1. FCC, church or cult?
By Lauren Renteria
April 15, 2015
Since 1990, Faith Christian Church has operated on the UA campus through Associated Students of the University of Arizona-affiliated clubs Wildcats for Christ, Native Nations in Christ and The Providence Club. Recently, these organizations have faced repercussions for “cult-like” behavior.
The Daily Wildcat first published a story about FCC’s potential cult-like behavior on Oct. 9, 2012. The ASUA clubs’ alleged actions entered the limelight again when the Arizona Daily Star published a story on March 7 with testimonies from more than 20 former FCC members describing the church as a cult.
According to the Arizona Daily Star article, the FCC conditioned its members by “hitting infants with cardboard tubes to encourage submission, financial coercion, alienation from parents, public shaming of members and shunning of those who leave the church or question its leaders.”
The FCC officially lost recognition through the University Religious Council on March 30 after investigating the claims.
On April 8, UA alumnus, former FCC member and former ASUA senator Cody Ortmann presented testimonies from other former members to the senators in a case against the FCC’s ASUA recognition.
The hearing was concluded, but no official decision has been made regarding the FCC’s official status with the UA as a recognized ASUA club.
2. ASUA 2015 Election Result: Bittersweet win
By Adriana Espinosa
March 12, 2015
This year’s ASUA election results announcement was overshadowed with the newly elected ASUA president’s disqualification for election code violations, which left the position vacant.
Manny Felix’s disqualification against opposing candidate Hannah Sager was officially lifted on March 13, making Felix the 2015-2016 ASUA president. Sager filed an appeal through the ASUA Supreme Court that ended in a ruling in favor of Felix on March 29, which secured his position and ended the controversy.
In the general elections, Felix received 238 more votes than Sager, resulting in 52.4 percent of the approximately 4,500 votes.
After officially securing his presidency, Felix said, “I am very excited to finally get to work to ensure ASUA works.”
3. UA adjuncts protest wages
By Brandi Walker
Feb. 26, 2015
Adjunct and non-tenure track faculty members participated in National Adjunct Walkout Day by walking out of scheduled classes and protesting at the Alumni Plaza.
Faculty, students, community members and supporters gathered with signs calling for increased wages, smaller class sizes and better promotional career opportunities for all adjunct and non-tenure track faculty.
Madelyn Tucker, a representative of Feminist Action Research in Rhetoric, said, “The UA in particular lacks clearly defined paths for promotion and has failed to offer any raises in over 10 years, despite rising costs of living.”
According to Thomas P. Miller, professor of English and vice provost for Faculty Affairs, the 350 non-tenure track faculty members at the UA average a $57,000 yearly salary.
“Within the next few months, we’ll have a much better sense of where strategic investments need to be made to bring people up to a more livable wage,” Miller said.
4. ‘Hands up, don’t shoot!’
Max Rodriguez
Oct. 30, 2014
Protesters marched through the Student Union Memorial Center and UA campus to bring attention to long-standing allegations of police brutality fueled by racial tension.
Protesters chanted, “Hands up, don’t shoot,” referencing the publicized deaths of black teenagers Michael Brown, Jordan Davis and Trayvon Martin.
“To see people speaking out and refusing to forget what has happened is absolutely crucial because as soon as you forget, that’s when things happen again,” said Jordan Neubauer, a political science freshman.
Protesters were asked to leave twice by staff members of Arizona Student Unions. Other protesters laid down in front of the Gallagher Theater to symbolize victims of police brutality.
Kevyn Butler, president of the Black Student Union and director of the #OurLivesMatter demonstration at the UA, continued to lead the chants: “Black lives matter,” “Hands up, don’t shoot,” “We won’t forget” and “No justice, no peace.”