SIUC will be an official member of the United States Student Association by the end of summer if the Undergraduate Student Government agrees to a contract.

USG President Duane Sherman said things are tentative right now but SIUC’s proposed membership in the national student lobbying group looks good.

Sherman and USG vice-president Kim Clemens went to Washington, DC last week to find out more information before committing to the lobbying group.

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Sherman had said he wanted to look into USSA further and get input from other organizations in Washington before committing to the organization that lobbies legislators for improved higher education funding.

SIUC students voted 872-486 in favor of a 50-cent student activity fee increase for USSA membership in the spring USG elections even though students had been paying dues for a lobbying group since the 1990 fall semester.

The 50 cents has been going to the Student Association Fee and gets distributed to Registered Student Organizations.

If USG signs the contract, Sherman said the money will no longer go to these organizations, which could reduce their funding by $20,000.

After getting to look at USSA first hand, Clemens said she and Sherman are impressed with it.

We asked every education staffer about USSA, and they all had good things to say, Clemens said.

Sherman said after meeting with the USSA staff and checking out the office, he was very impressed with their operation.

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They (USSA) are the student

see LOBBY, page 5