Volume 58 Issue 18

Page 1

Driftwood The community newspaper of the University of New Orleans

Volume: 58 Issue: 18

March 4, 2015

driftwood.uno.edu

Rally at the Capitol

Christy Lorio

UNO Student Government members Senator Chance Aucoin, Senator Joy Ballard, SG President David Teagle, Senator Denise Bauer and Senator William Leshe Jr. represented the university at the United Voices for a Better Louisiana’s Rally for Justice on Febraury 28 at the Lousiana State Capitol.

Christy Lorio Editor-in-chief On Feb. 28 United Voices for a Better Louisiana (UVBL) hosted a Rally for Justice on the steps of the Louisiana State Capitol. Concerned citizens gathered to hear community leaders speak on topics such as the future of public higher education, healthcare, law enforcement and community relations and the role of the clergy in these matters. The rally was in response to Governor Bobby Jindal’s announcement on Feb. 27 that the state’s higher education budget will be cut by $211 million in the upcoming fiscal year. Several members of UNO’s Student Government and Driftwood staff attended the rally to show support for higher education and to represent the university. Posters that proclaimed Rev. Tony Brown, host of Eyes Open with Tony Brown on KTTP AM in Alexandria and Pineville, touched on the fact that Louisiana spends more money on prisons than it does on education. Louisiana has

a higher incarceration rate than any other state in the country, 867 per 100,000 Louisiana citizens are locked up in state and federal correctional facilities. “We spend more tax dollars locking up nonviolent drug offenders than we spend educating our kids,” Brown said, “I always say that our state is at the top of the list when it comes to the bad stuff and at the bottom of the list when it comes to the good stuff.” Dr. Ernest Johnson, Esq., President of the Louisiana NAACP, stressed the importance of getting involved and taking a proactive stance to incite change. “And what was the real substance and the real issue of the Selma to Montgomery march?” Johnson asked the crowd. “It was the right to vote. It was that we will sacrifice, we will die, we will get bitten by dogs, we will get arrested by police so that we will have the right to vote. And why do we have the right to vote? So that we can influence bodies like this. This state legislature.” Dr. Charles Steele Jr, President and SEO of the Southern Christian

Leadership Conference, said, “Education is the new civil rights.” Representative Regina Ashford Barrow of District 29 in Baton Rouge offered her support for the younger generation. “Our young people need to know that their lives matter, that they can be whatever they choose to be,” Barrow said, “Education is the key. Education is the one thing to provide for us the opportunities to be able to move from one level to the next level...we have failed our children.” Carnell Washington, Vice President of the Louisiana Federation of Teachers, expressed his disdain for education in Louisiana right now and put the blame on Louisiana legislature. “The state of education in the state of Louisiana is absolutely, incredibly, messed up,” Washington said, “It’s not a mess because teachers are not teaching. It’s not a mess because parents are uninvolved. It’s not a mess because principals and administrators are not doing everything they can to make it work. It’s a mess because of two things basically: our governor and our state superintendent.”

Nathaniel Lester, a student at Huntington High School in Shreveport, attended the rally on Saturday with a group of his friends. He isn’t worried about these issues affecting him, but his concern lies in future generations. Lester said, “I don’t think it’s going to affect me necessarily but I do think my children [will be affected]...I’m pretty sure I’m safe based on the government before Jindal.” UVBL is a collaboration of faith leaders from across the State of Louisiana, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus. The organization’s mission is to raise moral awareness of injustices in Louisiana, encourage cultural sensitivity in all communities for the purpose of acknowledgement and bridging the racial divide and addressing black on black crime. UVBL’s immediate objective is to promote trust in between the African American community and law enforcement agencies. additional reporting by Anna Gowin and Charles Nicholson

Take charge of your future by staying informed The Privateer Advocacy Network, launched by the UNO International Alumni Association with support by the University of New Orleans Foundation, serves as a hub for legislative news that affects UNO and creates a central online location with contact information for members of the Louisiana State Legislature and encourages users to write letters and make calls to legislators. To join go to http://www.ciclt.net/sn/ clt/uno/default.aspx. The University of Louisiana System, which UNO is a part of, has created a hub for information concerning higher education in the state. The site features links to budget news, updates from UL System President Sandra K. Woodley, www.ulsystem.edu/budget hub for information.


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