Likes Fern

Now is that time of year where students at the University of Montana log-on and pay their bills for next fall. As a fourth-year, 3.7 GPA student there, I am intimately familiar with the bank account siphoning procedures adopted by our education systems. Since I call Columbia Falls home and am therefore an in-state student, UM’s tuition is comparatively low. For some of us, however, comparatively low is still too high.

With college becoming the new high school diploma, higher numbers of young adults are losing access to that stairway leading to white-collared Shangri-La’s, locked under a monetary glass ceiling. This may be attributed to the economic squeeze on the nation, where the allocation of government funds toward higher education has withered in Montana.

The brunt of this loss has naturally been shunted upon the students and faculty. I would be one of the majority too poor to attend college off of just my summer and winter jobs, but my life savings (saving since a single-digit age) has held me through for now. Due to a cut of funds during the most recent Montana legislative session, my tuition will increase another 5 percent in the coming year, throwing my funds into a worsening tail spin.

I believe Dave Fern, a Whitefish small business owner running for Senate District 2 as a Democrat, provides the best chance for Montana’s university system. Although it’s likely any solutions from the state legislature will come too late to save my nickel-lined accounts from the administrative hose, my freshmen colleagues may have a better chance of reducing their loans with greater support for higher education. Dave Fern appears to be the most suitable candidate to promote this change. 

Taylor Hopkins

Columbia Falls