Increased stipends, philanthropy events and project requests were part of the ASUA Senate’s agenda Wednesday evening at its weekly senate meeting.
Pauline Lam, executive director of the Wildcat Events Board, began the meeting by discussing stipends.
“I am requesting to increase the stipend for my directors because they do not receive as much as they should,” Lam said. “They are doing a lot for the student body and creating really big events for students to attend.”
Lam expressed her concern that the Wildcat Events Board directors do as much work as the associates but do not receive equal compensation. She said she believes the two parties should have equal pay.
If this is approved, the money would come out of the overall budget for the Associated Students of the University of Arizona.
Issac Ortega, ASUA president, made several announcements about this year’s homecoming, as well as greek philanthropy events.
“University Affairs is working on the homecoming mixer,” Ortega said. “We’re doing something a little different this year to hopefully engage our alumni more.”
He said that several alumni will be interviewed about their experiences at the UA and recorded.
“We really want to hear from them what it meant to be a part of ASUA, what they learned and how that translates into what they did after they graduated,” Ortega said.
Ortega also talked about a philanthropy event he called “Foam 5.” He said that the people running the event were on the UA Mall throughout the week and said he is excited to work with the members of the philanthropy event.
“We’re really excited to work with them and bring this to a population that’s not greek and also keep it running greek,” Ortega said.
This event is unique because there is a non-traditional philanthropy donation method. According to Ortega, this particular philanthropy event will raise money for an organization of one’s choice instead of raising money for the same cause.
Ortega said he wants a high level of participation from all UA students.
“We’re really working closely with them to help get every ASUA club and organization attached to this thing so they can raise money for their philanthropy,” Ortega said.
Next, an announcement and request for money was made from Andrew Falwell, undergraduate director of Students for Sustainability, an internship program within ASUA.
The group of interns submitted proposals to present at North America’s largest sustainability conference, the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability and Higher Education, and were invited to present their project proposals.
—Follow Brandi Walker @itsbrandibb
