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University Students Rally For State Construction Funds

Bob Barrett
/
WUWF News

Students across the state rallied today for more construction money for the state's universities.

Chris Hill is the Student Body President at the University of West Florida.He was one of the leaders of the rally at the UWF Commons Wednesday afternoon. He said the students "Hard Hat Rally" was to call attention to the need for more construction funds to improve university facilities at UWF, and across the state.

Students at the rally enjoyed free pizza and drinks as speakers made presentations to the crowd. Ethan Friedland is the Director of Governmental Affairs for the UWF Student Government Association said the combined voices of student across the University system could make a difference.

The hope is that with more attention paid to campus infrastructure and updated facilities, student performance will improve. Dr. Jaromy Kuhl is the director of the department of Mathematics and Statistics at UWF. He spoke to the crowd about UWF's new math building and students spoke on how the improvements made their school lives easier. Chris Hill spoke about the need for about 11 million dollars in improvements to the UWF laboratory science department.

The efforts do not end with Wednesday's Hard Hat Rally. Ethan Friedland says on March 26 the students will take the campaign to the capitol. The "Rally in Tally" will bring students from across the state to Tallahassee to make their case directly to the legislature. Statewide students are looking for 321 million dollars to upgrade Florida's universities.

Bob Barrett has been a radio broadcaster since the mid 1970s and has worked at stations from northern New York to south Florida and, oddly, has been able to make a living that way. He began work in public radio in 2001. Over the years he has produced nationally syndicated programs such as The Environment Show and The Health Show for Northeast Public Radio's National Productions.