ASUA prez-elect plans to evaluate club funds

University of Arizona attorney Mike Proctor said he was "pretty confident" a First Amendment case questioning the constitutionality of forcing students to fund on-campus clubs with political, religious or ideological agendas would not apply to the UA funding structure.

But Associated Students President-elect Cisco Aguilar said he plans to avoid the risk.

"I wanted to address the issues during the presidency, as far as budget issues go," Aguilar said. "I wanted to make sure we are in compliance with the laws before there is a lawsuit."

The case, now headed to the U.S. Supreme Court, began at the University of Wisconsin, where the state's Board of Regents voted for a separate yearly student activity fee.

Several students sued the governing board in 1996, stating they should not have to financially support private organizations that oppose their personal beliefs. Amnesty International, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Campus Center and the women's center were included in the complaint.

The UA does not charge a special club fee, but supports the Associated Students budget - which was around $800,000 last year - with about $265,000 from student tuition and $375,000 from the UA Associated Students Bookstore.

The funds are commingled, and nothing in the ASUA constitution or bylaws states whether either funding source is earmarked to support staff or club funding.

Aguilar said he would like to address ambiguity in the student government's bylaws next year. He said the budget that ASUA officials propose this fall will include recommended changes.

"We want to use bookstore money for clubs and tuition money for staff," Aguilar said.

The UA Funding Guidelines and Bylaws state ASUA will only fund political and religious organizations for the "administrative, execution or maintenance of nonpolitical/nonreligious programs or special events deemed beneficial to the student body by ASUA."

Proctor said the UA funding guidelines differ from the University of Wisconsin's, making the new Supreme Court case inapplicable.

"We put a lot of onus on the organization to not use the money for certain purposes," Proctor said.

Aguilar said he will also review the school's definition of religious and political groups next spring when they evaluate the bylaws, without the intention of ostracizing any campus clubs.

"I don't want to cut out those clubs from funding," he said. "Just not for their ideological beliefs."

UA law student and former ASUA president T.J. Trujillo joined his brother, Sen. Ty Trujillo, in a January petition to the Associated Students Supreme Court. The brothers challenged the constitutionality of ASUA's club-funding process.

T.J. Trujillo said the complaint was filed to challenge ASUA's funding policies, and was based on the Wisconsin case.

"It is important the (ASUA) Supreme Court addresses this issue," he said. "ASUA is forcing students to fund clubs and political and ideological organizations, which plainly violates First Amendment rights."

Ty Trujillo said the UA needs to institute a negative check-off policy, which would give students the right to choose which campus clubs they will not support with their contribution to ASUA.

"The structure at which ASUA does it is wrong," Ty Trujillo said. "It is a mandatory fee that is paying for these."

Neither of the Trujillos said religious or political organizations should be exempt from funding, saying only that students should not be forced to support the clubs.

"Funding them should be optional," T.J. Trujillo said.