Technician, as a group of college students, feels undervalued by the North Carolina government. Between Gov. Pat McCrory’s proposed $139 million budget cut to UNC System schools and Senate Bill 667, which would lessen the voice of college students in their respective college counties, it is easy to understand our discontent. At least, we think it’s easy.  

On Wednesday, chancellors from several of the UNC System’s 17 schools met in the North Carolina Museum of History for “University Day” to explain our frustrations.

The chancellors, among others, voiced their concerns to legislators and the Speaker of the House, Thom Tillis, regarding McCrory’s proposed budget cut. McCrory suggested that some universities, including N.C. State, increase out-of-state tuition by 12.3 percent to compensate for the massive budget cut. UNC System President Tom Ross explained, “My concern is we won’t recognize all those tuition revenues. We will lose a lot of students and we won’t get that money. It’s going to be a problem for us, but the talent that we will lose for North Carolina is a problem for North Carolina.”

Chancellor Randy Woodson clarified the purpose of University Day, saying, “We’re here to encourage [the legislature] to sustain [our budget] and give us the flexibility to manage our own affairs.”

Of the legislators in attendance, Sen. Jeff Tarte (R – 41) seemed to be the one of the few people championing universities as a healthy investment. “The university system is bar-none, unequivocally our greatest asset we have in the state,” he advocated. 

Ross added, “We want to be treated fairly. We want to prove that the university is important to the future of this state, and we believe that investments in this university will pay real dividends for the people of North Carolina.”

We applaud Ross, Tarte, Chancellor Randy Woodson and the other chancellors in attendance for their attempts to educate the stubborn legislators. 

However, despite the support we have from the education community, we still can’t help but feel that the North Carolina government has something against us college students. First, they want to take funds away from our university system – a system that has proven to be efficient. Second, they want to take away our electoral voice, as to muffle any outcry.

 Sen. Tom Apodaca (R – 48) tried to argue that “We’re not looking at severe cuts. I don’t know if we have any bad news … they’re going to be minor compared to what they were in the past.”

But as Tom Ross argued, we have already trimmed the fat of the UNC System to make it more efficient and at this point, any more trimming would force us to compromise our education. 

So, to add to the flippancy toward college students conveyed by Apodaca’s halfhearted remarks, the Senate filed a bill Tuesday that will carry a tax penalty for college students who vote in a county in which their parents do not reside. 

Senate Bill 667 is known as “Equalize Voter Rights.” If there’s any time to rally against equality, the time is now. The bill, filed in the State Senate Tuesday, explains, “If the voter is a dependent of the voter’s parent or legal guardian, is 18 years of age or older and the voter has registered at an address other than that of the parent or legal guardian, the parent or legal guardian will not be allowed to claim the voter as a dependent for state income tax purposes.”

So unless your parents also live in Wake County, you cannot cast your vote in Talley and still be considered a dependent of your parents without a tax penalty. If passed, this bill, effective Jan. 1, 2014, could have a significant effect in counties like Watauga and Orange where, according to WRAL, “college voters have been a key part of the Democratic Party’s dominance.”

Furthermore, Republican lawmakers filed a bill that would allow North Carolina to declare an official religion. This came only weeks after Technician Viewpoint hosted a week celebrating religious diversity. This only strengthens our argument that recently, the North Carolina legislature has been rebelling against universities.

The Technician editorial board hasn’t always been the nicest to Gov. Pat McCrory & Co., but if they are going to propose that we make Christianity the state religion, they should uphold Christian values and “love [their] enemies.” Maybe “love” is a strong request, but we’d appreciate it if they would slow down on the anti-university decisions. Until then, we will continue to voice our discontent via the Viewpoint page. However, North Carolina lawmakers might suggest we pray instead.