The 2009-2010 school year was filled with new campus developments, student activism and controversy, allowing Wash. U. students to make their mark on the events of the year.

As French strikers try to paralyze their country in their efforts to save the welfare state, the parallel with the U.S. could not be starker. In one country the popular, grass-roots movement is trying to save and increase government expenditure. On this side of the Atlantic however, the Tea Partiers have usurped and misunderstood the traditional revolutionary slogan “No taxation without representation”.

On the ballot this November is the Missouri Earnings Tax Initiative, also known as Proposition A. You may have seen some of their advertisements on Hulu. This referendum would require a vote on the one percent earnings tax in the two major cities in Missouri, St. Louis and Kansas City, in 2011.

Taxes and puppies may not bring the same expression to most faces. But on Tuesday, citizens of St. Louis County—including Washington University students who are registered to vote in Missouri—will cast their ballots on both.

The tiara-wearing Miz MetroLink became a familiar face on Washington University’s campus last year. Urging people to support the sales tax measure Proposition A to fund more transit service, the crowned figure was actually Liz Kramer, a University administrator.

In Washington University’s Danforth University Center, Chancellor Mark Wrighton, Chesterfield Mayor John Nations, executive director of Citizens for Modern Transit Tom Shrout, and CEO of St. Louis Metro Bob Baer speak to a crowd of students and supporters after Proposition A, which supports St. Louis public transit, passed April 6.

Proposition A has received enough votes to pass even with the 16 percent of uncounted ballots. With 84 percent of the ballots in, 62.2 percent of voters supported the proposition that increases the sales tax in St. Louis County by half a cent in order to find Metro. The passing of Prop A also triggers [...]

Students and St. Louis County residents went to the polls on Tuesday to cast their say on a sales tax increase for Metro, as campus leaders continued their mobilization effort to get students to turnout. With the future of public transit and sales taxes in the region on the line, students and administrators leading pro-Proposition A efforts worked feverishly to turn out as many students as possible before polls close at 7 p.m. Meanwhile, cash-starved local opposition called and e-mailed supporters and tried to gain as much media exposure as possible.

In the fight over the future of public transit in St. Louis, one local man has been an inspiration to local Tea Party activists and a thorn in the side of transit advocates and Washington University students and staff.

Supporters of a proposed sales-tax hike for Metro are making their final case to students and local residents to get them to turn out to vote “yes” in Tuesday’s St. Louis County election, as a smaller organized opposition continues to work to defeat the measure. Sensing that they face an uphill battle, Washington University students and administrators have joined forces with local transit advocates.