Affirm This II: Get up, stand up

Upon further consideration, we still hate it. We're not alone.

All three university presidents have signed a letter telling the measure's sponsor, Scott Bundgaard, R-Phoenix, how much they hate it. After all, Senate Concurrent Resolution 1005 would eradicate the recruitment and retention services the university has to help minority students. Thousands would be affected.

Thousands would be hurt.

Students here, Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University would suffer.

Yet there is no resolution pending in the Associated Students Senate to oppose the measure. There isn't one supporting it, either. Once again, ASUA has the opportunity to lead and ASUA does nothing.

And it doesn't end there.

The group that calls itself the voice for Arizona's 100,000 college students also stands mute. That's right, our very own Arizona Student Association has said nothing about the issue. Executive Director Christine Thompson says the groups board is looking at the measure.

Right now, Sen. Bundgaard doesn't have the votes to get the bill moved forward. But, According to a Capitol Media Services report published yesterday, Bundgaard plans an attack on the moderate Republicans who stand in the way of his cynical, grandstanding plan.

Without a student statement, the arguments over the bill are occurring in a vacuum. There is no one supporting our university presidents and no one debating them. The student leaders of this state have simply chosen to abdicate their responsibility to speak.

The voice of 35,000 people is strong, the voice of 100,000 people even stronger, so why is our leadership mute? We're not asking ASUA and ASA to come out against the measure. We're asking them to say something other than "We're studying the issue."

Quite frankly, this story has been well reported in this paper and in others around the state. We know what the measure could do to student services. If ASUA and ASA think that's a good thing and prefer that students attend homogenous institutions, so be it. If they want to allow a piece of legislation that flies in the face of everything public education stands for, if that's what they think the students want, fine.

We think that if SCR 1005 would terminate funding for programs like the Center for Disability Related Resources, or Strategic Alternative Learning Techniques, ASUA and ASA would be leading the fight. We fear that when it comes to issues of "race, sex, color or national origin" the student political leaders of the Arizona university system, would rather let the grown-ups take care of the problem. They'd rather not stand up and be counted.