ÎChoreographed efforts' at tuition hearings frustrate some regents

The Arizona Board of Regents president has some advice for students planning to address the board at its tuition hearing tonight: Speak for yourselves.

Board President Chris Herstam said he's been frustrated in the past by what he perceives as "choreographed efforts" by student leaders to pack the hearings with people furthering identical interests.

And he's hoping they'll stop.

Such a strategy is counterproductive, Herstam said. He's more persuaded by students speaking on their own behalf based on personal experience.

"I am hoping that a more diversified group of students participates in the upcoming tuition hearing," Herstam said.

The hearing, which will take place from 5 to 7 tonight, is the only opportunity for students to speak directly to the regents about proposed tuition hikes.

Associated Students of the University of Arizona President J.P. Benedict said he hasn't asked his lobbyists to speak out on behalf of their proposal, which would raise resident tuition by $400, as opposed to the $490 under President Peter Likins' plan.

Both plans also call for nonresident tuition to rise by $700.

Rather than try to overwhelm regents with a cavalcade of lobbyists mimicking each other, Benedict said student leaders will step aside and allow other students to speak their minds.

"That's really what the board of regents has stressed this year," he said.

At the hearing three years ago, two student government senators and another senator-elect, along with the student body president, advocated low tuition increases.

At last year's hearing, a few leaders of student organizations spoke, including representatives from the Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic Council, as well as the Graduate and Professional Student Council. A group of activists also presented a list of demands about appropriate use of the income.

Each year, the student body presidents from all three universities are also allowed time to present their own proposals.

Tonight's hearing serves as an important informational meeting for regents, some of whom say past hearings have helped them decide how to vote.

"It has had an effect," Regent Christina Palacios said.

But she agreed that in the past, the message has been diluted when long lines of students simply rehash the same message.

"I think it's much more effective to have one person deliver the message articulately and intelligently · than to have many, many people come up and say exactly the same thing without any depth," she said.

Though Likins' and the lobbyists' proposals only differ by $90, Palacios said it's too soon to rule out a tuition increase of less than $400 or more than $490. She won't make up her mind until she's had more chances to study the effects of the different proposals.

Regent Fred Boice said he doesn't expect the increase to be less than $400, but won't make up his mind until after the hearing.

"We want to keep the universities affordable," Boice said.

Students from Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University will also participate in the conference, though for the first time, those students may see their tuition increased by a different amount than the UA. That's another reason tonight's hearing is so important, Herstam said.

He said the variety of opinions from the three universities will be more "enlightening" than in the past, when each university faced identical increases.

Tonight's hearing will take place by videoconference, with two sites at the UA. In Room 211 of the Harvill building, students can watch and participate via videoconference, and in Room 127 of the Douglass building, students can watch the video and participate by phone.

The hearing will also be televised on Channel 76 for Cox and Comcast cable subscribers.

Regents will set tuition when they meet March 11-12 at the UA.