POSTING hidden values

In my form I am setting these hidden values

<input type="hidden"  name="email"        value=<?php $emailString?>/>
<input type="hidden" name="campaign"  value=<?php $campaignString?>/>
<input type="hidden" name="taxyear"    value=<?php $dateString?> />


and then I submit it to  a function in the controller. This is the code that runs in the controller

$campaign=$_POST["campaign"];
$email=$_POST["email"];
$taxyear=$_POST["taxyear"];

But when I take a look at $campaign, $email, and $taxyear , once the form is submitted, they are all "/".  Why? 

proof that an old dog can learn new tricks