Opinions 101: the staff editorial box.
This is the place where the Arizona Daily Wildcat opinions board expresses ourselves Ÿ where we can keep an eye on administration and all of their committees; where we can tell you what we really think about Union renovations, getting rid of tenure, tuition hikes and UA life in general from a student perspective.
If you're new to Tucson or the UA, (or were comatose all last year) we've prepared a list of hot topics A-to-Z worth a second glance.
Affirmative action: the federal government has been hacking away at it and now the states are getting in on it, too. The University of California has done away with all of its Affirmative Action programs and it looks like Arizona could follow suit.
Boards: we care about the Arizona Board of Regents most, as the handful of people who have the last word when it comes to tuition increases, program closures and funding decisions.
Core curriculum: the proposed plan that is supposed to get rid of that mountain of catalogs, booklinks and department requisites by creating universal undergraduate requirements. Question: how will they make it work and when is it supposed to begin?
Delta Chi: the fraternity who lost their recognition, and were subsequently kicked-off campus last year. We are still in the "wait and see" mode as to whether they will regain their fraternity status and rejoin the ranks of Greeks on campus.
Graham, as in the Mt. Graham Telescope project: the ongoing controversy regarding whether the university should build a multi-million dollar telescope on sacred and environmentally fragile Indian land. Recently a Federal Court of Appeals upheld a Federal District court ruling that the UA must conduct an environmental study before constructing the third telescope.
Integrated Instructional Facility: commonly referred to as the "freshman building." After several months of decision-making, it has been earmarked that this new building, designed to accommodate first-year students, be put in a site underneath the Mall. The slated cost for this "academic and intellectual home base" is about $20 million.
Journalism: the department still awaits a final answer from the president's newest batch of committees concerning its destiny. The president postponed his recommendation from early summer to early next year, right around the same time Gov. Symington's newly appointed regents will assume their positions if confirmed by the Senate.
Leaders: campus leaders are packed into a group called the Associated Students of the UA. Question: what did their campaigns promise, and what has been delivered?
Merchants Association; the merchants around the UA have tried unsuccessfully to be part of the All Aboard program, which acts as a debit card for food and other services on campus.
New Campus: Pima County's new university. The campus planners still haven't decided what to call it or where to put it, but they plan to take some new approaches to interdisciplinary education when its doors open in the fall 1996.
President/provosts: Manuel Pacheco runs this camp along with Provost Paul Sypherd. ASUA president Ben Driggs takes care of the student body. Things they say and do usually deserve our attention.
Senate: as in Faculty Senate. A university governing body who help with committees (see introduction) and other decisions concerning faculty.
Tenure: the system by which professors are protected from political retribution if they should teach something someone higher up doesn't like or agree with Ÿ often called academic freedom. When a professor is tenured, it usually means they have solid job security. The system for tenure at the UA is under scrutiny.
Union: new director Dan Adams plans to make the Student Union as important as any other building on campus Ÿ either through renovation or rebuilding.
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