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A Call for Clean Energy

MAKE CALL TODAY

In the last few weeks hundreds of students have submitted "I support clean energy because..." letters to their Senators, and they make one thing clear: there are countless reasons why it's time to bring clean energy to America.

Join thousands of students who are calling our Senators this week to let them know we support clean energy: http://studentpirgs.org/72hours

We're running out of time to get our Senators to pass a national clean energy plan - but we're in it to win it.

By launching a 21st century energy plan for America, we can create millions of green jobs, jump start the economy, and begin to solve global warming.

We've teamed up with dozens of organizations across the country to host this 72 hour phone blitz to our Senators because the more calls we make, the more they'll pay attention to us.

We all have our own reasons for supporting clean energy. And our Senators need to hear them all.

Please make a call today: http://studentpirgs.org/72hours

Ending Credit Card Ripoffs: Priceless

Until today, it was perfectly legal for credit card companies to profit by tricking people into paying late and then tripling the interest rate on their balances.

Not anymore.

The Credit CARD Act goes into effect today and includes this and other protections from abusive practices the banks have used to rip us off. It also offers college students additional special protections. Click here to read what's in it for you.

A few years ago we launched our Truth About Credit campaign to research the problem of student credit card debt and to help students navigate the credit card system.

Students have an average of almost $3,000 in credit card debt when they graduate college. We use credit cards to pay for textbooks, transportation, and even tuition. Banks have used aggressive marketing tactics and abusive terms and conditions to trap us into deep credit card debt. According to Inside Higher Ed, the new law "Includes a set of changes aimed at protecting young consumers -- and in some cases college students specifically -- from excessive credit card debt."  U.S. News and World Report explains that young consumers are "coveted" by banks and credit card companies.

It was the outcry of students like you that passed this law, and the banks aren't happy about it - this is the first time in 40 years any law opposed by credit card companies has passed!

Read more here, and help spread the word.

Take Action on Campus to Help Haiti

Haiti just experienced a massive earthquake. We don't yet know the full ramifications of this disaster, but the people of Haiti will need help from around the world to meet both their immediate needs and the long term effort to rebuild homes, schools, hospitals and cities.
 
Our Hunger and Homelessness campaign will be holding fundraisers on campuses in the months ahead to make sure organizations on the ground have the resources to get food, medicine and supplies to the people that need them.
 
Sign up to volunteer and help fundraise on your campus here.
 
It's easy to organize a fundraiser on campus. Learn how by downloading our Response Kit.
 
Donations are urgently needed - right now, we're recommending people direct donations to our friends at Oxfam through their website http://oxfamamerica.org.  Oxfam has four offices in Haiti and over 200 highly-experienced aid workers.
 
Please contact the staff of the National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness with questions at Natalie@studentsagainsthunger.org.

Highlights from the White House Climate Forum

A handful of PIRG students attended last Wednesday's forum at the White House on global warming and clean energy. The forum gave young people a chance to speak directly to administration officials, including Ken Salazar (Secretary of the Interior), Hilda Solis (Secretary of Labor), Steven Chu (Secretary of Energy), Lisa Jackson (EPA Administrator), and Nancy Sutley (chair of the White House's Council on Environmental Quality).

You can check out coverage of the event, including this New York Times blog post which interviews CALPIRG student leader Jenn Engstrom, as well as the White House's own videos of the event.

The Student PIRGs Applaud President Obama’s Commitment to Student Aid

In his State of the Union Speech last night, President Obama recommitted to an increased investment in higher education, reaffirming that investment in higher education is essential to our country’s recovery and long-term strength.

Obama urged Congress to increase Pell grants by passing the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA), help students better manage their crushing debt loads, and create a $10,000 education tax credit.

The passage of SAFRA will increase the Pell grant (the government’s need-based financial aid program) by at least $40 billion dollars by eliminating wasteful, unwarranted subsidies to banks and lenders, and redirecting the money to students.

President Obama also called for an expansion of the federal Income Based Repayment program to help students manage their rapidly increasing debt. His proposal would cap students' monthly federal loan repayments at 10% of their discretionary income and forgive their federal debt after 20 years or repayment.

Increased tuition costs have resulted in students and families over-relying on loans to pay for college. In 2008 students graduated with an average of a $23,200 in student loan debt. Too many students can't go to college because of the costs, don't graduate because their debt gets so high they have to drop out, or after graduation have to put off marriage, children, and home purchase because of their crushing debt.

On campuses across the country, Student PIRGs' student interns and volunteers are working to raise the alarm on student debt and calling on their elected official to support President Obama's plan increase financial aid for students.

Get involved on your campus: Volunteer!

A Big First Step on Global Warming

Today, the House of Representatives took an historic step toward a new clean energy economy and a healthy future by passing the American Clean Energy and Security Act.

We're going to need to do much more in order to make the dramatic shift we need in our energy policy and avoid the dire consequences that scientists predict if we don't address global warming. However, the first step is always the hardest, and the House should be applauded for taking it.

Next the bill will go to the Senate, where it will face another tough fight. We look forward to building even more support for clean energy solutions.

A Victory for Our National forests

The Obama administration last Thursday called a "time-out" on new road-building in nearly 50 million acres of our national forests. Despite President Obama's promise to protect these forests and restore the 2001 Roadless Rule, Bush-era officials still working at the U.S. Forest Service had been moving to allow the timber, mining and oil industries access to roadless areas within the system. On May 28, the Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, ordered that these forests be protected from road building. Now we're pushing for permanent protection of these places through full restoration of the Roadless Rule.

Victory on Credit Cards!

The Congress passed a strong Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act that will halt the most egregious abuses by the credit card industry. Despite the credit card industry's lobbying to defeat or gut the bill, the Senate and the House both passed the bill with overwhelming, bi-partisan majorities. President Obama signed it into law on May 22 and it takes effect in nine months.

 

This is a big victory for students and all consumers! We've been working on this issue for a while now - see truthaboutcredit.org for more on our campus education program about credit cards, plus the report we issued last year, The Credit Card Trap.

For too long, owning a credit card company has been a license to steal. Over the last few years, the banks increased their use of abusive tactics, such as changing due dates so they could trick consumers into paying late. Worse, they charged a double whammy for paying late - a high late fee first and then tripled interest rates of 36% APR or more. They also started charging good customers higher rates because they supposedly paid some other creditor late (this is called "universal default"). And when that wasn’t enough, they started raising the rates of good customers for no reason at all.

These rip-offs have finally caught up with them. Gouging everyone, even good customers who paid on time, caused thousands and thousands of people who just want a fair deal to contact Congress and the Federal Reserve.

The CARD bill doesn't fix everything, but it does eliminate a lot of unfair practices, including:

Credit card issuers could not extend credit to consumers under the age of 21 unless the person has an independent means to repay the loan, or has a cosigner with such ability. Consumers under the age of 21 could choose whether to receive credit card solicitations.

Unjustified and retroactive interest charges. Card companies could not hike interest rates retroactively on balances accrued before a rate increase takes effect (with minor exceptions) unless the cardholder is more than 60 days late in paying a bill. If such interest rate increases occur, they must lower the rate after six months of on-time payments. Card companies would not be able to raise interest rates in the first year after a card account is opened.

Universal default on existing balances. Credit card issuers could not increase a cardholder's interest rate on existing balances based on negative information about other bills unrelated to their credit card.

Excessive and growing penalty fees. Penalty fees would have to be reasonable and proportional to the late or over-limit violation. Card issuers could not charge over-limit fees unless the cardholder has agreed to allow over-limit transactions.

Unfair billing practices. Card companies could not charge interest on any portion of a balance that is paid by the due date.

Pay-to-Pay. Card companies could not charge customers a fee to pay their bill, except for expedited service provided by a service representative.

Final passage of this historic credit card reform legislation will stop big credit card companies - many of which are benefiting from TARP funds - from cheating Americans out of their hard-earned money.

 

University of Maryland Student Speaks at Capitol Hill Rally

Student Supports Financial Aid Increases in Obama Budget

WASHINGTON, DC, April 1, 2009 – A University of Maryland senior joined senators and community leaders at a rally in the U.S. Senate office building today to support of the FY2010 Democratic Budget.

Deemed a top priority by President Barack Obama and other Democratic leaders, the budget proposes a significant boost to the Pell grant, the nation’s premier student aid program that currently serves close to seven million students to help them pay for college.

“Our country needs us to get educated.  The problems of the 21st century require solutions that my generation is getting trained to deal with in college,” said Kim, chair of the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) student chapter at The University of Maryland (http://www.marylandpirgstudents.org/home).

"The budget plan being put forth by President Obama, Senate Leader Reid, and the House is crucial.  It reinvests billions of dollars in student aid so we can have higher Pell grants and less loan debt,” Kim added.

When Kim announced that she planned to be a community organizer after graduating, the room – packed with journalists and with members of organizations that support the Obama budget – burst into cheers.

But the clapping died down when Kim mentioned her student loan debt.

“The vast majority of college students across the country now graduate with enough loan debt that we are being squeezed out of careers,” Kim said.

Four senators, including Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), also spoke at the rally.

“When it comes to the future, it starts in the classroom,” said Durbin, who is the Senate Majority Whip and a champion of the Obama budget.

Durbin decried the fact that student’s graduate with “a diploma and a student debt that they can’t deal with” and called for people across the country to let their representatives know that they want the budget passed.

“We need your help,” Durbin said. “This is our moment. Let’s not miss it.”

Both the House and the Senate are slated to vote on the budget later this week.

The rally was organized by the Campaign to Rebuild and Renew America Now! coalition, which includes over 100 grassroots and non-profit groups, including U.S. PIRG (http://www.uspirg.org). The coalition’s goal is to make sure the president's budget passes Congress with all of its public interest priorities intact. Across the country, the PIRGs have launched a coordinated campaign, hosting large events, organizing call-in days, and reaching out to the media to make sure Congress does not miss this historic opportunity.

University of Maryland student Lauren Kim speaks to a packed room of budget supporters at the U.S. Senate office building in Washington, DC, on April 1, 2009. (Photo: Eric Reeves/U.S. PIRG)

University of Maryland student Lauren Kim, right, shaking hands with Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD), center, as Bob Edgar, president of Common Cause, left, and other members of the coalition look on during a rally at the U.S. Senate office building in Washington, DC, on April 1, 2009. (Photo: Eric Reeves/U.S. PIRG)

Huge win for students in recovery bill

The American Recovery & Reinvestment Act recently signed into law by President Obama contains plenty for students to applaud.

Higher Education: The final recovery bill included a $17 billion increase in the Pell grant program for college students. The increase means more grant money, as well as more work-study aid and bigger tax credits for low-income students and their families. Rep. George Miller, the key House leader on education, sought input on the plan from the Student PIRGs' Rich Williams. http://diverseeducation.com/artman/publish/article_12284.shtml

Public Transportation: The bill added $8 billion  for high-speed rail, a move strongly supported by the Student PIRGs. Another $8 billion in the bill is designated for other public transportation uses. The New York Times quoted U.S. PIRG's John Krieger: “After decades of looking on with envy at efficient bullet trains overseas, American high-speed rail is finally leaving the station.” http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/13/us/politics/13stimulus.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=John%20Krieger&st=cse

Clean Energy:
The bill includes more than $78 billion for clean energy and green infrastructure, including $33 billion for clean energy, $27 billion for energy efficiency, and $19 billion for green transportation.

Students Show Their Love for Public Transit

Maryland PIRG student volunteers working with the Global Warming Solutions campaign at the University of Maryland held a table where they collected 143 letters to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, thanking him for fighting for public transportation and green energy in the stimulus package, and asking him to champion these issues as the stimulus comes to a final vote.

They also held a Valentines Day table for Clean Energy, with over a dozen volunteers and two people in polar bear costumes getting 75 individual Valentines Day cards signed by Maryland voters.

New York Times once again features our credit card campaign!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/01/business/01student.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

 

The Debt Trap

A series about the surge in consumer debt and the lenders who made it possible.

Colleges Profit as Banks Market Credit Cards to Students

Published: December 31, 2008

EAST LANSING, Mich. — When Ryan T. Muneio was tailgating with his parents at a Michigan State football game this fall, he noticed a big tent emblazoned with a Bank of America logo. Inside, bank representatives were offering free T-shirts and other merchandise to those who applied for credit cards and other banking products.

Fabrizio Costantini for The New York Times

Bank of America employees on the Michigan State campus offered giveaways like water bottles, backpacks and games to persuade students to apply for credit cards and other bank services.

 “They did a good job,” Mr. Muneio, 21 and a junior at Michigan State, said of the tactic. “It was good advertising.”

Bank of America’s relationship with the university extends well beyond marketing at sports events. The bank has an $8.4 million, seven-year contract with Michigan State giving it access to students’ names and addresses and use of the university’s logo. The more students who take the banks’ credit cards, the more money the university gets. Under certain circumstances, Michigan State even stands to receive more money if students carry a balance on these cards.

Hundreds of colleges have contracts with lenders. But at a time of rising concern about student debt — and overall consumer debt — the arrangements have sounded alarm bells, and some student groups are starting to push back.

The relationships are reminiscent of those uncovered two years ago between student loan companies and universities. In those, some lenders offered universities an incentive to steer potential borrowers their way.

Here at Michigan State, the editors of the student newspaper wrote this fall that “it doesn’t take a giant leap for someone to ask why the university should encourage responsible spending when it receives a cut of every purchase.”

At Arizona State University, students set up a table on campus last spring to warn of the danger of debt and urge students to support limits on on-campus marketing.

The contracts, whose terms vary but usually involve payments to colleges or alumni associations that agree to provide lists of students’ names, have come under harsh criticism in Washington.

“That is absolutely outrageous, the sharing of students’ information with the banks,” Representative Carolyn B. Maloney, Democrat of New York, who oversaw a June hearing on campus credit card marketing, said in a recent interview. “That should be outlawed.”

Fabrizio Costantini for The New York Times

A Fifth Third Bank display offered bottles of water, tuition raffles and a bicycle as an inducement to get incoming freshmen at Michigan State University to open credit card and other accounts.

College campuses are one place that young Americans are introduced to credit and the possibility of spending beyond their means, a problem now confronting the nation as a whole. For banks, the relationships are a golden marketing opportunity. For colleges, they are a revenue source at a time of declining public funding. And for students, they help pay the bills and allow more shopping.

But debt incurred in college becomes a serious burden at graduation, especially in a recession in which jobs are scarce. A survey of more than 1,500 college students by US PIRG in Washington found that two-thirds had at least one credit card. Seniors with balances had an average debt of $2,623 on their cards.

University officials say that their agreements with card issuers comply with the law and bring in valuable revenue.

“It provides money for scholarships and other programs,” said Terry R. Livermore, manager of licensing programs at Michigan State. He said that the program was aimed primarily at alumni and the university would not include sharing student information in future credit card contracts. “The students are such a minuscule portion of this program.”

Jennifer Holsman, executive director of the alumni association at Arizona State, said the association tried to teach students about responsible uses of credit. “We work closely with Bank of America to provide educational seminars to students in terms of being able to get information about how to pay off credit cards, how not to keep balances,” she said.

Credit card issuers say that they try to educate students to use cards responsibly and that the cards they offer on campus have more restrictive terms than cards offered to alumni.

“The available credit for undergraduates is capped at $2,500,” said Betty Riess, a spokeswoman for Bank of America. “We want to take a fair and responsible approach to lending because we want to build the foundation for a longer-term banking relationship.”

Ms. Riess said the bank had agreements with about 700 colleges and alumni associations, making it one of the biggest, if not the biggest, card issuer on campuses. She said that only 2 percent of the open accounts under those agreements belonged to students, but also said it was not possible to determine what percentage of program revenue resulted from fees and charges on those student cards.

Stephanie Jacobson, a spokeswoman for JPMorgan Chase, wrote in an e-mail message that the bank had fewer than 25 contracts with colleges or alumni associations and that while some of the contracts gave it the right to ask for and use lists of student names and addresses, the bank had not done so since 2007.

That may be because football games present a marketing opportunity that requires no address information. Abigail D. Molina, a second-year law student at the University of Oregon, applied in 2007 for a Chase Visa offered at a tent outside a football game. In exchange, she received a blanket.

I mostly wanted the blanket,” Ms. Molina said. She added that this was her second university credit card. In 1994, when she was an undergraduate at the university, she applied for a card at a booth on campus and then accumulated about $30,000 in debt, almost all of it on the card. In 2001 she filed for bankruptcy. Looking back, she said it was “shockingly easy” to get the card, even as a first-year student.

Mr. Muneio, the Michigan State student, said he did not apply for a Bank of America card because he already had two Visa cards. “The last thing I need is another account to keep track of.”

Many students are unaware of the contracts that universities have with credit card issuers and do not question the presence of marketers on campus or applications in their mailboxes, despite recent protests on a few campuses.

Sometimes, the contracts have confidentiality provisions. Universities may try to distance themselves, stating that the contracts are only between alumni associations and banks. But the universities provide alumni groups with lists of current students’ names, addresses and telephone numbers, which the groups pass on to banks.

The New York Times obtained information about and, in some cases, copies of contracts between lenders, public colleges and their alumni associations using open records requests. Because private colleges are not subject to open records laws, they are not included.

While most universities contacted for this article did not provide detailed financial information on the contracts — the University of Pittsburgh, for example, confirmed only that it had an agreement — two did share numbers.

The alumni association of the University of Michigan is guaranteed $25.5 million over the term of its 11-year agreement with Bank of America. Under the agreement, the association agreed to provide lists of names and addresses of students, alumni, faculty, staff, donors and holders of season tickets to athletic events.

Much of the money goes toward scholarships, said Jerry Sigler, vice president and chief financial officer of the alumni association. He was unsure what students were told about the program.

“Students are generally told how they can opt out of having their information publicly displayed in directories or provided in response to requests like this,” Mr. Sigler added. “But it’s not to my knowledge specific to the credit card program.”

Michigan State University gets $1.2 million a year but is guaranteed at least $8.4 million over seven years, according to its agreement. The contract calls for a $1 royalty to the university for every new card account that remains open for at least 90 days, $3 for every card whose holder pays an annual fee, and a payment of a half percent of the amount of all retail purchases using the cards.

For cards that do not have an annual fee, the bank pays $3 if the holder has a balance at the end of the 12th month after opening an account, a provision that appears to give the university an incentive to get cardholders into debt.

A few schools have adopted policies that prohibit sharing student contact information.

Ball State University’s alumni association, which has a contract with JPMorgan Chase, does not provide information on students, said Ed Shipley, executive director of the association. “Who we market to is our alumni because that’s our purpose,” he said. However, the bank is permitted to set up marketing tables at athletic events.

The University of Oregon, whose alumni association also has a marketing agreement with Chase, stopped providing student addresses as concern grew about student debt, according to Julie Brown, a university spokeswoman. The university still permits marketing booths at athletic events.

Some research suggests that students may be using credit cards less frequently, in favor of debit cards linked to their bank accounts. A survey last spring by Student Monitor, a Ridgewood, N.J., company that tracks trends on campus, found that 59 percent of undergraduate students had debit cards, up from 51 percent in 2000.

But universities have arrangements with banks that offer debit cards too, perhaps raising some of the same issues that the credit card deals do.

At New Mexico State University, for example, students are given the option of opening a bank account with Wells Fargo if they want to convert their campus identification into a debit card.

The accounts are not mandatory, said Angela Throneberry, assistant vice president for auxiliary services at the university. But, she said, “There’s some revenue sharing that happens as part of this.”

A version of this article appeared in print on January 1, 2009, on page B1 of the New York edition.


Congress passes the National Textbooks Bill

Textbook costs can be a barrier to an affordable education.  The average student spends about $900 per year, and textbook prices increase faster than inflation. To address this problem, Congress included a set of strong policies in The Higher Education Reauthorization and College Opportunity Act of 2008.

The textbooks section has three main provisions:

  1. Requires publishers to disclose textbook pricing and revision information to faculty
  2. Requires publishers to offer textbooks and supplemental materials “unbundled” (separately)
  3. Asks colleges to provide the list of assigned textbooks (incl. ISBNs and prices) for each course when students are registering for classes.

To learn more visit the Make Textbooks Affordable website.

 

New York Times endorses our Truth About Credit project

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/18/opinion/18sat2.html

Editorial: The College Credit Card Trap

Published: October 17, 2008

Add this to the list of the country's financial woes: Credit card companies are aggressively targeting college students, many of whom are naïve about money matters and vulnerable to predatory offers that can get them permanently mired in debt.

According to an eye-opening survey by the United States Public Interest Research Group, or U.S. PIRG, which is an advocacy organization, some students reported receiving hundreds of credit card offers in a year. The report also described how companies lure cash-starved students with gifts of clothing and free food. In one flagrant case in Ohio, students who showed up for the food were required to fill out credit card applications before they could eat.

A half-dozen states have placed restrictions on how credit cards can be marketed at public colleges. Congress is considering sensible bills that would restrict the amount of credit and the number of cards that students could be offered. Lawmakers should also focus on the lucrative and often secret deals that universities and their alumni associations regularly cut with credit card companies.

Those deals — which resemble the now outlawed student loan kickback deals — often grant companies the exclusive right to market to a college’s students. In some cases, the colleges get a cut of what the students spend, which makes the school a partner in the plundering of young peoples’ meager assets.

Congress must insist that these deals be made public and universities and alumni groups must insist that students be given fair deals from credit card companies.

With financing from the Ford Foundation, U.S. PIRG has begun a national campaign urging schools to adopt some common-sense principles that would help shield students from credit card marketers and financial ruin.

The group calls on universities to stop selling the names and contact information of currently enrolled students to credit card marketers. It also says that schools should ban marketers from using gifts to entice students to sign up for credit cards, and it urges schools to do more to educate students on managing debt responsibly.

Most importantly, the group calls on schools that still decide to cut deals to only do business with credit card companies that steer clear of commonly used but unscrupulous credit card terms that take advantage of students. That means an end to hidden fees or unreasonable penalties, including universal default, under which interest rates go up when the customer fails to pay a bill not related to the credit card account.

Schools need to reform their credit card practices. If they don’t move quickly, lawmakers must do it for them.

22nd Annual Hunger Cleanup Raises Money for St. Ann's Infant and Maternity Home in Hyattsville

This spring, as part of the 22nd Annual Hunger Cleanup, students involved in the Maryland PIRG campus chapter at College Park helped to raise over $1000 to purchase beds for St. Ann's Infant and Maternity Home in Hyattsville, MD.  Volunteers sold St. Patrick's Day-themed buttons and requested donations from family and friends to provide the Home with new beds for the older children living in their facilities.

About St. Ann's: 

St. Ann's Infant and Maternity Home has provided a refuge for needy women and children in the Washington, DC area since 1860 when three Daughters of Charity, a religious community dedicated to helping those who are poor established the city's first home for foundlings and single women "at their time of confinement in childbirth". Since that date 145 years ago, St. Ann's has been a pioneer in developing programs to reach our city's most destitute women and children.

House Passes Student Aid Bill

On July 11th, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the "College Cost Reduction Act of 2007" (HR 2669) by a vote of 273-149. The bill will substantially increase the purchasing power of the Pell Grant, the nation's premiere need-based grant program which benefits millions of low income students, increasing the maximum grant amount by $100 for five years beginning in 2008-9. It will make student loan debt more affordable by cutting the interest rate on student loans in half, to 3.4%, by 2012, and by capping loan repayment amounts to a reasonable percentage of a graduate's income. HR 2669 goes a long way toward solving the college affordability and access crisis in the country.

Over 1000 Professors Join Effort to Make Textbooks Affordable

One thousand professors from over 300 colleges in all 50 states released a statement declaring their preference for high-quality, affordable textbooks, including open textbooks, over expensive commercial textbooks.

Open textbooks are high quality open-access textbooks reviewed and written by academics that can be used online at no cost and printed for a small cost.  Open textbooks are already used at some of the nation’s most prestigious institutions, like Harvard, Caltech and Yale.

Textbooks cost students an average of $900 per year, which is a quarter of tuition at an average four-year public university and nearly three-quarters of tuition at a community college, according to the GAO. Research conducted by The Student PIRGs identifies publisher tactics as the primary cause of escalating prices.  Bundling textbooks with unnecessary supplements forces students to purchase items they do not need; unnecessary new editions undermine the used book market; and withholding critical price information keeps faculty in the dark.

“As faculty members, our top priority is to choose the textbook that is best for our students.  We share concerns about affordability, and face similar frustrations with publisher practices,” said Sandra Schroeder, Chair of the American Federation of Teachers Higher Education Program and Policy Council.  “Open textbooks and other affordable options, when appropriate for a course, are a win-win for everyone.”

Here are some examples of open textbooks:

Introduction to Economic Analysis

A First Course in Linear Algebra

Introduction to Physical Oceanography

Check out a great front-page article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

University of Maryland voting up 300% over 2002

For the past two and a half months, students involved with MarylandPIRG at University of Maryland have dedicated a great deal of their spare time to increasing youth voter turnout. Volunteers registered 549 students to vote, and worked hard to turn them out to the polls on Election Day. Together with coalition partners and receptive young people across the country, these efforts comprised the largest midterm mobilization effort in history!

Volunteers at the University of Maryland worked hard to talk to over 1500 of their peers about the election. They held tables outside of the student union, spoke in classes and called registered voters to remind them about the election. Maryland PIRG volunteers helped make over 250 contacts with their peers on Election Day alone, gathering signatures on a large banner that hung by their table on Election Day. 

Volunteers with MarylandPIRG, the Student Government Association, and Maryland Votes passed out candy and cookies to students waiting in line to vote, as well as passed around the banner for them to sign as a pledge that they would vote.  As a direct result of these students’ hard work, over 450 voters cast their ballots in this 2006 midterm election; this number is up from less than 150 in the 2002 midterm election.

House Votes to Increase Pell Grant

The U.S. House of Representatives voted to increase the size of the maximum Pell Grant by $260, to $4,310.  This is the first time the size of the Pell Grant has been increased since 2002.  The Pell Grant is the federal government’s premier need-based grant aid program, providing aid to more than five million low-income students.

Over the last five years, while students have paid more for college, the maximum Pell Grant has remained frozen.  As a result students have had to make up the gap between tuition and aid with more work and larger loans.  This increase will start to provide students with the aid they need to access an affordable college education.  To fully restore the Pell Grant to its historic value, we’re continuing to call for the maximum to be increased to $5,100 in the coming budget cycle.

Power Shift Conference Brings 5,500 Students to Campus

Over 5,500 students from all 50 states came to the University of Maryland College Park on November 2-5 for the largest student global warming conference ever. Over 250 of the country’s leading organizers and advocates and policy experts gave speeches, ran skills trainings, and presented issue briefings for the crowd. Members of Congress spoke, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who called young global warming activists the "magnificent disrupters of our time."

On Monday, November 5th, we held the largest student Lobby Day on Capitol Hill ever – 3000 students went to meet with over 300 Congressional offices and ask them, among other things, to pass an energy bill this year that includes tough car economy standards (35 MPG by 2020) and renewable energy standards (15% by 2020).

Afterward, there was a huge rally on the steps of the Capitol, where the speakers included several Congressmen and Maryland PIRG Chair Lauren Kim.

The conference was organized by the Energy Action Coalition, of which Maryland PIRG is a member. 

Students rally against federal budget bill

As part of the national campaign to Stop the Raid on Student Aid, University of Maryland students worked with staff from Congressmen Steny Hoyer’s office to host a forum on the cost of higher education.  Speakers included Congressmen Steny Hoyer and Ben Cardin, Maryland PIRG Director Brad Heavner, SGA President Andrew Rose, and Maryland PIRG students Joe Welty and John McBride.  The event was attended by about 40 people and was covered by the campus newspaper, the PG Gazette, and the DC Examiner.

Maryland PIRG and the Campus Climate Challenge Campaign Host a Forum on Global Warming and Clean Energy

This week, students with Maryland PIRG's Campus Climate Challenge campaign hosted the second annual "Earth to College Park" forum on global warming and its impacts.  Speakers included Shadia Wood, of the Environmental Justice Climate Change Initiative, and Matt Stern, of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network.  The speakers addressed various negative impacts of global warming, ranging from the impacts on the climate, to impacts on the economic and social level as well.

Green Fest Postcarding!

Our Campus Climate Challenge went down to the Green Fest on Sunday October 7, and we postcarded for the Global Warming Solutions Act. In just 2 hours, MaryPIRG Volunteers along with the Sierra Club managed to get 231 postcards signed to ask Governor O'Malley to cut global warming emissions 80% by 2050. MaryPIRG will continue to get hundreds of postcards signed to put lots of grassroots pressure on Maryland politicians to pass meaningful and enforceable climate change legistlation. Plus the Green Fest was a blast to attend.

MaryPIRG Erects a 20-ft. Inflatable Power Plant on Hornbake Plaza

Volunteers with MaryPIRG's campaign to pass the Healthy Air Act recently erected a 20-foot tall inflatable power plant on Hornbake Plaza to raise awareness about the dangers of coal-fired power plants.  The students also gathered over 200 signatures to state legislators in support of the Healthy Air Act, which were later delivered in person to all of the legislators in Annapolis.

Background: 

Energy companies operate seven power plants in Maryland that pollute far more than all other power plants combined. Of the pollution from Maryland power plants, these seven plants alone emit 63 percent of the smog-forming pollution, 96 percent of the soot pollution, 83 percent of the global warming pollution and 100 percent of the mercury pollution.  This pollution causes severe health and environmental problems.

The Healthy Air Act will require the six dirtiest power plants in Maryland to reduce the pollution that causes smog, soot, global warming, the dead zone in the bay, and mercury contamination of fish. It will require reductions of 75 percent in nitrogen oxide emissions, 85 percent in sulfur dioxide, 90 percent in mercury and 10 percent in carbon dioxide.

Maryland Students Participate in the National Campus Climate Challenge Week of Action

Students with the Campus Climate Challenge at the University of Maryland-College Park this week participated in the national week of action to raise awareness about global warming.  Volunteers set up a table at the annual Stampfest in the Student Union and collected more than 300 photo petitions, asking Congress to "Step it up: cut carbon dioxide 80% by 2050."  In addition, students set up the table with a laptop showing an Inconvenient Truth on a loop to all who stopped by the table.

New Report Exposes Deceptive Credit Card Practices on Campus

Maryland PIRG student chapter released the "Campus Credit Card Trap" report, which outlined the unfair marketing practices of the credit industry. Students overwhelmingly support limits on campus credit card marketing, according to the results of the nationwide USPIRG survey of more than 1500 students at 40 colleges in 14 states.

The average student receives nearly 5 credit card offers a month and nearly two in three students reported that they had at least one credit card. Fifty-five percent of cardholding students said they used their card for day-to-day expenses. Reflecting escalating college costs, 55 percent said they charge their books and nearly one-quarter said they pay their tuition with a card. On average, freshmen had a balance of $1,301 and seniors had more than twice that, $2,623.

Credit cards are marketed to students using free gifts and introductory teaser rates. The use of aggressive marketing techniques obscures students' ability to be scrutinizing consumers when considering a credit card contract.  Seventy six percent of students reported stopping at tables on campus to apply for credit cards, and nearly one-third were offered a free gift to sign up.

Check out the Washington Post article printed April 13th 2008

Learn more at: truthaboutcredit.org

 

UMCP holds forum on climate change and energy efficiency

UMCP students organized a forum to educate the campus and community on global efforts at reducing global warming and what students can do on campus to increase energy efficiency.  Joan Kowal from Facilities Management spoke about the university's efforts to reduce energy use, and the students participated in a mock strategy session on how to plan a campaign for energy efficiency.

House Tops Off First 100 Hours by Passing Clean Energy Act

On January 18th, by a vote of 264 to 163, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Clean Energy Act. The U.S. PIRG-backed measure closes some tax loopholes for big oil companies, recovers billions in lost royalties for drilling in public waters, and shifts more than $14 billion to investments in clean energy.
 
By harnessing renewable energy sources like wind, solar, and clean biofuels, we can secure our economy and create jobs. By promoting technologies to save energy, we can dramatically reduce our dependence on oil and save consumers money. More than ever, America needs a new direction on energy policy. With the passage of the CLEAN Energy Act of 2007, Congress would send a clear message that they are ready to start solving our energy problems.

For more information, read http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7006189616.

Focus Date Food Drive

MaryPIRG's Hunger & Homelessness Project had a Focus Date Food Drive, and it was incredibly effective! On Friday night in front of the North Campus Diner, about 10 MaryPIRG Volunteers gathered over a hundred pounds of fruit, bread, cereal, bagels, and muffins for the DC Central Kitchen. Over 200 University of Maryland students helped donate all this food! This Food Drive is the first of many Focus Date Food Drives that MaryPIRG is going to put on throughout the semester. Thanks for Corin Jacoby for all her work and her sweet costume!

University of Maryland Student Leaders Testify at the Board of Education

The rising cost of higher education is a serious problem in the United States.  Many students work full time in addition to attending classes, doing homework and getting involved in their community. Student debt can be a serious burden while in school, and an even more serious hindrance upon graduation – when student loan payments begin.

In an effort to make the US Department of Higher Education pay attention to the lack of sufficient student loan assistance, MarylandPIRG volunteer Matt Johnson, Student Government President Emma Simson, Director of Governmental Affairs Andrew Friedson, and USMSC member Devin Ellis traveled to Washington, D.C. to testify before the Board on Wednesday, November 8.

The four students joined others from campuses up and down the east coast in sharing their stories about student debt.   They asked the US Department of Education to support college graduates by easing up on the financial strain of student loan repayment and supporting the five-point plan for manageable student debt repayment.

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