Baker speaks at MU
State Rep. Judy Baker, joined with the National Education Association, spoke about issues pertaining to students, including tuition costs and scholarshipson at 4 p.m. today on campus.
Baker's primary focus at the event was to relate the current financial crisis to issues that students can identify with, such as education costs.
"I’ve talked to too many Missourians that are anxious about this financial crisis," Baker said. "I want Congress to act, but we need to ensure that taxpayers get something out of this bailout like mortgage protection and student loan guarantees. They also need to end the unscrupulous spending practices and put in place good regulations that were lost about a decade ago."
The NEA, which has officially endorsed Sen. Barack Obama's bid for president and Attorney General Jay Nixon's bid for governor, sponsored the event and passed out free paraphernalia to students passing by. Approximately 20 students listened to Baker speak, including freshman Josh Travis.
"Actually, I just got out of geography class, this is just the way I happen to walk," Travis said. "I saw free t-shirts, and I was like, what college student is going to pass up free t-shirts? But honestly, the National Education Association is an organization that I follow very closely. Education is my big policy concern."
NEA Secretary-Treasurer Becky Pringle also spoke.
"There is no easy way to create a world in which every student gets as much education as their brains can handle," Pringle said. "But if such a world could be created, it would be created by the goodwill of the world."