University Students to Honor Huppenthal, Heinz as Legislators of the Year
Directors from the Arizona Students’ Association (ASA) have released the list of 2010 Legislators and Student Advocates of the Year awards to members of the State Legislature for their work on the 2010 ASA Legislative Agenda. The two Legislators of the Year award recipients are Senator John Huppenthal (R-20) and Representative Matt Heinz (D-29). The Student Advocates of the Year awardees include State Representatives Rich Crandall (R-19), Bill Konopnicki (R-5), David Schapira (D-17), Nancy Young-Wright (D-26), and State Senators Paula Aboud (D-28) and Linda Gray (R-10).
“These State Legislators went above and beyond to advance ASA’s legislative agenda,” said Elma Delic, a student at the University of Arizona and Chair of ASA. “It is an honor to award them for standing up for bills important to students.”
The awards were based on criteria gauging sponsorship and support of the 2010 ASA Legislative Agenda, a process that began with ASA establishing legislative priorities, students worked to recruit student stories, gathered research and letters of support, and attended the committee hearings. The bills were drafted by ASA which is a statewide organization that represents the collective voice of Arizona’s public university students.
As advocated by the State Legislators and proposed by ASA, SB1186 will strengthen efforts to ease the transfer of community college credits to the state’s universities by matching course-numbers for 100 and 200 level courses. HB2668 will formalize student government civic engagement efforts with university administration to expand voter access for college students.
The awarding of the plaques will take place at various events as coordinated by students with the respective State Legislators.
ASA Elects New Leadership
Find your Polling Place for Prop 100
URGENT ACTION to Increase Voting Opportunities for Students
Please call or email any of these Senators to help pass ASA’s bill to increase voting opportunities for students.
Senator (Carolyn) Allen
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
-602.926-4480
-LD8
Senator (Jay) Tibshraeny
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-602-926-4481
-LD21
Senator (Linda) Gray
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
-602-926-3376
-LD10
Senator (Steve) Pierce
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
-602-926-5584
-LD1
Senator (Barbara) Leff
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
-602-926-4486
-LD11
Senator (John) Huppenthal
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
-602-926-5261
-LD20
Senator (David) Braswell
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
-602-926-5284
-LD6
Prop 100 Events
ASA’s Vote Bill (HB2668) passes the Senate Education Accountability and Reform Committee Unanimously
William Holmes Just Confirmed by Senate Education Accountability & Reform Committee
Student Regent Finalists Sent to the Governor
Taylor Bell, a first year law student at UA’s James E. Rogers College of Law, has a wide range of experience in the political process, spanning from student government to the U.S. Congress. In June 2007, Bell left his position as Staff Assistant in the district office of U.S. Rep. John Shadegg to help out a distant relative on a new venture. That relative was cousin and then-State Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, and the new venture was a campaign for Arizona’s First Congressional District. Bell worked as Exploratory Committee Director and Research Director for Kirkpatrick’s winning campaign. In addition to his political activity in Arizona, Bell was a Student Senator at his alma mater, Biola University in La Mirada, CA.
In addition to his service on the current ASA Board of Directors, William Holmes has been serving students since he first arrived at UA. He represents UA students in the UA Faculty Senate and UA Hearing Board, which advises the UA’s Vice President of Student Affairs. As an ASA intern in the past academic year, Holmes coordinated voter registration, education, and mobilization efforts, along with playing a leading role in lobbying on behalf of the students’ tuition proposal. Holmes is the Campus Involvement Chair for the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity and provides caregiver services for a quadriplegic UA student.
Cheyenne Walsh possesses a depth of governmental experience that is as diverse as it is extensive. In her final undergraduate semester at UA, Walsh worked as a Research Intern for the Government and Transportation Committees of the Arizona State Senate. As a Legislative Associate with the League of Arizona Cities and Towns, she advocated for, and negotiated on behalf of, Arizona’s 90 municipalities - while completing her Master of Public Administration at ASU, with a 4.0 GPA. Walsh has also served on the Governor’s Task Force on Affordable Housing and chaired the Governors’ Traffic Safety Advisory Council Legislative Subcommittee. She is currently a first year law student at the James E. Rogers College of Law.
Governor Jan Brewer will appoint a new student regent to be confirmed by the Arizona State Senate. The new regent will take office in July 2010.
To read about the current student regents, please visit our student regent page.
ASU’s Textbook Day of Action
Come for cost-saving tips. We’ll also use this day to meet one-on-one with professors and have them pledge to consider Open Source and affordable textbooks for students.
“Textbook prices are increasingly contributing to the growing lack of affordable education. The average student will spend nearly $900 each year on textbooks, and textbook prices have risen at twice the annual rate of inflation over the last two decades.”
http://azstudents.org/issues/textbooks/
Buy Used
The internet has made everything easier. Look up which books you need as soon as they are available and visit used book websites to get textbooks at up to a 90 percent discount! Shop around, as different websites will offer different prices. Websites like CampusBookSwap.Org can match you with the book you need from someone right on campus.
Recommended websites:
• http://www.campusbookswap.org
• http://www.alibris.com
• http://www.half.com
There are plenty of other websites out there, so if these don’t work out, get searching! A little bit of work now will all be worth it next time you check your bank statement.
Consider Renting
You may not use the book next semester, so why not consider renting? Many websites will allow you to rent textbooks at lower prices.
Sell Your Used Books
Remember when you searched for the cheapest textbooks to buy for next semester? Now do the opposite! Websites like Alibris.Com may pay more money for your textbooks than the campus bookstore.
Open Source
Talk to your professors about using Open Source textbooks, which are just like run-of-the-mill textbooks (developed, edited, and peer-reviewed by leading experts) except with a twist: they are available for free online!
Shop Early, Buy Used
The Bookstore offers a limited quantity of used books that you may buy if you shop early. Sure, they might have some extra wear, but you’ll save some money and get the same educational benefits.
Consider Renting
You may not use the book next semester, so why not consider renting? The bookstore has a textbook rental program that can save you money.
Return Unused Books, but Hurry!
On the first day of classes, make sure you ask your professor if the assigned reading materials are required. If not, the ASU Bookstore will give you a full refund for your textbook during the first two weeks of classes. Unfortunately, book vendors other than the ASU Bookstore cannot offer this value.
Sell Books Back
At the end of the semester, the ASU Bookstore has a textbook buy-back program that may help curb some of the high costs of textbooks. Do not sell them back too early in the semester because the Bookstore might not know whether they can sell the book again next year and offer you a lower price.
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