JESSICA LEE/Arizona Daily Wildcat ASUA Senator Jered Mansell, public administration freshman Kevin Ganser, ASUA Speakers Board Director Elizabeth Young and UA's ASA co-director Denny Marta hold signs at the "Failing Our Future" rally held yesterday at the State Capitol in Phoenix. The rally was meant to convince state legislators that higher education needs to become a priority in Arizona.

State legislators, student leaders ask state to re-examine its higher education policies

PHOENIX - About 50 students from Arizona's three state universities rallied yesterday at the state Capitol, attempting to convince legislators of the importance of higher education.

Maceo Brown, executive director of the Arizona Students' Association, said the rally - called "Failing Our Future" - was the beginning of a statewide campaign to lobby the Legislature to improve higher education.

"The support for universities has gone on a decline," he said. "I fear that UA will eventually become a second-rate institution."

ASA sponsored the rally, where student leaders and state representatives had the opportunity to take the microphone for an hour to speak about their frustrations over budget cuts, tuition hikes and comparatively low faculty salaries.

Their main complaint is that Gov. Jane Dee Hull is not making Arizona universities as high a priority as K-12 education.

"This issue can make or break Arizona - not just K-12," said Democratic Rep. Linda Lopez, a UA graduate. "If we cut the legs out from under (university students), we are endangering our state. We are endangering our country.

"We can't keep talking about cutting. At some point, we have to increase revenue. We aren't going to take this lying down."

Democratic Sen. Harry Mitchell encouraged students to voice their concerns when voting.

"Don't just hold signs and write letters," he said. "(Legislators) only see the light when they feel the heat."

Jenny Rimsza, co-director of the UA branch of ASA, said universities are crucial to the state's economy.

"The state is committing economic suicide," she said.

She said with the population of Arizona expected to grow from about 5 million to more than 8 million by 2020, student lobbyists want the state to take steps to plan for the influx of students the universities will see.

"Universities have been under-funded for too long," she said.

The rally comes after months of university budget cuts, which slashed more than $16 million from the UA's budget to compensate for a state deficit.

UA student leaders said this is one of the many reasons why students must band together to protect higher education.

Sara Halverson, a delegate for ASA at Northern Arizona University, said one step toward getting more attention focused on universities is educating student on tuition issues.

Next month, tuition for the 2002-2003 academic year will be set.

UA President Peter Likins has proposed raising tuition by at least 10 percent and is expected to release an official number in early April.

ASA has so far avoided taking a position on tuition arguments, but Rimsza said directors are gearing up for debates. Historically, the group has pushed for no tuition increase.

"The best financial aid for students right now is low tuition," Rimsza said.

The Arizona Board of Regents will set tuition at a meeting on April 25-26.

Rimsza said UA administrators, including Likins and Provost George Davis, have been supportive of the "Failing Our Future" campaign.

But yesterday's rally continued to steer clear of tuition issues and instead focused on broader education issues.

Kevin Ganser, a UA public administration freshman, went to the rally at the Capitol because he wanted his voice to be heard.

"I want to know why (the state) let it get this bad and didn't see that there was a problem," he said.