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(04/30/13 12:30am)
While the U.S. Supreme Court decides the future of marriage equality and Congress pushes forward a bipartisan immigration reform plan, one Arizona group has decided to bridge the two issues.
(04/25/13 10:30pm)
The campaign to recall Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio faces tough odds in its quest to collect 335,000 signatures by May 30 to end Arpaio's 20-year career as sheriff.
(04/24/13 3:00am)
A panel of U.S. veterans and ASU professors discussed the future of America’s defense spending in the Memorial Union on the Tempe campus Tuesday night.Lt. Gen. Benjamin Freakley, who spent 36 years in the U.S. Army and serves as special advisor to ASU President Michael Crow for leadership initiatives, said the U.S.’s deficit spending threatens the country’s national security.
“Without a strong economy, we don’t have a strong diplomacy, and without strong diplomacy, we have to use our military more,” Freakley said. “One of our vital national interests is the economy.”
Freakley moderated Tuesday's discussion, which included three veterans and an ASU professor.
He criticized President Barack Obama’s 2013 proposed military budget cuts, which he said could be $1 trillion. He said budget cuts should be made in other areas of the federal budget, not military spending.
“This is the first time we’ve downsized the military during war,” Freakley said. “Do we want to put the men and women of our military in harm’s way?”
The rest of the veterans on the panel agreed with Freakley that it was important to maintain a powerful military to defend security, and that wasteful spending in other areas was harming national security.
The discussion was part of the college tour of the Concerned Veterans for America, an organization that opposes defense budget cuts. The audience consisted mostly of cadets from ROTC.
Mike Mitchell, the Arizona director for the organization, said it is important to educate college students about the pressing issue of defense cuts.
“We feel there is a need to bring perspectives to students on issues like economic freedom, defense spending and entitlement reform,” Mitchell said.
Sheldon Simon, a professor at the ASU School of Politics and Global Studies, challenged the notion that the U.S. could not afford to make cuts to its defense budget.
“The U.S.’s defense budget is $520 billion, more than the next 16 countries spend on defense,” Simon said. “Most of which are our allies.”
All of the panelists said the core of the debate is determining the definition of vital U.S. security interests. Simon said the U.S. may not be able to afford getting involved in conflicts that aren’t absolutely vital to U.S. security.
“It costs the U.S. $1 million per troop in Afghanistan,” Simon said. “Are we prepared to pay that kind of money for activity that may or may not protect our vital interests? War is declining, because it no longer pays.”
Martin Sepulveda, a commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve, said the uncertainty of the future of the defense budget presents important questions for the next generation of soldiers.
“Maybe we need to ask ourselves what national defense really is,” Sepulveda said. “The biggest threat to our security is debt and over-spending.” Reach the reporter at jwthrall@asu.edu or follow him @jthrall1
(04/23/13 1:11am)
Each year, hundreds of students from many West campus majors have to take a public speaking course, which requires them to perform speeches in front of all of their classmates . Students who are afraid to speak in front of others can find comfort in a public speaking training program and lab, the Communication Assessment and Learning Lab. Political science and communication sophomore Ashley Johnson, a CALL student mentor, said she was a mentee in the program as a freshman and her love of the program was one of the reasons she came back as a mentor.“It was awesome to come here and have mentors help me,” Johnson said. “The mentors were so helpful to me that I knew it was something I wanted to do.”Johnson won the West campus Free Speech and Citizenship speech contest her freshman year. She said now that she is a mentor, she is enjoying helping others.“Being a mentor has been so fun,” Johnson said. “We build a really great community here.”The lab received national recognition this month for becoming just the eighth mentoring program in the U.S. to be certified by the National Association of Communication Centers.Since it opened in 2003, the mentoring program has grown to 17 student mentors, four graduate student directors and a faculty director. The CALL mentors are all undergraduate students who have experience in public speaking and dedicate at least six hours every week to mentoring fellow students.
CALL Faculty Director Bonnie Wentzel said the program’s certification sets up an efficient model for the future and enhances the lab’s credibility.
“It means our peers around the country recognize that we put in the work to get this certification,” Wentzel said. “It also makes our center more sustainable, no matter who is in it.”
NACC is an organization that supports college communication centers around the U.S. To receive NACC certification, the CALL staff had to fill out an application evaluating the lab’s procedures and staff selection and training. Wentzel said completing the application helped her and the rest of the staff establish the lab's ideal design.
“The students get a lot out of it, because they become better public speakers, and the people who are mentors get more experience as well,” Wentzel said. “Mostly people are more confident, which is the first step.”
The lab is open to any student enrolled in one of five communication classes, including public speaking. When students arrive at their first scheduled meeting with a CALL mentor, they are asked to practice a speech while being filmed. The students then watch the footage with their mentors and discuss how they performed. All public speaking students are required to visit CALL.
Communications graduate student Ana Terminel Iberri, a CALL graduate student director, said the lab continues to improve and the certification is a big step for its growth.
“It legitimizes our program," Terminel Iberri said. "We must be doing something right. It’s setting us up with structure, and it’s giving us that stamp of approval we needed.”
Terminel Iberri, who is nearing the end of her two-year assignment as graduate student director, said students typically return to the lab four or five times each semester. She said this is evidence of the lab's success.
“Typically, their experience is so positive that they want to keep coming back,” Terminel Iberri said. “Every student fills out a satisfaction survey, and 99 percent of the time, the comments are positive.”
Terminel Iberri said she is in contact with communication professors, which allows the lab to focus on subjects the students are studying at the time. She said there is usually a dramatic change in students’ public speaking abilities as the year goes on.
“We start off the year with people being very nervous to speak publically,” Terminel Iberri said. “As the semester goes on, they become much more confident.”Reach the reporter at jwthrall@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @Jthrall1
(04/21/13 6:25pm)
Students gathered outside of the Tempe campus Memorial Union on Wednesday to compete in the fourth annual ASU joint-rolling contest and raise public support for marijuana legalization.
Students for Liberty, College Republicans at ASU and Young Americans for Liberty at ASU hosted the event, where students rolled joints filled with legal substances, such as the damiana herb and tobacco.
Business freshman Jacob Pritchett, the president of Young Americans for Liberty, said the joint-rolling contest was a way to reel people into conversation about the issue of marijuana legalization.
"It's a very provocative device, because it looks like what people do to smoke marijuana," Pritchett said. Participants in the contest were judged on the quality of the joint they rolled, and the winner received a $40 pipe."We're not promoting drug use," Pritchett said. "We're just promoting the right to do what you want with your body."
Signs, including one depicting Dwight Schrute from "The Office" assessing the failure of drug prohibition, hung from tables at the event.
Club members approached students around the MU and shouted, “Roll a joint, make a point.”
Pritchett said many Republicans are against the legalization of marijuana, but the party is realizing that the focus on marijuana is a waste of resources.
"When you have cops that are going after people for smoking a joint, they are diverting energy away from other crimes," Pritchett said. Pritchett said he does not smoke marijuana but agrees with legalizing it because of his philosophical beliefs."No matter what you put in your body, you're responsible for your own actions," Pritchett said.
Students For Liberty also used the contest to advocate for a city of Tempe ordinance that would take some of the heat off of marijuana users, said finance senior Blaine Thiederman, the group's president.
Thiederman said he authored the ordinance because marijuana is too high of a priority for Tempe police officers who will take immediate action if they smell or suspect pot usage.
“(The ordinance) will lower the priority the city gives to marijuana,” Thiederman said. “If they smell weed and see something else, they will let it go.”
He said there is a social stigma surrounding marijuana that kids are raised to accept. He said the effort to warn kids about marijuana is a waste of time and money.
“If we can get this ordinance passed, it is the first step to legalization,” Thiederman said.
Adam Beck, a computer graphics senior at the University of Advancing Technology and a member of Students for Liberty, said he does not smoke marijuana because of his asthma but still believes that everyone has the right to smoke it if they want to.
“Smoking weed is a victimless crime,” Beck said. “If you own your body, you should be allowed to ingest whatever you see fit.”
Beck said conservatives have traditionally supported the legalization of marijuana, but the evangelical church created the stigma that surrounds it today.
“It’s an ironic belief,” Beck said. “Conservatives should be OK with marijuana legalization.”
Reach the reporter at jwthrall@asu.edu or follow him @Jthrall1
(04/17/13 12:31am)
The increase in bee swarms around University campuses has prompted 12 email advisories from the ASU Alerts and Advisory System within the last month.
(04/13/13 7:05pm)
Hip-hop artists, spoken word poets and student activists took the stage of Tempe venue Club Red on Friday night to raise support for disadvantaged Palestinian children.
(04/09/13 11:16pm)
Downtown Undergraduate Student Government:
President: General studies freshman Frank Smith III “This is amazing,” Smith said. “I’m making my dreams come true.”
Vice President of Services: Journalism freshman Marcus Dudas
Vice President of Policy: Nursing freshman Melber MacainanThe ticket won with 54.3 percent of the vote.
Smith said he plans to implement multi-payment parking options for students who can’t afford the semesterly prices, so students can choose a parking plan that works for them.
“A lot of students don’t have between $200 and $800 to pay every semester for parking,” Smith said.
He said he will establish transparency between the student body, USGD and ASU by streaming USGD meetings live, showing what student fees are used for and hosting bi-monthly Q&A; sessions for students to voice their concerns.
“When the students know the people who represent them, they're more inclined to get involved and tell their representatives what they think,” Smith said. “We need that on the Downtown campus, especially since we're growing so quickly.”
Smith said he has been meeting with student organizations and the University, so he can learn what is wanted from him by the student body.
“I can lead; I can represent students at the Capitol and with our faculty, and I've been networking with the people who determine how the University operates,” Smith said.
He said he will sever all ties with the Arizona Students’ Association, because USGD can provide any services ASA can.
“We don’t need the ASA," he said. "We don’t want the ASA."
Macainan said it is important for USGD to be involved with the other ASU student governments and stressed the importance of cooperation.
“ASU, Downtown specifically, is still a growing community, and with that, we want to connect with the other campuses more and establish what works,” Macainan said. “I hope to lessen the notion of ‘everything is in Tempe.’”
Graduate and Professional Student Association:
President: Communication graduate student Megan Fisk won with 86.3 percent of the vote“I love ASU and treasure my time as a student and student leader,” Fisk said. “GPSA needs a leader who will be one step ahead, able to anticipate the changes that will come to post-graduate education. I am this leader.”
Vice President of Internal Affairs: Special education doctoral student Lisa Lacy
Vice President of External Affairs: Second year psychology doctoral student German CadeñasVice President of Professional Development: Second year communication studies and advocacy student Jason StrikerGPSA will celebrate its 10-year anniversary in the fall, and Fisk said she will launch a planning process to determine what has worked for GPSA in the past and what can be done to guarantee that the next 10 years are good for graduate students. She said she will launch an innovation challenge to inspire students to come up with alternative methods of funding for GPSA.
“I will work to expand funding opportunities for individuals and student organizations by looking for alternative revenue, such as selling GPSA's intellectual property,” Fisk said.
She said she will improve ASU’s Writing Centers, so they address the needs of graduate students by establishing support groups and a mass tutoring center.
Fisk said the Writing Centers are designed for undergraduate students who are learning how to write college essays, but graduate students need their entire, often lengthy, essays read all the way through. She said support groups allow graduate students to read each other’s work and help each other succeed.
“We want things that are going to help us be better in the field we’ve chosen,” Fisk said.
Lacy said she will use her new position to educate graduate students about available programs, of which they may not be aware, particularly travel grants for conferences and professional trips.
“As a recipient of a travel grant, I want to make sure all graduate and professional students have the same opportunity as I have had in receiving a travel grant for a conference,” Lacy said. “I will make sure that the graduate student website has constant reminders of the travel grants.”
Cadeñas said he plans to increase the amount of civic engagement conducted by ASU graduate students.
“I am very passionate about student advocacy, “Cadeñas said. “I want to see more social justice oriented projects, which is something we have seen increase in the last couple of years, but we can do more.
Undergraduate Student Government Polytechnic:
President: Operations management and technology junior Franz Ferguson
“I will improve the relationship between our students and their individual experiences with ASU so that when they leave this University, they can honestly say what it meant to be a Sun Devil rather than just attending school for a degree," Ferguson said.Vice President of Services: Mechanical engineering junior Jhonathan Rendon
Vice President of Policy: Applied computer science junior Jason Scribner
The Ferguson ticket ran uncontested.
Ferguson said it is crucial for USGP to improve the roads around the Polytechnic campus that are in disrepair.
“We are really working on getting the roads paved,” Ferguson said. “Students cannot even ride their bikes and their longboards on them.”
Ferguson said he will also work with Aramark to improve the dining experience at the Polytechnic campus.
“Students get sick of the same old food,” Ferguson said. “We want to establish some variety and improve the quality of the dining.”
Ferguson said it is important for him to be familiar to students, so that the relationship between the student body and USGP can flourish.
“I want the students of this University to be aware of and grasp all the opportunities this establishment has to offer,” Ferguson said. “I really hope I can give them whatever they want out of their student experience.”
Scribner said he has faith in the current generation of college students who will be responsible for the future of the country, and USGP can have impact on their college experience.
“I believe I can help elevate and motivate the student population to succeed in their college experience, because then they will succeed ever more when they graduate,” Scribner said. “That will be the silver lining for ASU and its students.”
Tempe Undergraduate Student Government:
President: Political science sophomore Jordan Davis “It was an amazing experience to win the election,” Davis said. “All of the hard work we did paid off. I’m really excited to get started, and I’m really thankful for everyone that voted for me.”
Vice President of Services: Psychology and biology sophomore Adam Silverman
Vice President of Policy: Public service and public policy and women and gender studies junior Casey Clowes
Davis and his ticket won with 50.4 percent of the vote.
Davis was endorsed by student members of the Arizona Board of Regents, Tyler Bowyer and Kaitlin Thompson, and current Tempe USG president Mark Naufel, who said he was pleased with the election process and result.
“It was a good turnout, and it was pretty close election,” Naufel said. “I saw a lot students really involved. I’m happy for the Davis ticket. I’m proud and excited for them.”
Davis said he will improve the appropriations process so clubs can use appropriations money received from USG to buy equipment.
“With more than 800 clubs on campus and thousands of students in clubs, this is the best way to reach the most students and make the most change,” Davis said. “We recognize that clubs are a crucial part for the student experience, and we want to do everything we can to help the students.”
Davis said he will continue the efforts of the current administration to push for on-campus Greek living and prevent future contention between ASU Greek life and Tempe residents.
“Greek life offers a lot to the University,” Davis said. “It would be really great to have them back on the University, where they are more connected.”
Clowes said she would work hard to advocate for ASU students at the state level to fight against tuition hikes and overcome the disparity in funding between Arizona universities.
Silverman said he will work to incorporate test preparation courses for the LSAT, MCAT and GMAT into ASU curriculum to cut costs for students.
“There is no reason that students should pay an additional ($2,000 to $3,000) to prepare themselves for any test,” Silverman said. “Our goal is to allow students to take these classes for credit, thus allowing them to apply their tuition scholarships to these preparation classes.”
Undergraduate Student Government West:
President: Political science and religion and applied ethics sophomore Howard Waldie IV“I believe USG’s role should change to take a more interactive role in participating and helping promote student success, rather than simply acting as a financial institution that gives organizations money,” Waldie said. “The potential that the West campus has, which comes from its students, inspired and continues to inspire me to want to lead this campus.”
Vice President of Services: English and political science sophomore Kyle Lambros
Vice President of Policy: Business major Aleksandra Grozic The ticket won with 76.4 percent of the vote.
Waldie said he will improve USGW’s transparency and increasing student involvement.
“We want to be engaged not just with initiatives, but express results so the students are able to feel the presence of USGW,” Waldie said. “USGW needs to be a part of the positive atmosphere that we create by continually looking for new ways to innovate and streamline our processes.”
Lambros said he plans to establish the role of the Sun Devil Coalition as an opportunity for students at the West campus to get involved.
“I will solidify the Sun Devil Coalition and define its roles and responsibilities clearly for the benefit of the students,” Lambros said. “It will streamline the channels in which students, clubs, organizations, groups, classes, residents, commuters, student workers and the community have their voices heard.”Reach the reporter at jwthrall@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @jthrall1
(04/09/13 3:00am)
Gov. Jan Brewer signed a controversial bill into law on Friday that forbids student organizations from using tuition money to influence elections or legislation. The bill's passage raises questions about the future of the Arizona Students’ Association, a student advocacy group previously funded by a tuition fee.
Rep. John Kavanagh, R- Fountain Hills, said he proposed House Bill 2169 because student groups such as ASA should not use tuition fees to advocate for politics. The bill came as a response to ASA’s use of tuition money to support 2012's failed Proposition 204, which would have extended a 1-cent per dollar sales tax to be used toward education.
“ASA, like all political advocacy groups, should have to find funding on their own dollar and not rely on the government,” Kavanagh said.
The Arizona Board of Regents voted in February to make the $2 semesterly fee ASA collected from Arizona university students voluntary, as opposed to the previous opt-out format.
Kavanagh held the bill back when ABOR took up the issue of the ASA fee but continued to push the bill after the association filed a lawsuit against ABOR in response to its February decision.
ASA board members said they filed the lawsuit because ABOR’s ruling was intended to bar the organization’s right to free speech, which Kavanagh said was an illegitimate argument.
“(ASA's) right to free speech is alive and well,” Kavanagh said. “Their right to free money is suppressed.”
Kavanagh said ASA has been receiving special privileges for years and will have to fundraise like other political advocacy and nonprofit groups do.
“Now they have to compete for money,” Kavanagh said. “Organizations like ASA have a role as long as they do it on their own efforts.”
ASA’s mission statement is to make higher education more affordable and accessible, and the group utilizes political advocacy to achieve this. However, ASA came under scrutiny in 2012 because Proposition 204 was a divided issue that received 36.21 percent of the vote.
In September 2012, three of ASU’s four Undergraduate Student Government presidents resigned from ASA’s Board of Directors because of the group’s use of the fee.
According to ASA’s website, the contributions to Proposition 204 were “well within the organization’s mission.”
Graduate and Professional Student Association President Rhian Stotts, an ASA board member, said she was disappointed with the student governments who should have been more supportive of ASA because of its ability to create positive change for students.
“ASA comes together and provides an opportunity to work with coalition groups around the state,” Stotts said. “That’s the way you get things done.”
Stotts, an anthropology graduate student, said HB 2169's passage will not stop ASA from pursuing its mission, but it does provide challenges for the group.
“My biggest concern with the opt-in fee is how to reach incoming students,” Stotts said. “We’re looking at a lot of different options.”
Stotts said ASA is going to continue to push forward its lawsuit against ABOR and the lawsuit will not be affected by HB 2169.
First-year public policy graduate student Tyler Bowyer, a student regent, said ASA was wrong to use tuition funds the way it did, and ABOR was within its rights to suspend the fee.
“All fees can be implemented and removed by the board,” Bowyer said. “That’s the job of the board.”
Bowyer said ASA’s decision to pursue the lawsuit could hurt its credibility in a time when it needs to be maintaining a desirable image.
“(ASA) needs to position itself as it walks into a new era of having to fundraise,” Bowyer said. “They haven’t done that. It’s senseless.”
Reach the reporter at jwthrall@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter at @Jthrall1
(04/05/13 6:56pm)
Smith is a general studies freshman and is the senator for the University College. His ticket won with 54.3 percent of the votes.
(04/04/13 12:32am)
A proposed Arizona House Bill could streamline the process by which ASU transfers technological research into the marketplace.
(04/02/13 1:37am)
African-American journalist Gwen Ifill told students at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication that the issue of race in journalism has not been solved, and it is essential for the discussion about race to continue.
(03/28/13 1:11am)
University students and faculty differed on a proposed tuition increase at a hearing held by the Arizona Board of Regents on Wednesday evening.
(03/22/13 1:14am)
For the first time the executive candidates of all five ASU student governments debated topics ranging from campus safety to tuition increases at one time.
(03/20/13 12:41am)
It’s election season for the student governments at ASU, and campaign signs are popping up all over ASU’s campuses. Here are the executive candidates for the 2013-14 term:
(03/19/13 9:40pm)
The U.S. Supreme Court is considering the constitutionality of an Arizona law that was proposed to combat voter fraud but has been criticized as anti-immigrant policy. The court heard oral arguments from proponents and opponents of the law on Monday.
(03/07/13 11:06pm)
The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday that a provision of Arizona's controversial immigration law Senate Bill 1070 addressing the hiring of day laborers is unconstitutional because it infringes on their First Amendment rights.
(03/07/13 10:49pm)
Former U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl has joined the faculty at ASU’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law and will begin teaching immediately.
(03/06/13 11:22pm)
On Tuesday, the Tempe Undergraduate Student Government Senate did not overturn the presidential veto of a bill passed by USG on Feb. 19. If passed, Senate Bill 62 would have denied Senate seats to the Barrett Honors College Council.
(03/06/13 12:22am)
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement released approximately 300 illegal immigrants from Arizona detention centers in a move ASU professors and students said could be more political than practical.