in state affairs, 50 students stood outside to answer that call.

"We can look, and then we can act," Locke said about social responsibility in his keynote address Thursday at South Puget Sound Community College. "Indeed, we must act."

Outside, shivering students waved protest signs during a rally against proposed tuition increases.

Inside, the All-Washington Academic Team reception recognized the achievements of 63 students from 32 community colleges and technical schools statewide.

Because of the state's $1.6 billion budget shortfall, plans to increase higher education tuition by up to 18 percent have students worried.

Yearly tuition at South Puget Sound increased from $1,458 in 1997 to $1,743 in 2001.

The rally was not intended to detract from the recognition ceremony, but it was a chance to get the attention of Locke and key lawmakers, rally organizer and SPSCC Student Senator Russell Quiett said.

A rare rally

"This was a perfect opportunity to do a student rally in one of these positive lights, to show support to those students visiting our college," Quiett said.

It is rare for the college's Student Senate to sponsor a rally, said Amanda Meck, a South Puget Sound student and the vice president for student clubs and organizations.

"I think it's maybe the first time we've stood up to the administration," Meck said. "We thought this was the only opportunity to address this issue."

Students from The Evergreen State College said they attended the rally in a show of solidarity.

"I know what it means to be unable to afford college. I was a community college student from a low-income background before I came to Evergreen," said Jason Adams, a senior and coordinator of the Union for Student Workers.

"Gov. Locke acts and talks like he supports education, but for years he has supported Boeing with millions of dollars in corporate subsidies and they just abandoned us," Adams said. "I don't think he reflects an education agenda at all; clearly, he reflects a corporate agenda."

Students called on the governor to make good on his promise to support higher education.

Meck said Locke "needs to put education first."

Student Evan Hastings agreed.

"I think it's absurd that Locke ran on a platform for higher education," he said.

Cuts in financial aid, scholarships and minimum-wage student jobs are compounding students' difficulties, Hastings said.

"Essentially, students are feeling that budget problems, a lot of it, are resting on the backs of students," Quiett said.

Tuition increases could be especially tough at community colleges, where many students are working or raising families simultaneously -- a group Locke praised in his speech, first-year South Puget Sound student Miranda Jolley said.

"It's even difficult to pay tuition now. I believe in affordable education," Jolley said. "What about the international students? It's not fair."

'A unified voice'

Steps are being taken toward "student solidarity and getting a unified voice," Quiett said.

A meeting with Locke's aides yielded updated budget information and an encouraging response to a proposal for student representation on the State Board of Community and Technical Colleges, Quiett said.

Students will lobby for a seat on the board with a postcard campaign targeting key legislators.

Students honored

But inside the Student Union building, the honorees and their families focused on the ceremony.

The students were honored with medals, $250 scholarships sponsored by KeyBank and photographs with the governor.

The team was the largest in the program's seven-year history.

Such events show the community that community colleges provide "a stellar education and they are an asset," South Puget Sound spokeswoman Kellie Purce Braseth said.

South Puget Sound student Leesa Bahrt, a college tutor, was honored for her work to help coordinate a blood drive that set a school donation record.

"It's a great honor," Bahrt said. "It's an amazing experience to be able to represent the college."

Maki Hasegawa, student senator for multicultural affairs, was the other South Puget Sound honoree.

"I couldn't believe I was nominated," said Hasegawa, an environmental science student from Japan. Aside from serving in student government, Hasegawa has served as a math tutor and Japanese representative at YMCA cultural events.

Despite the activity of the ceremony and rally, student Lesley Branagan still managed to study inside the Student Union building.

"I came here because, at home, there are too many distractions" from her husband and daughter, Branagan said.

Ceremony guest Marcendria Satcher found the student rally meaningful and not disruptive.

"This is our future. How are you going to tell them you can't afford an education?" Satcher said.

"A (tuition) increase will prevent many, especially people with low to average incomes, from getting educated."

On the Web:

- South Puget Sound Community College

- Senate Ways & Means: 2002 Supplemental Budget Proposals

- Senate Ways & Means Fiscal Updates 2002

- Washington State Legislature

- Washington State Treasurer

- Gov. Gary Locke

Sound Off at TheOlympian.com: How do we weather Washington state's budget crisis?

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