Penn State students, alumni protest $ cut plan

HARRISBURG - Lobbyists and legislators had to squeeze through the corridors and doorways of the Capitol yesterday as students and education advocates flooded the building to protest Gov. Corbett's proposed funding cuts for public schools and universities.

They came from every corner of Pennsylvania, it seemed - parents, grandparents, students and more prowling the tiled hallways to get face-time with legislators or at least hand them a packet of information or calling cards before joining one of several rallies.

At Penn State's rally, a couple of hundred students and alumni crowded into the Capitol Rotunda and ended with an ear-splitting "We are . . . Penn State!"

"We know they definitely hear us; we just hope they're listening," said Justin Menapace, 20, of Philadelphia, a junior at Penn State's main campus in State College, Centre County.

"My mom is struggling even now to put me through college," said Shynice Williams, 18, a freshman from Philadelphia who is enrolled at the University of Pittsburgh-Bradford.

The budget plan Corbett unveiled on March 8 would attempt to address a projected $4 billion recession-driven deficit without raising taxes and would demand such large cuts from public schools and universities that few, if any, legislators have embraced it.

All told, Corbett's plan would cut more than $1.6 billion from schools and universities, including a 50 percent cut to the 14 universities that make up the State System of Higher Education, as well as Penn State, Pitt, Temple and Lincoln.

Speaking to Pitt students and supporters in the Capitol Rotunda yesterday, Pitt's chancellor, Mark Nordenberg, called the proposed cuts "stunningly deep."