USU to bring resolutions to Intercollegiate Assembly
Utah State University will be bringing three resolutions to the Utah Intercollegiate Assembly today through Friday.
The UIA, held annually in the Senate and House Chambers of the Salt Lake Capitol, is much like a mock legislative session, said Braden Jenkins, delegate chair of UIA at USU. It is a branch of the Utah Student Association, which has two parts to it. The UIA, which is the legislative side of the USA, and the Utah Council Student Presidents, which is made up of the student body presidents of all of the higher education institutions throughout the state and who, collectively, represent the executive side of the USA, he said.
The first resolution USU intends to bring to the UIA is requiring a diversity class for graduation. If passed, the resolution would be implemented in 2004 with incoming freshmen, Jenkins said. This wouldn’t add any more hours to graduation, he said, it would just fill a general education requirement and a diversity requirement.
The purpose of this diversity required class, would be to “appreciate the diversity we have, said Rex Hansen, Executive Vice President of Associated Students of Utah State University. It would be something every school would be required to do and has the opportunity to do.”
This is especially important in “such a homogenous culture like we have here in Logan,” he said. “You have to get a taste of diversity somewhere. This is a baby step in opening students’ eyes to diversity, which is what we hope to accomplish.”
The second proposal USU will be carrying is a resolution to fund college and university libraries yearly. As it stands, libraries only get one-time funding, Jenkins said.
“USU could be in jeopardy of losing some accreditation if our library isn’t kept up to par,” Jenkins said. “We are trying to make sure [Utah’s] libraries don’t fall under par by making [our libraries] a top priority.”
The last resolution, which Jenkins feels will be USU’s strongest resolution at the UIA, is a feasibility study on pooling health insurance for all of Utah’s higher education institutions.
“This asks the Legislature and Congress to do a feasibility study to see if it is possible for all 100,000 students in Utah to be bound together in a [health] insurance pool,” Hansen said.
If possible, this would give students a broader span of health care facilities and lower the price of student health insurance, Jenkins said.
Since each school is only allowed to bring three resolutions to the UIA, Snow College has agreed to carry two resolutions written by USU.
The first of these resolutions would be to make the Disability Resource Center a line-item funding. Jenkins feels this resolution is the stronger of the two Snow is carrying for USU. Because the DRC doesn’t have adequate funding, they are “always cutting people short,” Jenkins said.
“Sign language signers are supposed to [by law] be professionals,” he said.
At USU a lot of signers are students, Jenkins said. Making the Disability Resource Center a line item would give them the money they need to meet their needs, he said.
The second resolution Snow is carrying is more debated, Jenkins said. It would establish a link between tuition increases and Pell Grant increases.
Jenkins and Hansen both said they feel USU’s resolutions have a good chance of being passed.
“Looking at other schools, I don’t see many strong resolutions,” Jenkins said. “We feel ours are the most researched and most plausible.”
The UIA has a House and a Senate. All resolutions passed by both of these houses will go on to the UIA Rules Committee, made up of all delegate chairs and the leadership of UIA.
The Rules Committee, Jenkins said, will pick resolutions they feel are most feasible and push those through the Board of Regents or the Legislature, whichever body it applies to, he said. The Board of Regents and/or the Legislature will then work on making those resolutions law until they are either resolved or until the next UIA assembly meets.
Hansen encourages anyone interested in being involved in next year’s UIA to talk with upcoming ASUSU Executive Vice President Celestial Bybee.