Fare-free transit was still the main item on the docket for the Associated Students of the University of Arizona at its Sept. 21 meeting. 

The senate letter of support for the #WhyIRide campaign was drafted in a previous meeting. The most recent version of the letter had additional citations and minor revisions and was approved after receiving a majority vote.

“This is more than a UA problem; this is a City of Tucson problem,” Senator-at-large Lucas Forray said.

ASUA discussed where to potentially send its letter of support. 

“Folks in the city council, folks in city manager leadership … and executive leadership from the [UA],” ASUA President Patrick Robles said about who to send the letter to for it to have the most impact. “Last week, we were actually able to get the Arizona state senate to draft a letter of support in favor of our efforts,” Robles said. 

Forray also said during the meeting a plan to create a survey about Sun Tran for students to fill out that could be used as “hard evidence and hard facts that we could actually approach city council with.” The survey was tabled to be discussed at a future meeting once the survey was created. 

The Basic Needs Center suffering from staffing shortages and ASUA SafeRide being in need of drivers were other points of interest. 

According to Administrative Vice President Kaleb Nichols, the campus pantry is understaffed and struggling to find enough volunteers to keep up with the demands of the job. 

“[Campus pantry] is seeing 1500 people plus per week, which is higher than their peak last year,” Nichols said. “Basic needs need to be on your priority list when you meet with your deans; it just needs to be.”

Nichols went on to say that SafeRide is also understaffed, and people interested in the job can find an application on Handshake. 

“[ASUA senators] power to spread the word on issues like this can’t be calculated. So please do use that position and please advocate for basic needs,” Nichols said. 

Honorable Mentions

ASUA had its first open house on the mall, and Robles said it went well and ASUA needs to “keep this momentum up.” 

ASUA discussed assisting in the funding for the Student Health Advocacy Committees’ Reproductive Health and Safety Fair. They tabled the decision until a meeting with the appropriations board could happen. 

President Dr. Robert C. Robbins will ride the SunLink with ASUA on Wednesday. 

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