It's the job of a university to try to change people's personal habits when it comes to smoking? Some might say that the university should stay out of the individual student's personal choices, especially if they aren't doing anything illegal.

But universities and anti-smoking advocates contend that because a university is a public place it has responsibilities to all parties involved, both smokers and non-smokers. And because smokers negatively affect the health of everyone around them, their behavior should be regulated. [Read article]

Located at the center of the university, the Student Union Memorial Center has come to be the nerve center of Wildcat culture, but it is also the subject of continuing controversy as a new $20 student union fee proposed by the University of Arizona Dining Services has spawned fresh debate.

This fee, if approved by the Arizona Board of Regents, may be on the horizon as a student referendum. Proposed as an alternative to the mandatory meal plan, the fee is designed to pay maintenance costs, finance the debt and bonds that the unions were constructed with, and expand the number of programs that the unions offer. But with college costs already soaring, do we really need another student fee? [Read article]

New students need safety information

I would like to register my disgust over the New Student Orientation Task Force's decision to remove campus safety presentations from the set of mandatory orientations new students receive at the UA. Of all students, first-year students are most vulnerable to becoming victims of any sort of crime, from property crimes to sexual assault. The paltry 20 minutes that both the OASIS Program and the University of Arizona Police Department received was barely sufficient to communicate the most important things that new students can do to increase their safety and seek services. By making these presentations non-mandatory, the UA shows its lack of real concern for the safety of students. It seems it is far more important to move students in and out of the system than it is to make sure their time as students is as safe as possible. [Read article]