SAC: Press Releases : 1/13/2000
Student Advisory Council to the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia
John M. Fuchko, III, Chair | Timothy P. Vick, Vice-Chair
Rochell Akin, Secretary | Jerry Edwards, Treasurer (Acting)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information, contact:
Brian D. Beers, Press Secretary
Brianbeers@hotmail.com
(678) 377-2848
(770) 339-2200
GEORGIA COLLEGE STUDENTS PUSHING LEGISLATIVE AGENDA AS SESSION KICKS OFF
January 13, 2000 (Atlanta) - As the Georgia General Assembly convenes this week in Atlanta, legislators will be dealing with a new force in Georgia politics - Georgia's college and university students, which number more than 200,000 under the leadership of the Student Advisory Council to the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia (SAC).
SAC currently has three issues for consideration by the legislature this term. First and foremost, SAC will be showing strong support for the FY2001 budget request of the University System of Georgia, which would continue to provide Georgia students with quality educational opportunities at a reasonable cost.
Secondly, students are lobbying Governor Barnes and the legislature to put a stop to the current practice of institutions selling students' names, addresses, and phone numbers to businesses for the purposes of solicitation. Businesses routinely obtain this information by filing requests under Georgia's open records laws and compensating the institutions for clerical expenses. This is legal under Georgia's current open records laws, but has resulted in numerous complaints from students who feel their privacy is being compromised by this loophole in the law.
Lastly, SAC has been working for over a year on a proposal to eliminate sales tax on the purchase of textbooks. This would save Georgia students $1-3 million per year, according to SAC External Affairs Chair Nels Peterson of Kennesaw State University. Currently several states, including Michigan, New Jersey, Arizona, and Pennsylvania have similar tax exemptions for textbook purchases.
Representatives of the Student Advisory Council, led by SAC External Affairs Liaison Greg Nelson, will be at the Capitol every day of the session, working to make these issues a priority for this term.
Founded in 1968, the Student Advisory Council is one of the oldest and largest student organizations in the United States, representing over 200,000 students across the state of Georgia.