the life a graduate student what cuts to
higher education mean

for the older student he won only
wealthy people to be able to go to

graduate school because those are the
people whose families are supporting

them

from back home like if that's what you
want and

be honest about it state lawmakers meet
with students but will it make a

difference in the governor's budget
proposal

they fear that given what I've heard
from those were behind closed doors for

the budget together

universities are going to come out it's
very well

proposed budget cuts to higher education
striking a chord with graduate students

throughout the state

at the University of Arizona a
grassroots organization called the Uwais

organizing committee is pulling together
in hopes of calling attention to what

they say

are low living wages here's a story up
bro clover

a graduate student in the gender and
women's studies program

I'm from Santa Cruz Calif I was working
and started doing graduate school

in San Francisco I went to University in
the time when prime

UC Santa Cruz and and majored in
American Studies and are

I think actually some I career
aspirations changed a lot after had a

daughter

I think I just became more kinda
empowered in the idea that I could

contribute and I can make a difference

and I've always loved being in the
classroom like colleges where

is where I was politicized and we're
kind of learned

I think to kinda critically intervening
in situations that are

better social that are shared you know
on and

so I wanted I wanted to contribute to
that I wanted to keep going

and that's why I applied to on gender
women's studies programs and

and hope to be a college professor
Arizona the school that mean it offers

so so this is the place and it kind of
it am in some other studies that I was

doing this program has had addressed in
transnational feminism and

on and that's prime interest turning to
social movement history and

I teach that in the classroom or that's
my top when I was able to develop my own

classed

1 this is my sixth here so my main task
right now is working on my dissertation

and I've been working on

and I've done some archival research I
have a little bit more to do

visiting archives this spring and what
I'm doing is kind of drying out social

movement history's mysteries the
feminist movement fat

haven't really being addressed yet

in in academic and and it really in
other materials

kinda like lost all pieces that I've
been able to find so how's school

the afternoon pending are

our time and

I would say it's and it's pretty common
your site to come with me maybe two

that's one thing we were talking about
was how many meetings she's been to

I mean there's constant me extra stuff
that I'm doing so yeah I try to kind of

work that in

but and so if I'm going committee
one-on-one

sometimes bus stop by my place an

in set up a meeting at the office or I'm
not exactly with me

times the meeting happening are you back
on them

him to get back on and my family and on
the road

life is a graduate student its kinda
frazzled you know

but there's a lot of different stuff
going on science keep a calendar

other times it feels like you know for
our

our summers are winter breaks often you
know %ah make a plan to stay

will this ten days I'm really just gonna
stay home and I'm just gonna be writing

I'm really getting working I'm I'm not
gonna do

all extraneous work if I can

Amaral are put into smaller chunks and

that is challenging with the kid so it
had to like work on that with my

daughter

she's used to see me where and

a lot of times I'll just build in
Savannah breaking our day

but I'll have her doing activities or it
could be a playdate with a friend or

something she was somewhere else

or even like right now right there in
the room they're watching the Jets and

I'll do that from maybe an hour I'll do
something and I'll say well let's go

take a walk

you know so I have to be a little bit
more like multitasking

maybe that some students are but its you
know on some level it's not that

different from being a working mom in
other ways

I think that a lot of

were or a working parent who is really
in you know spending much time to get a

lot of people have to work out you know

flexible job so it's kinda like that I
don't think that it's made to be

it's not need to be that from me rate
it's not really need to be something

that everyone can do

my own departments concerned that
they're not going to be able to offer

all the graduate students jobs next year

so they've already told the students
like me you're at a more senior level

to be seriously seeking every option for
me

you know this has been a plan for a
while to be looking at it I guess the

question is

if I can get the job in applying for
right now it kinda another fitting

position: doesn't come up

you know I look for a look for agitating
work for share

a look to see and number of colleges if
I could do I'm so mad Genting

it those things fall through is there a
jam in the university that I could find

like teaching

on it wouldn't even have to be in my
department you know teaching at

basically as an adjunct and elsewhere in
the University in my mind I can't have a

tiered

list stove what would be ideal and then
what comes down from that

and really none of them are completely
ideal here

hear that word just students like

water the assumptions that come along
with that d1 only wealthy people to be

able to go to graduate school because
those are the people whose families are

supporting them

from back home like if that's what you
want and

be honest about it mean if we're gonna
be we are students and your workers

be are actually workers make the
University run

we need to be fairly compensated there
needs to be a realistic picture

for how graduate students are gonna make
it through that five years I guess if I

was a student who was really thinking

financially principally financially

I don't think that I would be in this
profession and within this profession I

wouldn't be in this field

having said that I don't wanna live in
poverty

and and I don't want the people around
me to do so

have seen a number of teachers I'm

leave the profession at a necessity this
is definitely me

not something that you would take on if
he didn't love it and want to do it

not in my field

a handful of state lawmakers say they
are committed to fighting for students

in the state legislature

one of them is House Minority Leader
Eric Meyer

my colleague Christopher conover met
with the house democrat on Thursday

at the capitol

past budget cuts total about three
hundred million dollars to

the university's we've made also pretty
massive cuts the community colleges

this budget includes at least the
governor's budget includes another $75

million in cuts

to universities in a fifty percent cut
to the community colleges

and the result a bad as we've seen

tuition increases you know when we

make these types of cuts there's nowhere
for the universities to go

but you know increase class size for
these programs and increase tuition so

Arizona has seen the largest tuition
increases

have almost any statement country I'm
which

is in the right direction to go if we
want our kids to be prepared for the

work force

I'm you know we have to use our colleges
and community colleges to

to train them for the jobs that are
available in our economy

Board of Regents is indicated as hat

for university presidents they do not
wanna do

tuition increases this coming year

I think they're off the table

we won't right know for sure until it
actually happens but they certainly

appear off the table

how do you was a member of the
legislature work with a budget and pass

a budget knowing that the universities
are going to increase which means this

is going to be a real cut I

know it's going to be real cut I mean if
you don't increase tuition you have to

find savings elsewhere in seventy five
million dollars is a lot to say

particularly if you've already made cuts
so if

there are going to be tuition increases
which I hope there's not i mean it's

gotten so expensive for middle-class
Americans to

arizonans to send their kids to college
I'm

they're gonna have to do things like
increase class size when I was on the

school board

in Scottsdale it's exactly the same
thing we have to do

we wanted to keep keep functioning
within the budget

we have the same number kids

and a lower amount of revenue coming
into the district we had increase class

size

and reduce programs and change schedules
I'm

and find efficiencies I mean we started
turning the air conditioning of

soon as school was out I'm changed our
bus routes

I'm universities have done a lot of
those things

they're also hoping that if they get
some regulatory reform

they may be able to make changes I'm
some other professors aren't so happy

about that potentially because it'll
change that pension plans

for them so we'll see how that goes the
budget as a whole

we're facing potentially what is
projected to be a billion-dollar

shortfall obviously the the low-hanging
fruit the easy cuts %uh

long been taken care of in state
government you remember the minority

but still a member at the legislature
active in the budget process

how do you cut a billion dollars out of
the budget

or deal with the billion dollar hole
maybe it's not all cuts

in a realistic responsible way well

what r caucasus talked about doing is a
work in a bipartisan way and

the way we have in the past two years to
get things pass that are good for the

state

second way is to look at everything
everything's gotta be on the table on

whether that's tax credits

sentencing reform for prisons you know
we're gonna spend

another 100 million over the next three
years in this budget

and prison cells private prison cells
and my mind I'd rather educate and

incarcerate

we need to look at that other states
have done sentencing reform that has

allowed them

had to change the way they people on
probation

sentencing reform so that they don't
spend that money and prisons and the

those are long term contract it's a
20-year contracts gonna cost

about 1.45 billion dollars over those
twenty years for the prisons I'd rather

spend that

I our universities I'm so there's a
whole bunch of things that

now we could look at some others have
been taken off the table by the governor

if you

I wants a bipartisan solution I think
we'll have to negotiate

what will stay and what will go and and
how will get there talking about prisons

Sheriff Bob you share for pile both come
out

to the surprise of some people's a
private prisons are not what

Arizona needs yet there in the budget
were you surprised to hear

to very Republican County Sheriff's with
that was some higher profiles come out

and say no to the governor well I think

all of us are concerned about our
taxpayer dollars are spent

they have found ways within their prison
system and they have some empty cells

and that could be used to incarcerate
someone the people that are going to

prison

and so I think we should be looking at
those solutions and

I think they'd don't wanna see our tax
dollars wasted dislike I don't and

so you know they have offered some
solutions up hopefully

director Ryan and the governor will look
at those and see if they're viable

and can save arizonans tax dollars or
keep dollars in our state rather than

going to private prisons

looking at the budget be at higher
education K-twelve

any parts %uh the budget as he said it's
very complicated

it's a big document when you saw the
governor's suggestion

his budget when you saw what has begun
moving through

committee so anything good in there
anything you like yeah

oh yeah there's there's good things and
they're a.m. there's a lot of things I

don't like

I mean I would make different choices
but they're things for

protecting children to disabilities

looking there were no cuts to and the
Department of Child Services there's

so there's things in there where certain
group of people that are very vulnerable

are protected

I'm what I didn't like was the the cuts
education and the cuts to health care

provider cut to health care 3 percent
provider

cut will save the state about thirty
million dollars but will lose two

hundred million dollars in federal
matching funds

and that world impact the hospital's
interstate

particular in rural areas make it more
difficult for them to operate

the cuts 2k12 I'm you know it's about a
thirteen million dollar cut 2k12

we should be going the other direction
we're very have four billion dollars in

cuts to work a 12 system and when I was
on the school board

had a layup hundreds teachers and 40
percent over administrators

or thereabouts 0 I'm you know we're in a
pretty deep hole

and we need it start working our way out
that's our class sizes come down our

graduation rates increase our kids are
prepared to go on to college

assistant Senate minority leader Steve
Farley met with graduate students this

week

hearing first-hand what their concerns
are here again is Christopher Conover

the bad news for people care about
education Arizona is that the cuts will

probably be more severe than what the
governor has proposed

my understanding is there they're
already won the governor's budget came

out

they had some revenue projections and

caseload projections and school
enrollment projections that were much

more optimistic

then the legislative joint Budget
Committee

so considering that

the person with the most experience in
either the Senate the house or the

governor's office is now senator pigs

I think he'll be the piracy and I me
with every Wednesday we talk with them

it's pretty clear that

they're going to be cutting more than
the governor suggested

and the odds-on favorite for the place

where the cuts will come from will be
the university's with

the the university's they've taken big
cuts over the last couple of years

more cuts coming we graduate students up
around the capital today

met with you yes is their message being
received at all or are they just getting

to spend a day maybe two or three days
over the session walking the halls

it's being received by me it's being
received by my colleagues

on the democratic side sadly I think the
people the majority here

art do not value education as the key
economic generator for the state that it

is

some other think I didn't go to college

I didn't need the help I don't want to
give all this money the spoiled brat

kids in some cases ever actually

those words being used I'll but

for most people who have a more nuanced
thinking about

economic development we understand that
the university's

in our state were the original economic
development tool

and they still are that's what we're
training the people to become the

high-wage

boys in the future so the businesses
come here and find great people hire

that's where we're bringing the the new
entrepreneurs

who will create great discoveries while
they're at the university's

and then bring those into new businesses
with new industries

we having the thought of yet they could
be headquartered here in Arizona that he

is

how you create economic development

jobs in a good economy in the state and
when you cut back on universities

you're potentially cutting back on your
entire future possibility

that's a problem it's a big problem and
I i

that standing up strongly against it but
I fear that given what I've heard from

those were behind closed doors for the
budget together universities are going

to come out of this very well

if the a Senate pager house page comes
to you and says

center for leon thinking about going to

to to the University for my
undergraduate degree be a

University of Arizona Arizona State an
AU

or maybe four a graduate degree I'm
about

to finish up my time as an undergraduate
can you recommend

that they stay in-state go to one at the
bar or every week and because we have

amazing universities here in this state

they're doing incredible things in an
environment in which they are not being

supported by the legislature the
governor

and I i that that this testament to the
kind of

administrative power and teaching power
that they have

so it's still there still excellent
institutions we really put all of them

at risk

if we continue to cut year after year
reporting the buildings at risk we don't

have building renewal funds that are in
there so there's

h-back systems and replacement this
group that

patching there's all sorts of things
that need to get done

and we're not paying for and I don't
wanna

I don't buy into that whole line to hear
from the majority for the governor that

we just don't have them

the fact is we have made choices

to spend our money on large corporate
giveaway

at tax cuts that that

it most gotta stay we have no guarantee
is that they have produced

any kind of job job return any kind of
economic return

we're just giving way to moneyweek fact
we've we've given up more than $4

billion dollars a year

in revenues since 1990 in tax cuts alone

and we have another 883 million that
haven't even phased in yet

over the next three years we can make
the choice

thank Governor Brewer said we should
suspend those future tax cuts

she said on her way out of office
unfortunately governors he doesn't want

to have a conversation

and certainly Center big doesn't have a
conversation a regular gallon we need to

look at how we can have sustainable
revenues

to invest in the stuff we need to
continue growing because if we don't

a low tax climate is an all you need

to be able to develop

the graduate students visited the state
Capitol on Thursday and say they plan to

travel to the capital

every week to talk one-on-one with
lawmakers Christopher conover has more

on their story

we're getting cuter sup 2 /sup reception
so far the day

here in our concerns about how budget
cuts could affect graduate business

students in particular but also the

universities in of the state of Arizona
so one example that we've given

one dollar spent represents a six dollar
return on investments over cutting lots

of money from our universities

we're gonna read dues the return on
investment so we're very concerned about

that

with I'll lawmakers in particular they
get lots of people coming through their

door

usually lined up outside pretty much
hope for you that they'll listen to you

guys are up here day maybe two

going all such hope bill you'll get
actually

listen to I will I'll is a doubt my
dad's quote

my dad says the only practical way to
live is to be positive

so we have to be positive we have to be
hopeful that our efforts and our efforts

last week and next week in the following
weeks as we said it's a message that

house case is very important I mean you
invest it is

is a good one healthy the message gets
through for a lot to really good people

that are I know in these

these holes if the cuts go through

as they're written what do you see
happening at UA and frankly and colleges

the other the other two in a statement
really you I want to see happen

well I you probably have a lot of staff

with this their positions hours in
Stafford St take on lot more

I may be graduate assistants to really
teach about 35 percent of offers and

secure courses

at Universal Arizona they might be asked
to do a little bit more I'm so

the people Tuesday that the more work
and as far as more work

you wonder about how well one graduate
student for example

teach you know more students from places
like Phoenix and the rest to the state

so

a discussion about overall quality of
the education with the

with the concern of the overall quality
based on

cuts in the past these potential

likely cuts some level this year as

graduate student finish up you know new
students coming through in the spring

and says to you hey I'm thinking about
going here can

can you tell 'em the outcome what number
three universal them

well I mean I'm bias nearly three hours
a night is the outcome you're going with

10 top-10

20 top programs the United States by any
ranking the top one percent interest in

the world

that's not going to go away but the more
we cut hard it is to keep those things

up so I think the

issues about these budget cuts it its
competitiveness issue

do we want to have the best graduate
assistants come to our universities and

we can offer them

some the most competitive rates as
graduate assistants were not get the

best

when I can keep the best I think these
cuts it to a competitor business issues

so are you guys the

message last week message next week you
gonna be back a yeah

so I'll be back next week on Tuesday me
with something the governor's office

I'll be back every week for as many
weeks is we need to to share some that's

a message I will as the greatest your
body president but hopefully

lot to graduate students from the
university was on a about 12 here today

will come

and speak on behalf these issues

the buzz know if my colleague Chris for
conover increased her we should note

that you did spend some time yesterday
trying to reach republicans

in the Higher Education Committee not
much luck but again this is not a

partisan issue

this isn't a partisan issue every year
when you go back and look at the budget

debates

over to the the University there are
plenty of republicans who say no we need

to give money more money to the
university's we don't need to cut up

so it's not necessarily a partisan

debate the reality is we're a billion
dollars in the hole

and that money has to come from
somewhere

how you make up that whole doubt is the
debate do you do it all through cuts do

you do it through

what are called revenue increases what
you and I call tax increases

or some combination thereof and that's
where the philosophical partisan debate

begins

and the students also hoping to get some
time with a Republican so they can have

their story heard

they are when we spoke with them
yesterday they

did me with the at least one Republican
yesterday

former Senate President Steve Pearce who
is a still a member of the senate

and has always been a big supporter of
the university's and in the coming weeks

are going to go back and try and meet
with other Republicans or other members

of the legislature in general

as the process moves are also some big
news happening this week at the Capitol

die and I was a superintendent of public
instruction what's the story there

the story or she fired two members the

the Board of Education she

did not say at the time really while why
she fired them this happen on Wednesday

on Thursday

the governor Doug Ducey reversed to the
firings

and that has set off a firestorm Douglas
and a

very strongly worded letter back to the
governor accusing him of cronyism

taking care of corporate the entities
that have backed him

and and in that letter she said the
reason they were fired as they were

supporters liberal supporters have
common core

which she campaigned very strongly
against where this all goes is this just

a very quick dust-up

that will settle in the two

them all work out their issues Douglas
and do see

or is this the beginning love and even
more rocky relationship will have to see

all right christopher look forty report
next week to see how this sort of

flares up if you will markers for
conover thank you so much

and now first or you don't hear every
day and Illinois woman travel to Tucson

to recover a long lost family heirloom
her father's world war two uniform

it was sitting in the home of former
Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords

is amazing that we're gonna be down here
and we were able to pick it up and meet

mark in

and Gabby and it was just real privilege
infection

such an honor to have me your uniform
their his mom

a cave Kathy

this this uniformity sound somewhere
interest United where

we think you're yes creatures wilder's

peapod you know she notices and even
site

it was printed at seven years ago done
done the

internet defined who it belonged

sound good but the 1i

founded he the belt few months ago

I said we'll all be where she lost the
uniform live with them

look and see if English fine because
really

eventually and them you

yeah and you know those 6

you know exciting to see here with you
know his name on it

you know LR Leroy McCaskill on

United States Navy in very good
condition thing

when debbie's mom found that

uniformes restore eventually she noticed
that has a

name of a sailor in it and you know to
find the seller's family and and give it

back to him is

you notes something nice we can do I
know if my grandfather's uniform was out

there somewhere I'd love them

that we misplaced the uniform somewhere
in the house and showed up a few months

ago

so we looked again and we found

you know the obituary for the better
with somebody's name in it we felt that

obligation to try to

figure out who it belonged to I was just
in shock I just dislike Obama like

goodness you know on

we move my mom and dad closer to us and

about ten years ago and I booked for his
uniform is weird

cleaning out their house and it wasn't
there and I was so disappointed

we have no connection here saw him I
said gone from another source torch with

your store whatever

we lived in Chicago where entire life so
I think I was just in shock and I

my heart was just for joy he didn't you
know do anything really really dangerous

he worked

as an alum when I attrition in our
aviation a

aviation electricians and he and she
worked in a little harm

electronic on things that the plane
ominous plaintiff lucrative

Honolulu into the home the home

Pacific the daily fly home Monday is the
day

will be arm honoring him for his on

Senate year that going to happen we've
got a spare bedroom at home with the

memorabilia about World War two when

are both over fathers and I'm gonna
build a display case

to put this uniform M so we can we can
chill

I wish that he is alive if you were
alive he'd be 90 in April

I wish you the year to come down with
Feldman know something he would have

been so honored

he my dad was very loyal but he's very
humble man so

I'm to find out that someone went out of
their way to find us to give a uniform

that would have been something that

you know him really been blessed by
itself thank you

I'm just forever grateful to any Gabby
in tonight for

what they've done for us

and that's our program thanks for
joining us

for all of us in Arizona public media
and them