ASU Bearing the Brunt of Bush's Budget

While our local newspaper monopoly smooches the lobe of Virginia Foxx's ear, and points south, The Appalachian newspaper at ASU is at least taking notice of direct impacts that will alight locally, should Foxx succeed in passing El Presidente's proposed budget. From yesterday's Appalachian:

The Upward Bound program would be completely eliminated. Completely. Upward Bound prepares first-generation college students from low-income backgrounds for a university education while they're still in high school, and according to Assistant Director of Upward Bound Matt W. Ruble, the ASU program has a 92 percent success rate. That is, 92 percent of Upward Bound students have finished college. But Bush's budget sees this as a frivolous expense (when compared to invading foreign countries on trumped up evidence).

Also Bush's proposed budget would cause reductions in Pell Grants to 1,800 students. Some 200 ASU students would lose their grants entirely. Pell Grants, for those not in the know, go to the neediest students.

Also up for cuts ... the "Work-Study" program ... which provides on-campus jobs for literally thousands of students. Helps defray expenses for the students and keeps regular secretaries from spending all of their days standing at copying machines.

Vice Chancellor for Student Development Cindy A. Wallace said, "We intend to fight this one out. It matters too much to Appalachian students and to the entire university .... This really aggravates me. I just don't understand why they would cut Pell Grants, which go to the most needy families and students .... [And] work-study affects thousands of students. I don't understand that cut either. Students working to pay for college seems like something President Bush's agenda would support."

Seems like. But ASU administrators shouldn't be holding their breath, especially not for the support of Madame Virginia Foxx. She's never shown herself inclined to help out ASU in the least, and her hard governmental heart toward "the needy" is well documented. She'll say, "I was poor and got rich without federal handouts. Everyone else should do it too."