Restored Faith In Our Future

Before I explain the title for this post, I have a few housekeeping things I would like to address.

1.  Thank you so much for your comments!!! They really do mean a lot to me.  Just a heads up though, if you leave your name as "I.P. Freely", you can be assured that your comment will likely not get published... no matter how funny it might be.  

2.  I've noticed that it's pretty hard to navigate my site.  If you have any suggestions, I would love to hear them.  I am going to work on condensing my labels/tags and am going to try and develop some easier search options.  You may notice these changes over the next few days.

3.  If there's anything you would like to see me cover, feel free to email me or leave me a comment!  I take time to read every email and comment, even if they don't all get published.

Now, onto the good stuff!!!

A few weeks ago, I posted that I was particularly concerned about the future of our nation.  You can find my rant here.

Today, my faith has been restored and I feel extremely confident that our future is in the hands of some movers and shakers that are thoughtful, well spoken, and both emotionally and intellectually intelligent.

Earlier this week, The Board of Regents announced that it would be making significant cuts in order to offset the budget crisis currently facing The University System of Georgia.  Details on the proposal can be found here.  

In short, the cuts not only negatively affect students, but also affect the community of Athens through the elimination of hundreds of jobs and the cross-cooperation of dozens of county organizations.  There is a lot more to it, and I strongly encourage you to browse the article so that you can form your own opinions.

Today, The University of Georgia's SGA President published an article in the AJC that gives a voice to the thousands of students and other interested individuals who will be affected by the hasty proposals.  All personal favoritism aside, the article is one of the best editorials that I have read in a long time.  It is well thought out, offers realistic solutions, and genuinely challenges the Board of Regents' proposals.  

I have to say that I am extremely proud of Ms. Barlow's willingness to publicly and articulately stand up to the legislature.  She has shown that the SGA President truly IS the voice of the students.  All too often, students are silenced by administrations who seek to quiet the masses through intimidation, and the old "smoke and mirror" tricks.  What has often been seen as a figurehead position actually does have a purpose.  While Ms. Barlow's name may be the one on the article, she is the voice of over 36,000 students.  The president of the university and administration needs to listen to their students.  The University and the students who are critical to it's survival need to be able to engage in open dialogue.

I am quite certain that the students have an uphill battle ahead of them.  I have no doubt, however, that if Ms. Barlow and the other 36,000 students she is representing can remain steadfast in their demand for open dialogue and revisions to the proposal, change is possible.  

This issue is bigger than Snookie's hair.  This deserves our attention.  And these young people definitely get a fist pump of support from me.

Love, hugs, and blessings,

The Mama

Edited to add:  11 Alive News covered the story yesterday.  You can click on the link below to view the video.  As my Mini-Me stated when she saw the video, "Katie and Stephen Rocked the Casbah!!!"
http://www.11alive.com/video/default.aspx?bctid=70076674001