Not all students are fortunate enough to graduate from college and immediately step into a job handling a budget of more than $100,000 for a lobbying organization.

That is exactly what Christine Thompson did.

Through friends, she became involved in the Associated Students of the University of Arizona. Soon thereafter, she became an Arizona Students' Association delegate for then-Associated Students President Ben Driggs.

She also spent a semester as an education committee intern in the Arizona State House of Representatives. It led to her to focus on education.

"Being on the education committee was great," said Thompson in a phone interview from ASA's central office in Tempe. "That led to more interest in education."

A 17-year resident of Arizona, Thompson graduated from the UA in May with a degree in political science. As its 16th executive director, Thompson handles ASA's $127,600 budget for the 1996-97 academic year.

If retained next year, Thompson may be responsible for a budget of approximately $200,000, when an overhaul of the association's funding is complete in the fall.

Its current structure requires ASA to request funding from the Arizona Board of Regents, which it lobbies. Once an amount is approved, the amount is divided into thirds to be paid by each of the state's three public universities: Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University and the University of Arizona.

Under the new system, each student would contribute an additional $1 fee per semester. Just over 100,000 students attend Arizona universities every semester, creating an annual budget of over $200,000.

Thompson said the refundable fee will greatly increase ASA's accountability to students.

"Though all the plans have yet to be worked out, we are planning to come up with a way to give some of that money back to students, perhaps in the form of scholarships," Thompson said. "Students can rest assured that every penny will be used to assist students."

According to ASA figures, 50,000 students have registered to vote since it began the Students Are Voting Everywhere (SAVE) campaign.

Thompson said issues advocated by ASA directly impact students' lives, which is why the voter registration and education programs are important to ASA.

"Students need to be involved in all elections from the student body elections, Arizona Legislature, congress and president," she said. "This empowers the students we represent."

As for Thompson, she said she plans to go to law school in a couple of years. For now, her focus is on education.

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Wildcat Web Links: The Arizona Student's Association homepage describes the organization and what it does.

http://www.asa.asu.edu

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