UCF students spend the day at the Capitol

With tuition increasing and scholarship money decreasing, the need for students who are willing to stand up and voice their opinions has never been greater. The UCF Student Government Association recognized this need and invited 78 students to join them for a lobbying event on Wednesday. "Day at the Capitol" is an annual event, hosted by SGA, to allow students a chance to lobby against issues directly effecting their college education.

"Every year the priorities of elected officials and lawmakers change. By encouraging and facilitating constant civic engagement among students, UCF SGA aims to ensure that students and the issues important to them remain relevant and have the appropriate attention of the legislature," Andrew Green, SGA legislative affairs coordinator, said.

Each student was placed in a group and given topics related to higher education. The groups were also provided with a list of senators or representatives who they were expected to visit and speak with throughout the day.

"The beauty of ‘Day at the Capitol' is that every student that attends the event has the opportunity to either meet a senator, a representative or their legislative aide," Green said. "UCF SGA focused on the following three topics critical to higher education: PECO funding, Bright Futures funding and reform, and increased funding for the 2+2 Pathways to Success Program."

Cynthia Florentino, a sophomore political science major, was able to voice some of her concerns when she spoke with Sen. Nan Rich and Sen. Steve Oelrich, the chairman of the Senate Higher Education Committee.

"The agenda topic that was most important to me is the Bright Futures issue. Enrollment is increasing, tuition is increasing, and Bright Futures is decreasing, we need to take measures to prevent the scholarship from decreasing," she said.

Students were also taken on a tour of the new Capitol building and had an opportunity to sit in on budget meetings taking place throughout the day.

"The best part of the day was watching the debate in the House of Representatives," Ruth Ruiz said. "I'm an international and global studies major, it's my senior year and I wanted to get some experience in how the legislative process works."

A dinner reception was held on the 22nd floor of the Capitol building and gave students a chance to meet with Reps. Irving Slosberg, Dafne Campbell, Dwayne Taylor and Geraldine Thompson. Rep. Darren Soto was the keynote speaker, he addressed the important issues being discussed by legislation this year -- one of the main issues being the push to change the Bright Futures Scholarship Program's GPA requirement from a 3.0 to a 3.5.

"The reason the government is tightening this requirement is because they are trying to balance a budget by putting more on the student. You are being used as a scapegoat…this is why you should vote, why you should care," Soto said of the requirement changes.

Soto opened up the floor for a debate on this topic and students had an opportunity to directly discuss their opinions on the legislation.

Leon Hunter, a UCF junior studying political science/pre-law, agrees with the idea of increasing the GPA requirement for students who receive the Bright Futures scholarship.

"The concept of Bright Futures is to award excellence so it shouldn't be a bad thing to raise the bar. If the standards are raised that increases the standard of academics going on in the school system," Hunter said.

"Increasing the requirement makes our education system have meaning. I want Bright Futures to mean something," Neal Cordero, UCF junior and political science major, said in agreement with the changes.

Starting the day at 6:30 a.m., driving to Tallahassee, and returning at midnight was a long day for the students but they knew the importance of the event and all were in agreement that it was worth the exhaustion they felt upon arriving back to campus.

"I would like to work for the State Department or United Nations one day. Today helped me see that common people do have a chance to voice their opinion and that I can be useful to my city and my country," Ruiz said.

SGA president Matthew McCann motivated students to realize the importance of making a presence in the legislative process.

"We have a voice and we used that voice here today," McCann said.