Two students from Augustana College joined hundreds of others from across the state in Springfield Wednesday, holding a rally and lobbying the General Assembly. Their colleges have received no money from the state since the long budget impasse began last summer.
Lizandra Gomez-Ramirez, a junior from Rock Island, has a very personal stake in this - she depends on the state for 5,000 dollars a year from the Monetary Award Program, or MAP grants.
She already works about ten hours per week, in two campus jobs, but figures she'd have to work 20 to 25 hours without state help.
Also making the trip was Ryan Jenkins, a sophomore from Elgin. He says 25 per cent of Augustana students now receive support from MAP grants.
Before their rally at the capitol, the students met with members of the Illinois House and Senate from the Quad Cities area, plus State Senator, and Augustana graduate, Sue Rezinfrom Peru.
