The Associated Students of the University of Arizona revamped their outreach with newly acquired programs for clubs and fresh enthusiasm for voter registration in last night’s senate meeting, the first of the new school year.

“”We have some very large changes happening within ASUA,”” said President Tommy Bruce. “”We’re going to outline what we’re referring to as ‘the new ASUA.'””

Bruce mentioned changes to the club resource center, cabinet, staff, programs and services.

“”Probably the biggest transition we’ve had now, in the resource center, is that all the resources that a club could possibly need, including recognition (is there at ASUA),”” said Jessica Anderson, executive vice president.

“”I’m really excited to finally see that all the clubs are going to go to one spot, instead of having to go to (the Center for Student Involvement and Leadership) and back, then ASUA for funding and appropriations and then back to CSIL for recognition,”” said Sen. Jimmy MacKenzie.

Anderson added that they are taking all the information that CSIL was communicating before and adding some of their own programs like registration for Spring Fling.

Bruce added that another part of the ‘new’ ASUA is the tweak to the logo.

“”It’s not just ASUA student government anymore; it’s ASUA, your student government,”” Bruce said, “”which is really our focus on outreaching to the students, making sure that they know that the only reason we’re here is to serve them and make their lives better.

“”We’ve worked … to really improve ASUA’s ability to outreach to students, to represent students and to really improve the lives of students on our campus,”” Bruce said.

UA Votes 2008

The next item discussed was UA Votes 2008. Bruce explained the program as student education and mobilization for the November elections with a mission to reach as many students as possible.

A goal of the program is to “”explain to our students why their vote matters,”” he said.

With the program, he hopes to register 5,000 UA students, Bruce added.

“”That is no easy task,”” he said.

Visiting dorms and classes, tabling and even using the box office at the Gallagher Theater will be in the program’s agenda.

“”When candidates come to the next round of elections, the youth vote will matter, the student vote will matter,”” Bruce said. “”And they will be much more apt to go out and find out what students think, what students want.””

Toward a safer campus

Also mentioned was Safe Ride’s purchase of two new cars and a new phone service.

Bruce added that a safety director was added to the presidential cabinet.

“”Students, what do they need? They talked to us. They need more safety incentives and representation on campus,”” Bruce said. “”And so we created the Safety Director position.””