An agreement that surfaced yesterday between ASUA presidential candidate Josh Shapiro and a former graduate student council president has come under fire from current and former student leaders.
The deal would guarantee one student lobbyist position for a graduate student and eliminate the Associated Students of the University of Arizona president's role as a representative of graduate students.
The ASUA elections commissioner, Dan Suh, and former ASUA presidents Doug Hartz, Cisco Aguilar and Ray Quintero said yesterday that they were concerned about the deal struck between Shapiro and Peter Morris, last year's president of the Graduate and Professional Student Council who graduated last year.
Suh said although the deal didn't violate the elections code, he said he was upset by it and would not condone it.
"It's a terrible thing," he said.
After realizing the promise was not consistent with ASUA bylaws, Shapiro took back the agreement and made a different promise.
"Since the graduate students aren't represented enough, if a graduate student applies and has a reasonable argument on why they should be in ASA, then I will appoint them," he said. "It gives a fair balance to whoever else applies."
He said if he took office, he would still work hard to lobby for better graduate representation.
Aguilar, a current graduate student who was the ASUA president from 1999 to 2000, was disappointed with the deal because he said the graduate council does a poor job of representing students. He said ASUA should be the voice for all students.
"To separate those responsibilities would be a detriment to both undergraduate and graduate students," he said.
Quintero, who was the ASUA president from 2001 to 2002, said no one should be guaranteed a student lobbyist position. He added that the agreement between Morris and Shapiro hurts the elections process.
"A behind-the-scenes deal takes away a student's ability to elect a person best fit for the job," he said.
Shapiro, who characterizes himself as an ASUA outsider, said he agreed to the deal after meeting with Morris to find out how to court graduate students.
Shapiro said he only met with Morris to see what graduate students have wanted that they haven't received, because he said they are "horribly represented in ASUA."
"The only reason I am running is to make people happy," he said.
But Shapiro's opponent, Alistair Chapman, and the former ASUA presidents said the agreement was unfair to students because it was not consistent with ASUA bylaws and the bylaws for the Arizona Students' Association.
According to ASUA and ASA bylaws, all students must have an equal opportunity to be appointed to a student lobbyist position.
The ASA bylaws state, "Every student in the same class shall have the same rights as and obligations as all other students in that class."
But Morris said his suggestions are completely doable and consistent with the bylaws.
"The ASA bylaws as I read them do not dictate the process used to make appointments," he said.
He said the bylaws only state that all students need equal access to the lobbyist position, and the process of appointment is up to the discretion of the ASUA president.
Morris said it is wrong to characterize the discussions he had with Shapiro as a deal, saying he was merely suggesting ways to gain graduate student votes.
He said he did not guarantee votes. He sent e-mails to five graduate student leaders stating the positions that each presidential candidate had regarding graduate student issues and left the decision of whom to vote for up to the students.
Morris, the director for scholars recruitment, said he met with Shapiro on his own time and did not use university resources.
Morris also recommended that Chapman make the same agreements, but Chapman said he refused because the concessions violated ASUA bylaws.
Nick Green, campaign manager for Chapman, said Chapman was "blackmailed" when Morris said he would not use his connections to endorse Shapiro if Chapman made the same commitments.
He said Morris agreed to use his connections to sway graduate students to vote for Shapiro when Shapiro agreed to make the commitments.
Chapman said Morris is taking advantage of Shapiro's lack of knowledge of ASUA and ASA bylaws.
Morris said those who are criticizing him are only trying to sensationalize a former graduate student leader's recommendations for ASUA presidential candidates.
Today is the last day to vote in ASUA elections. Vote online at asua.arizona.edu.