Q: What is MASSPIRG?
Q: What does MASSPIRG do?
Q: How is MASSPIRG funded?
Q: Why go to the ballot?
Q: What are the priorities for the next few years?
Q: How does MASSPIRG spend the funding it receives?
Q: Where is the money spent?
Q: Why does MASSPIRG hire staff?
Q: Do students in each chapter decide what issues to work on?
Q: Why does MASSPIRG work statewide?
Q: How do I vote for MASSPIRG?

What is MASSPIRG?
MASSPIRG is a statewide, student-directed organization that works to solve problems facing our society. Our environment and public health are threatened, students are being ripped off, poverty is on the rise, and our decision makers aren’t listening to ordinary citizens. MASSPIRG combines the idealism of students with the expertise of professional staff who conduct research, education, and grassroots organizing for the public.
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What does MASSPIRG do?
We get results. Last semester, MASSPIRG staff and students helped pass the Energy Efficiency Standards Bill, which will make appliances in MA more energy efficient, saving MA ratepayers over $1 billion in the next 20 years, and reducing global warming pollution as much as shutting down a medium sized power plant.

Water Watch has hosted river clean ups with dozens of community members, Mass Audubon, and even Mayor Murray participating. Last year across the state, MASSPIRG raised over $15,000 to fight hunger and homelessness. Right here at Clark, we had the 4th annual Hungerpalooza with the CARE initiative, and raised over $500. Our interns worked over 400 hours on these and other projects, making a difference on the environment, poverty, and higher education.
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How is MASSPIRG funded?
Students at Clark vote to fund MASSPIRG through a $4 per student per semester allocation from the student activities fee. Students at Clark have been a part of MASSPIRG for nearly 30 years, pooling together their resources statewide with other MASSPIRG chapters to hire staff, such as researchers and grassroots organizers, to work with them on issues that they care about. Students decide how best to spend their resources on the issues that they care about, such as fighting homelessness, cleaning our water ways, and working for more clean energy.
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Why go to the ballot?
We've been going to the ballot every year since MASSPIRG started at Clark as a way to reaffirm student support for the work that we do. The mandate from the student community that says that Clark students want clean air, clean water, affordable tuition, and an end to poverty gives us the ammunition it takes to get our work done. By having students vote to fund MASSPIRG with a per student fee, we can count on those resources to keep doing our work in the future.
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What are the priorities for the next few years?
To protect and enforce the consumer and environmental laws we already have in order to clean our water and protect our forests. President Bush has lined himself up as one of the most anti-environmental presidents ever. It seems as if there is a new environmental rollback everyday - everything from clean air, to endangered species, to pristine wilderness is in trouble. MASSPIRG will save these laws, and keep pushing for environmental policies that will actually start cleaning up our waterways, reducing air pollution, and fixing our current energy problems. And then there are all of the cuts that he and Congress have made to federal higher education programs, and programs that help the poorest people in our country - things like food stamps and Medicaid.

But we're not just playing defense. We're working on new ways to make higher education affordable through new grants and lower interest rates. We're fighting to lower the cost of textbooks. We're looking to ban some of the most dangerous toxins from entering our waterways. We're working to get college campuses to start leading the way in terms of addressing global warming and being leaders in clean energy. And we're working to alleviate hunger and homelessness in our community.

And in the fall, we will be working to increase student voter participation through voter registration and get out the vote efforts all across the state!
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How does MASSPIRG spend the funding it receives?
We use it all to tackle Massachusetts' biggest problems and win positive reform for the state. When you look at the things we've done - protect 58.5 million acres of forests, ban the most dangerous pesticides from daycares and schools, clean up the air all across the country - it's pretty clear that it's money well spent. The staff we hire and the campaigns we run do take resources, and with the challenges facing Massachusetts and the rest of the country over the next few years, you can be sure that our staff and students will use these resources to stand up to the special interests and win. Our clean water, our land use protections, consumer and student rights - they all rely on our ability to hire a crack team of experts and professionals to fight for students.

Besides, polluting industries spend millions of dollars each year just on campaign contributions to elected officials (that doesn't include their lobbyists, their propaganda, their campaign ads, etc.), a $4 fee every term is small change in comparison to what we're up against. That small change makes a big difference - they might spend tens of millions of dollars trying to avoid pollution regulations, but with the help of students here at Clark, we are able to protect our environment and public health. Student support gives us the opportunity to make a difference at the local, state and even national level.
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Where is the money spent?
Off and on campus, but mostly it goes to wherever MASSPIRG's resources will make a difference on the issues that students care about. The whole point of establishing MASSPIRG is to be able to have the resources to hire a staff of professionals - attorneys, researchers, organizers, and advocates - to work with students to fight against the special interests wherever they are trying to pollute the environment, rip-off consumers, or corrupt the democratic process.
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Why does MASSPIRG hire staff?
The problems that MASSPIRG undertakes are large, statewide, often national in scope. Staff are an important part of having an effective statewide organization. They bring expertise to student's ideas and continuity to long term student campaigns.
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Do students in each chapter decide what issues to work on?
Students decide on the campaigns that they want to work on both locally and at the statewide level. Student can bring campaign ideas to the statewide board, where students from different chapters get together, to work on across the state. The problems that we face aren’t just local – everyone is fighting poverty, environmental destruction, and for affordable education across the state and the country.
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Why does MASSPIRG work statewide?
The problems that Massachusetts faces do not only occur on campus. In order to clean up our waterways, protect our national forests or lower textbook prices our staff need to go to the decision makers all across the state and in Washington D.C. With statewide grassroots support as well as our staff tackling problems from Boston to the Berkshires, we are able to take on the special interests that create these problems and actually win for students and the public interest.
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MASSPIRG ACHIEVEMENTS

INTERNSHIP PROGRAM
We had another successful semester internship program last year. Clarkies worked about 420 hours to make a difference on the issues they care about.

ENERGY EFFICIENCY STANDARDS BILL
After two years of working to make popular items in Mass. more energy efficient, saving tax payers a billion dollars and cutting global warming pollution, Gov Romney signed the bill on November.

WATER WATCH EDUCATION
Each semester students from Mass. Community Water Watch teach hundreds of grad school children about water quality, including the water cycle, preservation, and pollution.

TEAM UP TO CLEAN UP
More than 60 students volunteered and helped raise $1200 to fight hunger and homelessness during the 21st Annual Hunger Clean-up.

PERSPECTIVES ON WATER
Students working with Water Watch organized an evening of letters and music, including speakers from Worcester DPW and Clark musicians.

STOP THE RAID ON STUDENT AID
Facing $12 billion in cuts to student aid, MASSPIRG worked with Clark University Student Council to show students how to have a voice in their financial future.

HUNGER AND HOMELESSNESS AWARENESS WEEK
We organized an educational week, with a Solidarity Sleep-Out, media attention, and everybody’s favorite . . .

HUNGERPALOOZA
The 4th Annual Hungerpalooza concert was the best yet. More than ten bands played, hundreds attended, and working with CARE Initiative, we raised $500 to fight hunger.

RIVER CLEAN UPS
Water Watch has hosted river clean ups with dozens of community members, Mass Audubon, and even Mayor Murray participating.

SOLAR ENERGY
To show the power of the sun, MASSPIRG brought a solar cell to power our stereo and power a team of volunteers to bring more clean energy to Clark.

COMMUNITITES IN CRISIS
MASSPIRG released a groundbreaking report on local communities facing increased need for food and shelter, and stagnating funds to provide them.

GLOBAL WARMING–NOT A DAY AT THE BEACH
Last fall, students working to stop global warming collected over 150 petition signatures for Gov. Romney, urging him to cap emissions from power plants.

BUILDING COMMUNITY ENERGY
Student interns Bill Cobb and Naomi Sully helped organize a neighborhood meeting in Quinsigamond Village to discuss municipal lighting plants.

ON-GOING SHELTER VISITS
Working with the CARE Initiative, MASSPIRG volunteers make visits to local agencies like the PIP shelter and the Frances Perkins home for women.

AFFORDABLE TEXTBOOKS RESEARCH AND EDUCATION
We released “Rip Off 101: 2nd Edition” about the unfair practices the publishing companies are engaging in and had over 100 media hits nationwide, including all the major Boston papers.

GOING COLD TURKEY
We worked with Katrina Rideout in the Recycling Center to promote energy conservation by simply unplugging appliances and award prizes for students that take part.

BRINGING THE SKILLS
During our statewide campaign training at Clark last spring, more than 50 students learned about grassroots campaigns—from the start of designing goals and solutions, to the nitty gritty number of petitions to get there.

CAMPUS CLIMATE CHALLENGE
MASSPIRG interns are leading Clark in the Campus Climate Challenge—a nationwide campaign for 500 campuses pledging to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

RAFFLE RELIEF
MASSPIRG Student Sara Fealhaber organized a raffle to raise funds for Hurricane Katrina survivors, sending $300 to the American Red Cross.

EYES ON THE ENVIRONMENT
Naomi Sully organized a film series highlighting environmental problems we all face—and we can aid in solving.

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