Graduate students arrange campus visits by legislators

Ohio Sen. Randy Gardner and state Rep. Bob Latta, both Bowling Green Republicans, will be visiting campus this month at the invitation of Graduate Student Senate.

The campus community is encouraged to attend both sessions, said Senate President Luke Nichter. Gardner’s meeting is set for 3 p.m. Friday (April 15) in the McFall Center Assembly Room. Latta will be on campus April 29, and is scheduled to speak at 4 p.m. in the same location.

Concerned about issues confronting higher education, Nichter and the GSS initiated the invitations “to allow graduate students to interact directly with legislators and give feedback from their perspective.”

The general budget climate, Senate Bill 24—the “Academic Bill of Rights”—and flatline funding for OhioLink are three major issues of concern for graduate students, Nichter said. They are alarmed at the approaching loss of electronic access to research materials such as online journals that will result from the de facto reduction in funding for OhioLink.

As longtime advocates for education, Gardner and Latta “are on our side,” Nichter said. Gardner was a member of the governor’s Commission on Higher Education and the Economy and serves on the senate Education Committee, so he is very familiar with current issues, Nichter noted.