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ASUA opposes McGrath

To the editor,

The recent uproar about some of the bills presented by Rep. Jean McGrath has become a hotbed of controversy here on our campus. We, the Arizona Students Association (ASA), are taking a stance against these three bills, HB 2024, HB 2025 and HB 2594. The first two deal with limiting the Internet access from university-owned computers. HB 2024 attempts to limit access to "Sexually Explicit Materials" as defined by Arizona Revised Statutes, which would, among other things, make it impossible to view nudity in all forms. This would include art like the "Venus De Milo," "Michelangelo's David," or simple medical depiction of the human form necessary for a complete university education. The second Internet bill, HB 2025, would seek to create a policy by the legislature to disallow any use of the Internet for non-educational purposes. This would make it impossible for clubs to e-mail each other for meetings or for individuals to simply read a newspaper online. The last bill is HB 2594, which would change the dynamic of the residence hall system. Among other things, it would make it illegal to have members of the opposite sex in a room, make two-sex floors illegal, criminalize alcohol in rooms, even if the resident is twenty-one, and it would mandate a no-guest-policy between 12:01 a.m. and 6 a.m. Furthermore, punishment for violation of these laws would not only be removal from the residence hall, but also expulsion from the university.

The Arizona Students Association is opposing these attempts by Rep. McGrath to micro-manage the universities and return to the days of in loco parentis, where the university takes the place of the parents even though students are of the age of legal consent. These bills would return Arizona schools to the status of an oversized baby sitter, wrongly limiting the complete and well-rounded university educational opportunities.

ASA is taking a stance to lobby against these bills at the legislative level, but hearing from the students is a must to change their course. Please call, fax, write, or e-mail your legislators to express your opinion, or e-mail the Arizona Students Association at uaasa@mail.azstudents.org and we will forward your concerns to the legislature.

Derick Kurdy

Lauren Williams

Kelly Dalton

Arizona Students Association Directors

Francisco V. Aguilar

Student Body President