GPSC discusses Hispanic student enrollment, Visa Reform Petition

There was much debate during last night's ASUA senate meeting concerning a special club funding request made by Phi Alpha Delta, a professional, co-ed, pre-law fraternity.

The organization asked for $1,388 in order to supplement the costs of holding their annual law fair on Oct. 9 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The event allows students and members of the community to meet and talk with law school representatives from around the nation. Last year, 400 to 500 students participated in the event.

Senators questioned the amount requested since the organization already had a well-established budget and the funds necessary to pay for the event.

Sirena Roberts, Phi Alpha Delta representative, told senators that the money from members' dues would not be available until after the event occurred.

Senators eventually decided on removing the $100 requested for party city, thus approving $1,184 to be used by the club for the law fair.

Senators approved $5,723.56 in initial funding for 63 clubs, out of the 431 recognized club at the UA that requested funding to supplement club start-up costs.

Senator Jacob Rueban questioned the $148.00 in initial funding that was allocated to Chain Gang Junior Honorary since they had just received the club of the month award, which included $25 for fast copy and $25 for pizza.

Senator Blake Buchanan responded by saying that the funding request made by the organization followed all of ASUA's initial funding guidelines and the club had all the mock receipts necessary to determine the exact amount needed. He also said that the awards the club received were not the kind of money that the club needed and requested.

Eventually all of the initial funding given to the clubs during the initial funding process was approved.

Cassiopeia Sonn, physiology sophomore, was approved last night as ASUA's new academic affairs director after the resignation of Angie Arcieri.

Sonn served as a member of freshman class council last year. Her service on the council made her a prime candidate for the job since she will be working closely with Kim Bui, another former council member, who is the other academic affairs director.

The responsibilities of the academic affairs director is to coordinate and supervise ASUA efforts concerning matters relating to campus policy such as core curriculum, academic advising, as well as help students through complicated campus issues.

The Graduate and Professional Student Council met last night to discuss issues that are facing UA graduate students.

One of the more pressing issues was the recruitment of more Hispanic students to the University of Arizona. GPSC President Jani Radebaugh said that though the Hispanic population is lower in Tempe, Arizona State University has a higher Hispanic campus population.

Members of the GPSC made different suggestions about how to change this statistic. One of the ideas brought up was something similar to the Spring Minority Recruitment Day held by the James E. Rogers College of Law.

Hispanic enrollment is up in the College of Law, making the college eligible for more grants.

Another major topic brought up was the Visa Reform Petition. This petition asks the U.S. government to look at how the visa program is working because it is becoming increasingly difficult for students and scholars to obtain and retain their visas while studying in the U.S.

"The main theme of the petition is for people to look at it and decide if it is something that needs to be done," Radebaugh said.

After discussing the issue, the GPSC decided that as a whole, they were in favor of the Visa Reform Petition, though they were going to make amenities to the proposed petition to make it more specific to their beliefs.