Royal Purple News - Baldwin welcomes new students

Baldwin welcomes new students

Article Date: September 06, 2006
KEVIN HOFFMAN
Managing editor
hoffmankm31@uww.edu

Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin and district assembly candidate Kim Hixson greet students and parents as they move into the residence halls last Wednesday.
Democratic Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin visited campus last Wednesday, welcoming freshmen to campus ahead of November's election against Republican candidate Dave Magnum in the 2nd Congressional District.
Baldwin, along with Democrat Kim Hixson who is running for state Assembly in the 43rd District, spent about two hours walking to various residence halls around campus meeting new students, most of whom will be given their first opportunity to vote this year.
"It's a time of transition and excitement for new freshmen and most are just turning 18, so this will be their first election," Baldwin said. "They're leaving home and they're meeting people who are seeking to represent them or already do and are seeking support in November."
Both Baldwin and Hixson said one issue they would like to like to address pertains especially to students: financial aid.
With recent decreases in financial aid, combined with a steady increase in tuition, the issue will be an important topic in the college community.
"We need to recognize that college students these days are exiting college with significant debt, very unlike generations before," Baldwin said. "It limits your choices after college if you have tens of thousands of dollars in debt that needs to be repaid."
"We need to increase support of Pell Grants and Perkins Loans and have the emphasis be more on the grants side," she added.
Hixson will be running against Republican Debi Towns, and also stressed the importance of student aid as well as the decrease in the university's budget, which makes up less than 9 percent of the state's budget.

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Both Hixson and Baldwin have a history with the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Hixson currently serves as an associate professor of advertising, while Baldwin, along with Senator Herb Kohl, secured $150,000 in federal funds for the Center for Students with Disabilities in 2004.
Baldwin said the student vote has been an important one to her in the past, and she doesn't expect that to change.
"I would not serve in Congress today if it wasn't for student voters," Baldwin said. "Student voters have made a difference in a number of my previous elections."
"When so many things of great concern are happening, whether it's the war or the general direction of this country which I think people are very concerned about, that I think young people [should] see how important it is to be involved," she added.
Primary elections will be held on Sept. 12 and polling stations will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

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