LBCC does Lobby day!!

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LBCC students (from left) Melissa Hite, Ricky Zipp, James Smith, Emmanuel Bernal and Stephanie Land discuss the event. by Bryana Bittner

I had the privilege to join Ricky Zipp and many other LBCC students at the Oregon Student Association (OSA) Lobby Days at the Oregon legislature in Salem. Not only did we lobby, we also participated in a rally to help raise awareness of rising tuition in the state of Oregon.

The headquarters for the OSA and other student groups involved was filled with electric excitement as those who were there for lobbying were giving their assignments and training. The whole of the place was nautical, with signs all over the walls saying “S.O.S.,” standing for “Save Our School” and “I [heart] Money for Schools.”

Our group was placed in regional team two. Our leader was the often overly-motivated and very spirited Zipp. I interviewed many of our team; one Brandon Green, who was as new to lobbying as I was, told me “This is something I’ve never done before and so I’m pretty excited for it!”

Our team, the most underdressed in attendance, really showed the family feels of our school. Compared to the suit-wearing students from places like Western Oregon and Oregon State, we looked like real activists in the purest fashion. Zipp was ecstatic, stating, “I think it’s really great and we had a great turnout.”
Many schools came together for the common good of everyone’s education.

Tom Worth, the vice chairman of the Oregon Community College Student Association (OCCSA), was also filled with emotion. “We’re making sure that legislators knows that higher education funding needs to be a priority,” says Worth. “Students have been constantly spending more and getting less from their tuition.”
I asked Worth what he thought about the coming day’s lobbying, and with a glimmer of hope is his eyes he told me, “I think it’s pretty good so far. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun today. I also believe that this lobby day will allow students to have their voices heard.”

Much of the effort was to get the Oregon Senate to pass Senate Bill 742 for tuition equality. This bill, if passed, will bring in millions of dollars to universities all across the state that they currently don’t have access to. This was just one of several bills that students lobbied for all day Monday.

The LBCC group did much of the lobbying across the Oregon legislature. They passed out books with many stories of fellow LBCC students to the state representatives. The hope was to inform them of the plight we all experience trying to pay for school. We also had the chance to be part of the rally, yelling our cause to those in the senate. We also heard Governor John Kitzhaber speak.

We also were able to personally lobby State Senator Fred Girod. We did our best to impress on him the need for more financial help to colleges across Oregon. Though seeming nonchalant to our pleas, he did leave us with this, “I do think that you are the jobs of the future – we need to support you.