College students protest cuts with egg baskets

Associated Press • April 3, 2009

BATON ROUGE — The dozen baskets of plastic eggs dropped off at the governor's office weren't to celebrate a happy Easter holiday. Instead, the college students that delivered them Friday said it was a form of protest.

The students say the eggs are a symbol of their disappointment with Gov. Bobby Jindal for agreeing to spend $50 million to keep open a chicken plant in north Louisiana while proposing $219 million in cuts to public colleges next year.

The students who delivered the baskets say the governor's priorities are skewed.

Jindal says the state intervened to keep open the Farmerville plant to save 1,300 jobs and 300 chicken farms. The college cuts are part of a series of reductions proposed to balance next year's budget against a hefty drop in state income.

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