2008 Woodie Awards
SGA Lobbies for Five Issues at the State Capital
Sara Coss: Muleskinner
Issue date: 2/21/08 Section: News
While many people were having romantic dinners or spending time with loved ones for St. Valentine's Day, three members of the Student Government Association (SGA) were over an hour away in the capital building lobbying for higher education.
"We came together with [12] other student governments in the state and lobbied for higher education," said Patrick Lau, vice president of SGA.
Lau, secretary Elizabeth Cook and senator Rachel Gilbertsen represented the University at the Missouri Higher Education Consortium (MHEC).
While they were there, they dined and conversed with state representatives David Pearce, 121-R, Gayle Kingery, 154-R, and state auditor Susan Montee.
"[The conference] was really insightful, because we discussed different issues that affect students with our legislators," Gilbertsen said.
Lau said the conference gave them a chance to align their issues with SGAs around the state and discuss similar problems other universities have and the strategies they use to alleviate them.
At the conference, the 12 participating universities lobbied for five "legislative priorities." For each issue they took a stance and offered three reasons for it, along with statistics they had compiled.
Legislation in the works
Two issues raised at the conference are legislation items the UCM SGA is working on.
The first is the increasing price of textbooks. MHEC "supports textbook transparency legislation requiring textbook publishers to disclose the costs students are charged for books." UCM SGA also recognizes textbook prices as a major concern of students.
"I receive a lot of complaints, comments and questions from students [about textbook prices]," Lau said. "It is a recurring complaint, and many students have said they turn to online and other sources to buy more affordable books."
SGA previously drafted a piece of legislation which would provide alternatives for textbook purchasing, but it did not pass in the Faculty Senate.
"We came together with [12] other student governments in the state and lobbied for higher education," said Patrick Lau, vice president of SGA.
Lau, secretary Elizabeth Cook and senator Rachel Gilbertsen represented the University at the Missouri Higher Education Consortium (MHEC).
While they were there, they dined and conversed with state representatives David Pearce, 121-R, Gayle Kingery, 154-R, and state auditor Susan Montee.
"[The conference] was really insightful, because we discussed different issues that affect students with our legislators," Gilbertsen said.
Lau said the conference gave them a chance to align their issues with SGAs around the state and discuss similar problems other universities have and the strategies they use to alleviate them.
At the conference, the 12 participating universities lobbied for five "legislative priorities." For each issue they took a stance and offered three reasons for it, along with statistics they had compiled.
Legislation in the works
Two issues raised at the conference are legislation items the UCM SGA is working on.
The first is the increasing price of textbooks. MHEC "supports textbook transparency legislation requiring textbook publishers to disclose the costs students are charged for books." UCM SGA also recognizes textbook prices as a major concern of students.
"I receive a lot of complaints, comments and questions from students [about textbook prices]," Lau said. "It is a recurring complaint, and many students have said they turn to online and other sources to buy more affordable books."
SGA previously drafted a piece of legislation which would provide alternatives for textbook purchasing, but it did not pass in the Faculty Senate.
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