Spring Break
Year brings history, controversy for ASUA
By: Shain Bergan
Issue date: 5/13/08 Section: News
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It didn't take long for the Associated Students of the University of Arizona to stir things up, as it kicked off the year with a precedent-setting case involving an updated version of the organization's bylaws.
A Christian music concert hosted by UA Priority College Ministry was denied $4,000 in funding due to its overtly religious and exclusive nature, said Sen. Amy Drapkin.
Although Priority College Ministry had received funding for similar events in the past, the updated bylaws restricted ASUA from funding the event.
"We are just following suit based on required policies by the university," said ASUA President Tommy Bruce. "We have to follow them."
A month later, ASUA set another major precedent.
After nine months of dialogue with officials from A-Town, a program aimed at raising teen awareness of diversity issues, Sen. Dustin Cox and A-Town extended the program to include college students for the first time in the program's 50-year history.
"Racism is still very much alive," Cox said. "There is violence in our community and a lot of people want to fix these things."
The fall California wildfires burned hundreds of miles away from the UA campus, but the university's large California student population left more than 3,000 UA students worrying about their loved ones back home.
ASUA coordinated a donation drive in conjunction with the American Red Cross to help southern California with the wildfire relief efforts.
"It's not about whether (the wildfires) are local or national," Bruce said. "This is something that has affected alumni, faculty and students, and we're going to help do something about it."
ASUA saw less action early in the spring semester, instead quietly passing a textbook resolution and auctioning off members for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
The tone turned more serious as the March general election approached. The election was both a site for history and a culmination of heartbreaking defeat.
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