Likins: 1st year was good, ready to start 2nd

Leigh-Anne Brown Arizona Daily Wildcat Journalism junior Jen Bass interviews UA President Peter Likins for KAMP Student Radio yesterday. During the interview, Likins explained to students his priorities for the upcoming year.

"I feel very good about the first year," Likins said during the noontime interview with KAMP news director Jenny Weinstein and radio news anchor Jen Bass.

Likins said he achieved the goals he set for his rookie year at the University of Arizona - learning how the university operates and developing relationships with students and faculty, as well as Arizona's lawmakers and body politic.

Likins said he now hopes to move on to more substantive administrative matters.

"I plan to focus more on budget and management issues during the second year," he said.

Likins said his top priorities for the 1998-99 academic year are increasing financial aid opportunities, improving available technology at the UA and compensating staff and faculty for their hard work.

"Financial aid is a very high priority for this president," he said. "Even though we have the third lowest tuition fee in the country, the UA is still not accessible to many people."

The $8,000 or $9,000 required to live each year while attending the university often prevents college hopefuls from enrolling at the UA, he said.

Likins also explained why he asked the Arizona Board of Regents to raise tuition 5 percent for next year, and alluded to the complex system of governance that limits his power as president.

"It's wishful thinking to hope the state budget would have provided the UA enough money so they wouldn't have to raise tuition," he said.

Likins said he is still learning how to deal with Arizona's intricate system of faculty, administrators, board of regents and legislators - a big change from his days as president of Lehigh University, a small private college in Pennsylvania.

"It's a much more complicated process here," he said.

Likins ended the interview by saying he does not consider controversies such as the CatCard issue a sign of failure.

"Anyone who chooses this job has to expect some turbulence," he said.

While he said controversy comes with the territory for a university president, Likins hopes his quick response time and willingness to admit error will help him gain the student body's trust.

"We said, 'You're right, we made a mistake, and we're sorry,'" he said.