Hertzog’s accomplishments surpass expectations

This letter is in response to Miguel Cuevas’ letter “”President-elect Bruce likely to revitalize ASUA.”” Indeed, I do believe that Bruce will prove to be a phenomenal leader who will continue to aid ASUA in its mission to serve the UA student body; however, I believe that the attack on current President Hertzog is not only unfounded, but also shortsighted.

Erin from the beginning has proven herself as a leader who has always had the best interests of UA students at heart. She assumed the role of ASUA president in the most unfortunate of circumstances and transitioned ASUA into a year of many and great accomplishments.

President Hertzog heightened awareness of the 2006 elections with the UA voter block party and set up the most successful early-polling station in Pima County. Her team brought the only Southern Arizona gubernatorial debate, the 7th congressional district debate and sold out The Fray at Centennial Hall. Additionally, she unrelentingly fought for the most comprehensive and respected student tuition proposal to date; just ask the Arizona Board of Regents.

That goes without mentioning that Hertzog’s presidency shouldn’t be defined solely by three platforms. Erin’s late nights in the office and her unparalleled commitment to the students of this university only underscore the passion and service she has provided in this position. The students of this university should be proud of Erin’s accomplishments, her steadfast leadership and the legacy that she will leave behind.

James Pennington-McQueen history junior David Martinez III secondary education senior

Silver lining to Approps Board resignations

The seven ASUA directors who have resigned in protest of recent bylaw changes have misconceptions about the Appropriations Board. As a former club advocate and Appropriations Board director, I draw on my own working knowledge that comes from two years of experience working in the Club Resource Center to explain why the Appropriations Board was created in the first place.

The senate itself used to hear all club funding requests. It came to a certain point when the senate spent so much time hearing funding requests it impeded on other senate business and probably some personal lives. In order to save time on behalf of the senate, the Appropriations Board was created. The Appropriations Board was designed to hear funding requests and make decisions (recommendations, really) about what should be funded and what shouldn’t. Their decisions would be forwarded onto the senate in the form of a consent agenda, which would then be approved or disapproved.

This way, if the senate was displeased with any decision the Board made, the senate could send back the item to the Appropriations Board for reevaluation. The only catch with sending items back to the Appropriations Board is that it often makes requests that take an extra week to go through the funding process – time that can often frustrate clubs, who are simply seeking a yes or no on a specific amount of money.

The new bylaws that were recently passed by the senate merely allowed the senate to change the amount of money funded toward clubs in their meetings, as opposed to making clubs wait an extra 10 days to get on another Appropriations Board agenda.

The senate has always been afforded the opportunity to let the Board know how it feels about funding decisions; the new bylaws simply allow the Senate to take immediate action so clubs can receive their funding in a timely manner.

There is a bright side to these resignations. The empty spaces will allow females to join the ranks of the Appropriations Board once again; for the duration of the 2006-2007 school year the Appropriations Board consisted of six men and one female, despite the fact that four directors resigned at the end of last semester and were replaced.

Nevertheless, the lack of directors will no doubt impede the funding process for other clubs, which certainly is not in clubs’ best interest. The article also failed to mention that three of the seven directors who resigned were acting directors, as their appointments had not been approved by the Senate.

Michelle Gregory senior majoring in political science and history
former ASUA club advocate and Appropriations Board director

No ASUA scandals here

In response to Beth Anderson’s Tuesday letter “”Is there more to the ASUA scandal?””: The easy answer is no. Yes I have still been in ASUA, until Monday actually. I resigned solely because the Senate recently made the Appropriations Board effectively powerless, which I believe is a horrible abuse of power on their part. The structure of any government should not be changed based on single issues, and the Senate should not arbitrarily seize power whenever it feels like it.

As for the “”investigation””: There never was an investigation. Why? There is nothing to investigate. False clubs? A simple check with CSIL can confirm that neither David Reece nor I created any clubs this year. And what exactly would a false club be? And how could they gain funding from the appropriations board, which requires membership lists as well as many other

methods of verification?

The accusations thrown against us were baseless, and, if you are familiar with ASUA and CSIL, rather absurd to begin with. Two individuals decided to twist what happened at a meeting and it became front-page news. Enough said.

Blake Rebling senior majoring in political science and economics

Ah, the smell of wax in the morning

I just wanted to compliment the custodial staff all over campus about the wonderful jobs they did waxing floors over the break. Early Monday morning, I was greeted by a glistening, mirror-like shine upstairs in the Student Union, and ever since then, I’ve been noticing wonderfully shiny floors all over campus. Excellently done!

William Carroll wildlife, watershed and rangeland science senior, part-time custodian