Unanimous vote rejects 'Bill of Rights'

By Joseph Altman Jr.

Arizona Daily Wildcat

The Graduate and Professional Student Council unanimously rejected the Students' Bill of Rights at its meeting Thursday.

The bill, authored by the Student Senate at the University of Southern California, lists 10 items that the USC senate thinks are rights all students should have. It was approved by the Associated Students of the University of Arizona Undergraduate Senate on Nov. 2 and was given to the GPSC for its approval a week later.

Some of the rights listed in the bill include access to faculty and class evaluations, fee autonomy and a student union run by the students.

After brief discussion, GPSC members expressed concern that the senate and ASUA President T.J. Trujillo were trying to pass the measure too quickly. This made the council reluctant to consider it without further investigation.

By a vote of 20-0 with no abstentions, the council rejected the bill, but GPSC President Mitzi Forbes said that the council will reconsider approving the bill when more information is obtained.

Senate Chairman Brad Milligan said he understood why the council turned down the bill, but also said "the document clearly states they (USC) want it back by the 22nd. They (GPSC) have had it in their possession for a while."

Members of the council said they want to look at other bills that are in place and compare them to the USC bill. GPSC also wants to find out if the rights would actually be beneficial to graduate students.

Milligan said he does not expect the council to bring up the issue again until next semester.

"Even if GPSC winds up inevitably turning it down, we'll proceed with some of the goals that were written up in the bill of rights," Milligan said.

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