Engage representatives to see results

I applaud students’ efforts to raise awareness and voice concerns about what proposed tuition increases will mean to the future of the UA. The next step for all of these engaged students is to contact their elected representatives. The message is clear: Support higher education.

Unless the Arizona governor, senators and representatives read the Wildcat or were on campus on March 23, they are not fully aware of your voice. Write, email and call those who represent you. It takes a few minutes and shows that young people will not stand idly by as decisions are made that affect us.

— Melanie Fleck, Graduate student in public health

Mock border wall promotes humanity across borders

In the last few days I’ve begun to think that people aren’t getting the point of the mock-border that is currently on the UA Mall. The fence is an opportunity to promote understanding and education about the issues that Arizona faces with the U.S.-Mexico border. I don’t see how the memorial to the border patrol agents killed opposite the mock-border is any less right-wing propaganda than the mock border is supposedly “”leftist propaganda.”” In 2010 three border patrol officers were killed in the line of duty. At the same time hundreds of immigrants die crossing through the Sonoran desert every year, and their deaths aren’t any less significant just because they aren’t American citizens. The fence isn’t promoting any anti-American sentiment, it’s promoting an understanding that our humanity and our connections as human beings should extend beyond borders.

— Jenny Hedger, Psychology sophomore

ASUA Election Code changes needed for legitimacy

When I read the news article “”ASUA Split on possible Elections Code Changes,”” I was taken aback. Not only do changes need to be made, here are some suggestions:

— Require that all candidates sign a FERPA release for all items pertaining to the election; do not allow candidates or the Commissioner to hide behind this misapplied document.

— Allow the Elections Commissioner to start their own investigation into code violations; if the commissioner has sufficient evidence of violation, allow them to take action.

— After each violation, have the candidate sign that they have re-read and understand the elections code to help prevent future violations.

— Specifically state that any elections-approved campaign material distribution or misuse are the responsibility of the candidates; it is the candidate’s responsibility to be aware of who they give those materials to and how they are used.

— Allow slates, but have the slate members sign that they understand that violations by any member of the slate may be considered a violation by the entire slate; there are advantages to being on a slate, but there are also disadvantages.

— Should a candidate be disqualified, they are forbidden from running again in the same election cycle.

These are a few suggestions to strengthen the elections code and allow for more openness to the process. Undoubtedly there will be events in the next elections cycle that no one can predict, but the current code has shown that it needs improvements to restore the legitimacy of the elections.  

— Robert Rosinski, Civil engineering sophomore