Greeks do provide hands-on service

We at Habitat for Humanity Tucson are very grateful for the current hands-on community-service support that we receive from the greek community at the UA. Usually every Saturday we have members of the greek community volunteering at one of our homebuilding sites. Of course, we can always use more support!

And in fact, one extraordinary opportunity to conveniently provide support will happen next school year.

In the January-April 2006 timeframe, Habitat for Humanity Tucson will build a Habitat house on the campus of the University of Arizona. UA campus leadership is very supportive of this endeavor, as President Likins has established a steering committee to lead this effort under the direction of UA Senior Vice President for Campus Life Dr. Saundra Taylor. The house built on campus will be a moveable home, designed by UA architecture students. We hope that the house will be built and paid for by all members of the campus community, including both students and alumni in the UA's greek community. The house will be built on-campus to be approximately 75 percent finished by the end of April 2006, when it will be moved to its final destination to a nearby neighborhood and completed by community volunteers and the Habitat homeowner family.

Through this on-campus Habitat build, we hope to engage all members of the UA community in the cause of affordable housing, in hands-on philanthropy and community-service, and in lending a hand to a hard-working low-income family who isn't looking for charity but an investment by the community in their future. Habitat looks forward to working with the UA community and the Habi-Cats, the UA student chapter of Habitat for Humanity Tucson, on this exciting project. And it is our hope that the greek community will play a big leadership role in this endeavor. Stay tuned for news about this project as the fall semester approaches!

Michael McDonald
Executive Director
Habitat for Humanity Tucson

Glad Napolitano vetoed budget

This past Monday, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano vetoed the budget handed to her by the Republican-led legislature, and rightfully so. The vetoed bills totally disregarded the need to continue to move Arizona forward, as the Governor has promised. In fact, the vetoed budget would have made Arizona's prosperity come to a screeching halt with its lack of funding for childcare and child protective services and gives no funding for corrections officer salary increases. Rather, it raids the rainy day fund and prevents the state from obtaining an expected surplus of $300 million as would be the case under the governor's proposed budget. Gov. Napolitano's budget not only allocates funding for the above mentioned items not included in the Republican budget, but also expands funding for voluntary full day kindergarten, invests in a new UA medical school, and restores the Department of Water Resources so Arizona can deal with the issues we have concerning water.

Gov. Napolitano is committed to moving Arizona forward and will work with Republicans to pass a bill that is not placed on the backs of Arizona children.

David Martinez III
secondary education sophomore

Investment accounts won't save Social Security

I fail to see how Mr. Bush's personal investment accounts will save Social

Security, as reported in the Wildcat yesterday. Assuming the Social Security trust fund will go insolvent, how does an investment account bring money into the system? Investing is all well and good for the individual, and I applaud those who do so. Profit is good.

There are two ways to fix the problem: cut benefits or change the tax structure.

A person making $90,000 pays 12.5 percent or $11,250 in Social Security tax. Someone making $500,000 pays that same $11,250 or 2.25 percent because income over $90,000 is not taxed for Social Security. Does this sound fair to anyone? If we all paid into the fund at the same percentage rate, I think the problem likely would be solved. This requires politicians with the courage to vote the change into law and for voters to elect politicians who will face the problem. I think Mr. Bush's smoke and mirrors will not work. What will happen is that money taken out of the system for investment by the individual will hasten the system's downfall for those who don't invest. Those who will profit the most from Mr. Bush's scheme are the stockbrokers and their companies who charge fees whether the investor wins or loses.

Sam Marion
physiology research specialist

Greeks do service but don't get press for it

I'm Clayton Edwards and I am currently the philanthropy chair for the Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI) fraternity, and I agree with what you say about the greek system needing to do more community service. Sometimes, though, the amount of community service the greek system performs is left unknown. At least left unknown outside of my fraternity. We have worked with the Ronald McDonald House and have cleaned a mile of the I-10. We are in the process of legally obtaining an adopt-a-mile on the I-10 to further perform community service. Holding my position for over a year, I started a program last spring where FIJI members coach kids at the Loase Downtown YMCA. We coached three basketball teams for the spring season and this past fall we coached three more teams. This fall I increased our coaching program because some of my brothers wanted to coach soccer. I contacted the Tucson Mountain Soccer League and we found two teams to coach. So, in total we had 14 brothers help coach five teams this past fall semester. I am telling you this because I don't want or care for any formal recognition of community service, I feel it should be done to feel good about helping the community and not with a goal to receive the recognition from people around the community.

Furthermore, I give thanks to Mayo Thompson who was the coordinator at the YMCA for the basketball program. He is a UA student and did this for the same reason I did this. The YMCA and many other community service organizations should be freely advertised in the Daily Wildcat to help foster more voluntary service from not only the greek community, but also from the whole UA community as well. I am glad you wrote this article and hopefully we can see more articles like this to develop thoughts in people's minds that volunteering for community service builds character in any person.

Clayton Edwards
regional development junior

ASUA confused by the Voice of Graduate and Professional Students

In the Wildcat article March 9 regarding the Arizona Board of Regents' tuition setting, a number of present and former Associated Students of the University of Arizona insiders made the argument that differences in the ASUA and Graduate and Professional Student Council tuition proposals were creating confusion for the regents.

The fact is that the undergraduate ASUA representatives made a tuition proposal that was unfavorable and unfair to graduate and professional students. It is not surprising that the GPSC would not endorse such a proposal. I doubt anyone would be confused by the fact that graduates and professionals don't want to pay more tuition than undergraduates. Moreover, the regents are familiar with the difference between the graduate and undergraduate student voice. There was also a difference in the proposals put forth by the graduate and undergraduate student leaders at Arizona State University.

The basic problem with the ASUA tuition proposal was a failure to understand the demographics of the graduate and professional student body. In the end, the ASUA proposal sought to place the burden for next year's increase in teaching assistant and resident assistant tuition remission on professional students and graduate students that are not TAs or RAs.

ASUA insiders also stated that the case for their proposal was weakened by the competing GPSC proposal. As a graduate student, I hope so. The ASUA proposal is one that is unfavorable to graduates and professionals, and I hope that the voice of graduate and professional students will have some influence on the decision of the regents.

The GPSC proposal received support from some of the major graduate and professional student organizations on campus, including the Master of Business Administration Student Association and the English Graduate Student Union.

Paul Thorn
philosophy graduate student