By Aaron Mackey
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Tuesday May 6, 2003
Executive officers choose new cabinet members
When the appointed positions of the Associated Students of the University of Arizona were announced yesterday, the list contained a mix of both new and old faces.
Barring ASUA senate approval of all appointed positions tomorrow, 11 of the 13 positions in President J.P. Benedict's cabinet could be returning ASUA members.
Benedict said he is excited to work with all his cabinet members, new and old, adding that he had a hard time making decisions regarding the appointments.
"I was lucky enough to be blessed with too many good people who applied," he said. "I'm happy with everybody."
Not only have many of Benedict's cabinet members been involved in ASUA in previous years ÷ like Junior Alexis Coury who served last year as outreach development director and will now work as ASA director, and former senator Dan Suh, who will serve as Elections Commissioner ÷ some are returning to their familiar posts.
Senior Cale Miller will come back as treasurer for the third time in as many years. Current special events director and senior Sarah Calvert, also returns to her position.
Along with experience, Benedict has brought in new blood, like freshman Kim Bui, to his cabinet. Bui was a member of the Freshman Class Council this year, which Benedict directed, and will now serve as co-director of academic affairs, a position that will require her to coordinate ASUA efforts unrelated to the UA budget.
Benedict, during his campaign, promised to allow his directors some latitude in their decision-making, a promise he vows to keep.
He hopes to help motivate his directors and give cooperative guidance to them, but in the end the directors will have freedom in their actions.
Peter Wand, the UA's first spirit director, will take advantage of Benedict's "freedom policy," especially since he has certain plans for his position, which he helped create.
According to Wand, since the position is new there are very few rules that determine what the spirit director will do.
However, Wand is responsible for the Zona Zoo, a program he started last semester as an ASUA senator.
Last week, it was announced that to be a Zona Zoo member, students will have to pay $35 to receive free admission to athletic events and entry into a lottery for men's basketball tickets. In addition, Wand intends to hold Zona Zoo meetings twice a month.
With the freedom of the position, he hopes to increase collaboration between ASUA, the athletics department's sports marketing organization and Arizona Allegiance.
In strengthening those connections, Wand said he hopes to establish a tradition of school spirit through pep rallies for all sports.
"The minute we get (students) sold on athletic spirit, we can transfer that spirit to the university," he said.
In addition to increasing school spirit, Wand hopes to bolster student attendance at all sporting events.
With input and cooperation from the athletics department, Wand wants to implement student incentives for attending games, such as T-shirt giveaways and student fan nights, where students would receive a discounted ticket price.
The short term goals of increasing attendance at all athletic events are the beginnings of a process toward implementing a student reward system for men's basketball tickets in the future.
"Athletics is one of the great pride things that the university has," Wand said.
The system, in which points are given to students for attending all sporting events, has been successfully implemented in schools such as Stanford and Illinois.
"The more the club grows, the more opportunity there is to start the point system," Wand said.
While Benedict and Wand hope to increase school spirit, Executive Vice President Melanie Rainer hopes to make the voice of clubs and organizations louder, an effort that more than 40 people were interested in being a part of.
Rainer said positions in her cabinet were the most highly applied-for area in ASUA.
As Rainer could only hire 16 people for the appropriations board, club advocates, club events coordinator, club development director and administrative assistant, there was a great deal of competition for the positions.
"I really had highly qualified people apply," Rainer said.
Rainer said she encouraged those who applied but did not receive positions to work within ASUA in other capacities.
Only one person appointed to Rainer's cabinet had already worked within ASUA.
However, Rainer said this isn't unusual, as many people get their start in ASUA clubs and organizations.
Rainer said she hopes that by keeping people involved in ASUA, a sense of cohesiveness can be established in the organization. Not only in areas under her control, but throughout all of ASUA.
"I think it's going to be a great year. J.P.'s cabinet is an excellent group of individuals. They'll all be working for the benefit of the students," Rainer said.
Administrative Vice President Victoria Ruan said she also looked to bring in a diverse blend of people who had either no previous experience with ASUA or have been involved in the past.
Ruan is responsible for 13 programs and services, including SafeRide, Pride Alliance and the Women's Resource Center, among others.
"It definitely is a good mix of people who have been involved, and who have not been involved, and who want this opportunity," she said.
Former senator and executive vice presidential candidate Scott Cheney will serve as co-director for the Student Health Advisory Council, which works with Campus Health to organize health prevention and promotion activities. Ruan said she is anxious to work with her new directors, and is ready to start getting work done.
"I'm really excited to see them and interact with them for the first time," she said.
