Latest Updates

Congress is on the verge of cutting $5 billion from the Pell grant financial aid program. This would make college more expensive for close to nine million students next year.

We can't afford this cut, especially when states are cutting college budgets, causing tuition and fees to skyrocket.

You might remember that back in March, Congress made big increases to federal grant aid. However, that new aid is for future years and doesn't impact current students.

We can't let this happen.

Please tell your Congressman to stop the cuts to Pell grants!

Federal textbooks law goes into effect

After nearly two years of anticipation, the federal textbook price disclosure law we passed in 2008 officially goes into effect today. This law is a tremendous step forward in our fight for textbook affordability, because it empowers both students and professors to save money on textbooks.

Here's a quick summary of what this law means:

First, publishers are now required to give professors detailed information about textbook prices and revision histories, including the dates of the last 3 editions and a list of alternate formats. Publishers often withheld this information, hoping professors would choose more expensive books. Getting these details on the table will make it easier to identify and select lower-cost options.

Second, publishers are required to sell the components of bundled textbooks separately, so students have the option to buy their books without unnecessary CDs, workbooks and online pass-codes.

Third, colleges need to list the required textbooks for each course in the catalog students use to register. That way, students know what they're getting into, and they have more time to shop around.

The law will save money for some students right away - the new information will help some professors choose less expensive books, and savvy students will have more time to track down the best deals. Over time, the law will have even greater benefits on textbook costs. Increased transparency will build economic pressure on publishers, which will pave the way for competition and eventually force them to offer more affordable options.

For more information about the new federal textbooks law, click here.

Murkowski Amendment Fails

This afternoon the Senate voted to block a bailout of the oil industry.

The Murkowski resolution, a.k.a the Dirty Air Act, a.k.a the Big Oil Bailout would have dismantled the Clean Air Act and barred the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gas pollution.

This would have been a giant step backward in our efforts to support clean energy and work for global warming solutions.

In February, student leaders with the Student PIRGs went to D.C. to work stop the Murkowski Amendment.

It's time for national action to cut our oil dependence, and move to a clean energy economy that prioritizes energy efficiency and clean, renewable energy. We need to hold polluters accountable for their actions. From oil spills to greenhouse gas emissions, enough is enough.

Read the New York Times story: Thursday Is High Noon for Sen. Murkowski's Climate Resolution

Read the New York Times editorial: Where's the Senate on This One?

Update on the Oil Spill Disaster

It’s been 6 weeks and the gulf oil spill disaster has become the worst environmental disaster in US history. At this point it’s clear it likely won’t be stopped until August.

By then we'll see over one hundred million gallons of oil dumped into the Gulf, poisoning our coastlines for decades. To see the size, check out CNN's spill tracker and for a bit of perspective, check out http://ifitwasmyhome.com

We cannot let this kind of accident happen again.

If you have not yet, please sign our petition to tell President Obama to reinstate the ban on new offshore oil drilling .

Despite their insistence that offshore drilling is "safer than ever," we now know that accidents can and will happen. They've been happening for decades, and when you're talking about an accident involving millions of gallons of oil, we can’t take the risk.

Today, BP began airing commercials apologizing for the accident, but no matter what they say, it's too late to "make this right."

We’re launching a campaign to ban new offshore drilling in the United States. If you’d like be part of the campaign when you get back to campus, and to get updates on the disaster this summer, please sign up here.

FacePunk'd

Today, Facebook announced new privacy controls in response to recent complaints that their settings are too complicated. The new, simpler, controls will be rolled out over the next few weeks. Good, but not good enough.

You should be the one to control what information you share, not Facebook. Even with the new settings, Facebook will still share your information with other companies without asking your permission first.

To read more about the new settings: http://allfacebook.com/2010/05/facebook-privacy-must-know/

We'll keep you posted with updates on how to navigate the new settings as they come up.

FAIL book

With their new "instant personalization" program Facebook is sharing your information with companies like Microsoft and Yelp, and probably more to come, without your permission.

You can block this new program, but only by changing several of your settings.

This is ridiculous. Facebook should ask your permission before they share information about you or your friends with other companies.

I want control of my information, and I want my information safe and secure. There are already reports of security holes with "instant personalization" sites that have made personal information accessible to hackers.

Click here for more information on how to control your information on Facebook.

Building a Better Future

It's been an unforgettable semester and year. Thank you for being a part of it and for making sure students have a voice in America’s future.

Here are some of our biggest victories:

Passing the largest student financial aid law in history.
In March, President Obama signed the largest student loan bill in history into law. The new law increases financial aid for students by $36 billion, and it won't cost taxpayers a dime because it's funded by cutting wasteful hand-outs to banks and loan companies like Sallie Mae and Citibank. Across the country 10,000 of you called, wrote, emailed, and tweeted your Congressmen asking them to take action. In addition, our DC staff worked tirelessly to bring your message to legislators and their staff.

Stopping the worst unfair practices by credit companies.
In February the Credit CARD Act went into effect. This law protects students and ends some of the worst unfair practices of credit card companies, making it illegal for credit card companies to profit by tricking people into paying late. It was the outcry of students like you that passed this law, and the banks aren't happy about it - this is the first time in 40 years any law opposed by credit card companies has passed.

Helping rebuild Haiti, and fighting poverty here at home.
It's been a tough year for many American families, and the earthquake in Haiti has affected millions. Through our annual Hunger Cleanup and Haiti relief fundraisers, thousands of students across the country volunteered for a day of service in their communities, planting gardens, painting, cleaning, serving food, collecting cans, and more. They also hosted date auctions, spare change drives, basketball and dodgeball tournaments, hunger strikes, and other events to raise money to donate to those in need. Together, we raised $70,000 for local agencies, Oxfam’s Haiti Relief and national efforts to combat poverty.

Building support for global warming solutions.
We're calling on the Senate to build a clean energy economy that will create jobs and enhance America’s national security while protecting the environment. Across the country, we mobilized over 45,000 students and community members to contact their Senators to call for clean, renewable energy and an end to our dependence on oil and coal. From coast to coast we held events on campus and off, panel discussions, home weatherizations, video screenings, and energy saving competitions to educate thousands of people and resulting in more than 100 news stories about our work.

Reforming the health care system in order to make health care affordable.
Despite hundreds of millions of dollars spent by the insurance industry to stop reform, health insurance reform became law. Our priority has been to make health care affordable. This law takes unprecedented steps to lower costs for families and small businesses, and it prohibits insurers from using pre-existing conditions, errors on forms, and lifetime or yearly caps to drop your coverage or price it out of reach. It also helps young adults – a highly uninsured demographic - by allowing them to stay on their parents’ coverage until age 26.

Why Young Americans Need Financial Reform

We just co-released a report, "Risking Our Future Middle Class: Young Americans Need Financial Reform" with the United States Student Association, and Demos documenting how hard young people have been hit by the economic crisis.

As the report explains, young people face “lasting damage” from the financial sector and in personal finance, making it urgent that Congress pass strong financial reform legislation.

The Gulf Oil Spill Disaster

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico could become the worst oil spill in history.

The spill from BP's Deepwater Horizon rig is now more than three times the size of Rhode Island and growing by 210,000 gallons of crude oil every day. It could be months before they can cut off the flow.

They have tried to block it, they have tried to burn it, and now the slick is drifting toward shore, threatening every Gulf coast town from Louisiana to Florida.

It's hard to overstate the likely damage for wildlife, Gulf coast communities and the economy. If the oil slick hits shore, it could poison the coastline for decades.

It was just a few weeks ago that the Obama administration announced plans to open 200 million acres off our coastline to more oil drilling. It's time to reconsider.

To quote Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida, a recent supporter of some offshore drilling until he flew over the Gulf spill: "If this doesn't give somebody pause, there's something wrong." (From Time magazine)

Please tell President Obama to halt plans for more offshore drilling:
http://studentpirgs.org/action/offshore-drilling

Close the Floodgates

In the recent Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision, the Supreme Court ruled that corporations are legally "persons," and thus have the right to make unlimited contributions to the political committees that buy most of the ads that inundate us at election time. In his State of the Union address, President Obama responded to the ruling, saying "The Supreme Court reversed a century of law that I believe will open the floodgates for special interests ... to spend without limit in our elections."

Last week, Congress took the first major step to close the floodgates opened by the decision by introducing the Schumer-Van Hollen bill. The bill is full of good stuff: It includes bans on campaign spending from federal contractors, foreign-owned corporations or those that receive taxpayer-funded bailouts. And it requires disclosure of all campaign spending, so voters can judge the credibility of political ads run by Goldman Sachs or ExxonMobil.

The stakes could not be higher: There is already too much money in politics, and with the Court's recent decision, it could go from bad to worse.

Most Americans staunchly disagree with this ruling. In a Washington Post-ABC poll, 8 in 10 respondents said they oppose the high court's decision, and nearly as many back congressional action to curb the ruling.

In the weeks to come we'll be meeting with Congressional leaders in D.C. and back in their districts to make sure they are hearing their constituents' support.

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