Penn State will seek $365,167,000 in funding from the state government for the 2007-2008 year, following the unanimous approval of the request by the Penn State Board of Trustees today.

If the university receives its requested appropriations, the 2007-2008 tuition for students at University Park will increase by 4.8 percent, Penn State President Graham Spanier said at the meeting today.

"We believe that these increases will be substantially lower than most, if not all, of our peers," Spanier said.

Other aspects of the university's budget plan include a $11 increase in the per-semester student activity fee and $10 increase in the per-semester information technology fee.

At last September's board meeting, the trustees approved a request of $354,434,000 for the 2006-2007 school year.

However, Gov. Ed Rendell's budget, signed into law in July, only included an appropriation of $327,715,000 for Penn State for the 2006-2007 year.

At the start of the meeting, five student activists protested the university's unwillingness to adopt what they see as more labor-friendly policies in factories where university apparel is made.

The activists entered the room shortly after the meeting began and before Penn State President Graham Spanier's State of the University Address was played on DVD for the trustees.

While Spanier's address was broadcast, the students stood in the back of the room, holding signs that read "DSP NOW!" - a reference to the Designated Supplier Program, which has been heralded recently by leaders of the Student Labor Action Project and United Students Against Sweatshops as a measure that would ensure university apparel is not made in sweatshops.

It is not immediately clear whether either of those groups was involved in today's protest.

Following Spanier's address, Board of Trustees Chairwoman Cynthia Baldwin addressed the group.

"You are being disruptive of this meeting," Baldwin said over the microphone. "I would request that you please be seated. There are other avenues to address your concerns. If you do not feel that you can do that, you may leave at this time."

After Baldwin's statement, the group left the meeting.

The agenda for the meeting states that, although the meeting is open to the public, visitors to the meetings may not display "banners, posters, and other forms of signs."

Protests also took place yesterday afternoon when an anonymous group of activists hung yellow banners out of the windows of the Willard and Sackett buildings encouraging Penn State to adopt policies such as the Designated Supplier Program.

For the full story, see Monday's edition of The Daily Collegian.

 

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