USF students take to Twitter to attack budget cuts
Written by Jane McInnis, Feb 22, 2012, 0 Comments
#SaveUSF is trending on Twitter. Pages on Facebook echoing the same sentiment have been created, liked, joined and followed.
Earlier last week, WTSP 10 News asked the community for letters in response to the funding cuts, and offered to deliver the notes to the hands of state legislators in Tallahassee.
From the 4 a.m. departure to Tallahassee, Student Government updated students through Twitter on Feb. 15. Tweets mentioned attending Senate Budget Committee meetings, and students meeting with state legislators.
Links to contact and urge legislators against cuts to higher education were also tweeted, tagged with the hash tag to #SaveUSF.
On Feb. 15, the tag was soon trending in the bay area, and the Tampa Bay Times followed suit, stamping its stories on the subject with the new battle cry.
At the USF basketball game against Villanova on Feb. 15, fans were spotted holding a banner reading “#SaveUSF,” the tag coined by 10 News.
Noah Pransky, a 10 News reporter, covered this beat during the original push for an independent USF Polytechnic in November. Since Feb. 14, Pransky has continually tweeted news updates on the subject.
Here’s some of the twitter chatter that boosted #SaveUSF into a Twitter trend:
@flsquirrel: Nothing like coming on campus and hearing from the scholars you admire, “I just hope I have a job next year.” #SaveUSF
@DJBLACKHAZE1906: you spend $30,000 a piece on some f—— brass … cows but they want us to stand up and #SAVEUSF
@brandonwrites: Is the sky falling? Am I actually siding w/ Gov. Rick Scott on something? What is happening? Maybe the world really is going to end #SaveUSF
@TrippleR999 #SaveUSF when they stop taxing 300 for a parking pass I’ll think about it… Until then .. F— em.
@extroverbalist: 10 years as a USF and USFP faculty member enriched my life working w/these cool, smart, funny, and now brave students. #SaveUSF and my job
@Ctbrown720: Why do we need a 12th university? You obviously can’t afford the ones you have now! #SaveUSF
@justbrittanylol: Got a go bulls sign m/ from house speaker Cannon! #SaveUSF
@mwzoetewey: Rolling back a 58% cut to make a 45%, 35% or 25% cut look acceptable in comparison is also NOT okay. Protect public education #SaveUSF
@AKCEuph: This is not just about a school, this is about our city #SaveUSF
