Students, faculty voice concerns about budget cuts

University students and faculty joined forces last night to present their views on Gov. Chris Christie's budget proposal to government officials, hoping the severity of the cuts could be undone.

In a budget forum, sponsored by the Union of Rutgers Administrators-American Federation of Teachers, professors and students showed their concern for Christie's proposal in front of legislative directors and assembly representatives at the Graduate Student Lounge on the College Avenue campus.

Chris Aikin, the political organizer for AFT, said it is important to show legislators exactly how the budget will affect the University.

"The main idea is to convey what students are facing here and what faculty and staff are trying to do with limited resources," he said. "The governor's budget cuts over $1 billion to education funding, and at the same time, proposing $1 billion in tax cuts for people who make over $400,000."

Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein, D-N.J., said she believes higher education needs more funding, but there are always issues with the budget. Greenstein hopes there is a way higher education will not be affected in the future.

"I would almost want to start from ground zero and figure out why we have the expenses we do in higher education and what we need to do to try and make this such that we don't go through this every year," she said.

Legislative Director Daniel Harris, who represented Sen. Joseph Vitale, D-N.J., said the speakers who presented at last night's forum were "preaching to the choir."

"I feel as though I'm reinvigorated to continue working on your behalf as legislative director … and I can assure you that the message was heard loud and clear," he said. "We want to continue to fight on your behalf."

The cases presented by students and faculty varied in purpose, but all had the same message: This is not the time for cuts to higher education.

School of Arts and Sciences junior John Aspray, in a press conference held earlier that day, said over the past two decades, students have struggled to keep up with rising tuition costs.

"In 1989, 69.6 percent of Rutgers' funding came from the state. That has dropped to about 38 percent today," he said.

Aspray, Rutgers University Student Assembly Legislative Affairs Committee chair, said New Jersey's priorities regarding the new budget proposal is something that needs to be addressed.

"Trenton seems to be asking what can we cut to balance the budget and the go to answer, oddly enough, is higher education," he said. "I think that is a poor answer."

URA-AFT President Lucye Millerand said since 2001, funding from the state decreased 29 percent and is now worse with the current state of the economy.

"We rank at the bottom of state support per capita, that is per student, for higher education," she said. "New Jersey wants a Massachusetts workforce on a Mississippi budget and that just doesn't work."

Elric Kline, a University teaching assistant, said the proposed budget cuts are not just harmful for students but for the state in general.

"[The cuts] are the wrong choice for cutting-edge research … and they are the wrong choice for the economy," he said. "We're here today to make sure Rutgers University isn't reduced to just a name on a piece of paper."

Patrick Nowlan, executive director of the AAUP-AFT, said it is not right to cut funding for higher education because it is an "economic engine."

"For the government to cut aid to Rutgers is really looking backwards. They should be investing more money in Rutgers," he said. "They generate over $3 billion in economic output here in New Jersey."

Jay Tischfield, director of the Rutgers University Cell and DNA Repository, said his work is a perfect example of what the University offers to not just the state, but the academic world.

"The RUCDR is the official agency that purports the research of a large number of national institutes of health," he said. "Every single sample that goes to Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Stanford, for patients with schizophrenia comes from Rutgers."

Tischfield added he would not have come to the University if he knew what would be the results of Christie's budget proposal.

"If I was faced with coming here 11 years ago, into the environment that existed this moment, I would have stayed where I was or I would have taken the other job offers," he said. "If I wasn't committed to Rutgers, I would go to somewhere else."

School of Arts and Sciences sophomore Merylou Rodriguez is part of the Educational Opportunity Fund program and said the governor does not realize what the program does for underprivileged college students and how those students progress.

"Though EOF doesn't provide a full scholarship or a free ride to school, the services that go along with it and the academic coaching enrich our Rutgers experience," she said. "Because of the EOF program, I am at the point that I am right now."

URA-ATF and its members offered different solutions to balance the budget, such as curbing business tax breaks or raising motor vehicle registration fees for "gas guzzlers."

Millerand said with an institution as vital and necessary for the state, this is not the time for the government to turn their back on the University.

"With a high quality higher education, we can keep more of our students in New Jersey," she said. "We pay our taxes and, through our work, we build a better, stronger economy throughout the state."