Temple University - Templar Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

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' Save our aid! This was the chant echoed by stu- dents at the rally against cuts in student aid. Qi September 29th over 100 students gathered outside of SAC. Among the many speakers was Mayor Ed Rendell, who spoke out against proposed congres- sional cuts in student finan- cial aid. Sen. Vincent Hughes, Rep. Harold James, and aty Councilman C vid Cohen each came to make an appeal to save funds. Student government leaders from Penn State, Drexel University, University of Pittsburgh, Duquesne University, Carnegie Mellon University, and Temple University ' s own all joined together. Education should not be a privilege. 1 1 should be a right, said Kamal Latham, Temple ' s Student Government president. Cfthers, criticized Gingrich and RepubUcans in general. Just the name Newt reminds me of something 1 crushed on the sidewalk on the way to class, said Chuck Williams, chief of staff of the Temple student government. The rally attracted media from all across the board. Among them were Channel 17, Channel 6 and radio stations KYW, WPEN andWWra. The controversy is focused on a U.S. cormnittee vote to cut $10.8 billion from the student loan program over seven years. There are proposals to tax colleges for every loan a student receives and to do away with grace periods after gradua- tion. Over 12,000 Temple students could be affected. The rally was followed by at least 100 students, including Mayor Rendell, marching to the Federal Building. With a police escort, they shouted out and called out in protest. They even succeeded in blocking off traffic at 7th and Market, as onlookers watched in amazement. Once they reached the Federal Building, still yelling and shouting, they stormed into the lobby, while Latham and Wilhams went to Specter ' s office. His response was that he was in full sup- port of financial aid. Although there were a few students who felt anger and were let down, others believe they really got their point across in a positive way. They believe that they got the job done.