Proposed Education Cuts Protested - 21 Rutgers students march on College Avenue Campus
Submitted on Sun, 04/23/2006 - 11:55am
By Rick Harrison - Home News Tribune staff writer, April 22, 2006.
RUTGERS — Twenty-one students marched, cheered and chanted on the College Avenue Campus yesterday to protest Gov. Jon S. Corzine's proposed $169 million higher education budget cuts.
Organized in part by the Student and Education Workers Union, the protesters first camped out behind, then in front of and inside the entrance of the Old Queens administrative building. At one point, they marched around a parked UPS delivery truck.
Shaking plastic bottles partially filled with dried beans, protesters chanted, "Student freedom, workers rights, one struggle, one fight."
"This is a direct action," said Mike Mangarelli, a 20-year-old Livingston College sophomore. "We want to unite the faculty and students. The budget cuts connect us all. We want to send a message to the governor and the people in Trenton that they are not going to be able to do this without us putting up a fight."
Kaylin Padovano, a 19-year-old Rutgers College sophomore, said she was concerned about potential tuition hikes if Rutgers loses an estimated $114 million in state aid.
"I went here because it was a reasonable price," Padovano said, endorsing the protest as a way of reaching decision-makers in Trenton. "I think we should be the one's they listen to. The country is going to be in our hands."
Another student-led protest is scheduled Thursday outside the Statehouse in Trenton. The Legislature must adopt a final budget by July 1.
The protesters also targeted university President Richard L. McCormick, who arrived on the driveway to his office building appearing perplexed by Industrial Workers of the World flags and signs that read "Higher Education is Under Attack" and "Staff, Faculty, Students Unite!!!"
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