Accomplishments
Here are a few of our accomplishments from this last year.
Over the course of this year our agenda was packed with public interest campaigns. We're proud of our victories, but more than that, we're as energized and determined as we've ever been to take on serious problems, to push for common sense solutions, and to work with you, our supporters, friends, and allies, toward positive change.
New Voters Project: Here in New Jersey and nationwide, we helped register and turn out young voters. Statewide, we collected 5,000 voter registration forms and made 28,000 reminders to students during the days leading up to Election Day through emails, calls, canvassing, tabling, and text messages.
There were 3.4 million more young voters in 2008 compared to 2004. The youth share of the electorate also surpassed that of people over 65 - an impressive feat.
Hunger and Homelessness: We are facing one of the worst economic crises since the Great Depression. Unemployment rates keep going higher and more people are forced into poverty every day. This spring we joined the national Hunger Cleanup, a day of service and fundraising, to serve our local community and raise money for local, national, and international agencies addressing poverty. Here at Rutgers Newark we raised over $2000 for the Newark Goodwill Rescue Mission, which provides emergency services to urban communities in North Jersey.
Making Higher Education Affordable: In January, we helped convince Congress to include several key measures in the economic stimulus package, including a $17 billion increase in Pell grant funding, more work-study aid, and bigger tax credits for low-income students and their families. And, at the end of February, President Obama proposed a budget for 2010-2011 which significantly reinvests in the Pell grant and makes sure it increases each year according to inflation. The proposal pays for itself by cutting excessive subsidies to banks and lenders in the student loan program.
Global Warming: In January we worked to make sure that the economic stimulus package included critical funding for programs that will create jobs and protect the environment, including $16 billion for public transit and $78 billion for clean energy and green infrastructure.
At Newark, we collected over 500 petition signatures encouraging Senator Menendez to keep fighting for strong global warming legislation that would include clean energy, reduce global warming emissions, and create new jobs.
Protecting Students from Bad Credit Card Practices: Our report, "The Campus Credit Card Trap," received national attention for exposing the bad practices of credit card companies on campus and has been quoted in newspapers across the country, including the New York Times. We used this attention to educate Congress and help pass the national Credit Card Holder Bill of Rights to stop some of the worst credit terms and conditions that can plunge students - and all consumers - into debt.
Affordable Textbooks: Open textbooks (free, online textbooks) are really catching on, thanks in part to our campaign to shine the spotlight on these great alternatives. Over 2,000 faculty members across the country have signed our statement of support for open textbooks and a new publisher just released 10 new open textbooks. Also, a new bill was introduced in Congress that would fund the creation of more open textbooks.