“I’m embarrassed by what we have done to higher education,” Sen. Ed Murray, D-43rd District, said. “It’s not a priority for many of my colleagues, and that’s hard to explain.”

Sen. Murray, along with Rep. Jamie Pederson and Speaker Frank Chopp, admitted numerous faults at a town-hall meeting held Saturday in downtown Seattle for the constituents of the 43rd district. Higher education, among issues such as health care, new revenue sources and public services, was discussed at the event, which intended to get input from citizens regarding budgetary priorities.

About 15 UW students participated in the event. While the ASUW Office of Government Relations (OGR) was only able to notify students about the event a few days before it occurred, Alex Soldano, the OGR legislative coordinator, believes that the turnout was good.

“It was a really good turnout, and I think students actually care this legislative session,” Soldano said.

Some students believe that Chopp, as the University District representative, has not been advocating as much as he could be for UW interests.

“In some ways he’s ignoring us, but in other ways he seems to have other priorities,” said Lindsay Morse, a graduate student at the UW who attended the event. “He knows that we’re there, but he takes for granted that students aren’t the most active members of society. He can’t ignore the fact that the UW is the largest employer in the district.”

As of fall quarter 2008, the UW Seattle campus had almost 29,000 employees, and the city of Seattle had a total of more than 42.000 employees, according to a document prepared by the Office of Planning and Budgeting.

A recurring theme among questions and answers was the UW’s value to Washington state.

“Why is the jobs debate not being focused on the UW?” Soldano asked Chopp during the forum. “The UW is the largest single employer in the Seattle metro area and one of the largest employers in the state. Why is the funding of the university not mentioned in the jobs debate?”

In response, Chopp said that the UW needs to convince the public of its value in order to gain support for higher revenues. By shifting the focus away from the university as an institution to a place for jobs and opportunity, the public would become more involved.

“Instead of emphasis on funding the institution, which is a problem, the university needs to talk about the number of jobs being created and the opportunities for young people to get an education,” he said.

After cuts made in the last biennium, the UW is now funded more by private tuition dollars than by state funds, and in order to increase revenue, there needs to be adequate public support.

“We’re trying to rebrand,” said UW Student Regent Ben Golden. “Innovation in Washington State is happening because of the campus. The next step is [public] support.”

The public sees the university as an incredible asset to the state, Golden said, but requires more student involvement in order to get more action out of legislators and the public.

“When people see other people directly and hear their stories, it’s very compelling and makes a real difference,” said Chopp, regarding student involvement.

Problems and concerns set aside, Murray and Chopp both openly expressed the importance of higher education within the state.

“The best human-service program is higher education and truly is the best program we have going,” Murray said.

Reach contributing writer Katie Burke at development@dailyuw.com.