[Corporations] Final Release for Today's Phone-In

Fri Oct 27 09:59:42 CDT 2006

To participate in today's phone in, go to 
http://www.DemocratizingEducation.org

For Immediate Release:

HIGHER EDUCATION WEEK OF ACTION CULMINATES
IN PHONE-IN TO CORPORATE LOBBYISTS

WEEK OF ACTION: OCT. 23 THROUGH OCT. 27

Contact: Sarah Grace Turner
SarahGraceTurner at yahoo.com 202-294-4731
www.DemocratizingEducation.org

NATION, October 27, 2006 ~ A weeklong nationwide protest against attacks
on higher education culminates today in a coordinated Phone-In to
corporate lobbyists. Today, hundreds of protesters phone the national
and state offices of the Chamber of Commerce and the National
Association of Manufacturers and tell them to reverse course and start
lobbying for more public funding for higher education. Political leaders
in Congress and in state office will receive phone calls as well.

The Phone-In comes on the heels of a nationwide web-based Virtual March,
in which participants wrote letters expressing similar demands. As the
protests entered their fifth day, over 100 campuses in 36 states had
participated. Students, faculty, and staff were also joined by concerned
community members.

This week’s protesters aren’t merely against further cuts in higher
education funding. They are promoting an alternative. In 2001, it cost
32 billion US to pay for the full cost of tuition and fees for all
students enrolled in 2 and 4-year degree-granting institutions of public
higher education. The Democratizing Education Network (DEN) supports,
among other things, eliminating tuition at public institutions by fully
supporting them with public financing. Funding for quality free higher
education is available, DEN activists say, pointing to the 2 billion US
poured weekly into the occupation of Iraq, as well as to the declining
share of taxes shouldered by corporations and the wealthy.

# # #

To find out more about the Virtual March and Phone-In on Corporate
Lobbyists and for more information please visit the Democratizing
Education Network’s website:
http://www.DemocratizingEducation.org

-- 

Ben Manski

Co-Secretary, Four Lakes Green Party of Dane County
http://www.FourLakesGreenParty.org

"We, the generation that faces the next century, can add the solemn 
injunction 'If we don't do the impossible, we shall be faced with the 
unthinkable'."  ~ Petra Kelly