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Arizona Daily Wildcat
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Grads may stage walkout to protest cuts By Will Ferguson ARIZONA DAILY WILDCAT The Graduate and Professional Student Council, at its meeting last night, proposed the possibility of a graduate student walkout that could take place as early as next week. GPSC representatives expressed serious concerns over budget cuts and discussed ways to address these is-
sues. The council focused its discussion on ways to prevent graduate student teachers from being subjected to further layoffs and benefit losses. In order to protect the benefits graduate student teachers currently enjoy — which include a stipend and tuition remission — and to raise awareness about their contribution to the university, the GPSC discussed possible ways to express their grievances to the administration.
Several members of the GPSC put forward the idea of participating in a university-wide walkout on Sept. 24. Jim Collins, a non-degree seeking member of GPSC, said the value of graduate student teachers has to be communicated to the undergraduate student body. However, GPSC President David Talenfeld cautioned against any hasty actions. “While a variety of opinions have been expressed, I personally feel that
the walkout would be detrimental to the educational mission of the university,” Talenfeld told the Daily Wildcat. “I remain committed to working constructively with all stakeholders.“ The council did not reach a clear consensus on whether or not to participate in a classroom walkout. However, GPSC formulated a list of grievances they want university administrators to address. Spanish doctoral student Lucy Blaney
said the valuable contributions of graduate student teachers are being overlooked by the administration. “A lot of the teaching colleges’ revenues are skimmed off and go to administrative costs,” said Blaney. “I don’t want to lose employee benefits so the university can save $500 a month.” A possible course of action discussed GPSC, page 5
Party like it’s 1787
Q&A
Happy birthday, U.S. Constitution, and, for our sake, many happy returns. That’s right, our own founding document is 222 years old today. But just because the charter turned 21 all the way back in 1808 doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be a party — or at least a panel discussion. The James E. Rogers College of Law will be holding the UA’s official Constitution Day event today from 1 to 4 p.m. in the college’s Ares Auditorium, Room 164. Noted legal scholars will break down some of the most important cases from the last term of the U.S. Supreme Court at the 11th annual Constitution Day Supreme Court Review. Panelists include Gregory Garre, a former U.S. Solicitor General, Justice W. Scott Bales of the Arizona Supreme Court and Prof. David Marcus of the College of Law. The discussion will be moderated by Sally Rider, director of the UA’s William H. Rehnquist Center on the Constitutional Structures of Government. The Daily Wildcat editor in chief caught up with Rider to discuss Constitution Day and her own experience working under Chief Justice William Rehnquist. Are there any overall themes you’re planning to touch on with this event? Sometimes the presenters will try to tie the cases together, but they’re pretty disparate. We try to pick cases that will be interesting and educational to the audience. CONSTITUTION, page 7
Tim Galaz/Arizona Daily Wildcat
Protestors organize on the UA Mall Wednesday in response to anti-Zionist Dovid Weiss, a Haredi rabbi who called for an end to the Jewish state of Israel. Adam Scott Bellos, in orange, a Judaic studies and Near Eastern studies senior, organized the protest because speech promoting the abolition of the Jewish state is tantamount to violence, and should not be allowed on campus, he said.
Protest pans anti-Zionist By Devlin Houser ARIZONA DAILY WILDCAT The anti-Zionist oratory of Dovid Weiss drew an impassioned crowd of about 30 people on the UA Mall yesterday, many of whom held signs or wore stickers to protest Weiss’s appearance on campus. Dressed in a dark suit and a wide-brimmed hat, Weiss, a rabbi in the ultra-orthodox Haredi sect of Judaism, dismissed the different sects of Judaism, and called for an end to
the Jewish state of Israel. “There’s no such thing as reform, reforming, be more conservative, there’s one thing: the acceptance of the covenant that God gave us on Mount Sinai,” he said. Most of the people in the crowd were students involved in Jewish organizations on campus who came as part of a protest organized mainly by Scott Brown, a graduate assistant in Near Eastern studies. Brown first heard of the event on Thursday, and said he had been working to organize
students to respond to Weiss’s presence on campus so passers-by don’t think he is representative of mainstream Judaism. “I fervently believe that this type of extremism and hatred has to be countered,” he said. Brown said that although Weiss says he is a Haredi rabbi, he is not recognized as such by most Jewish sects. “Nobody recognizes him as a rabbi,”said Adam PROTEST, page 3
Bike thefts on campus ‘widespread and random’ By Michelle Cohen ARIZONA DAILY WILDCAT
Amir Adib/Arizona Daily Wildcat
Abby Yepiz uses a U-lock in order to prevent her bike from being stolen from the racks in front of Arizona-Sonora Residence Hall. Bike thefts are the number-one reported crime on campus, according to the UAPD.
English senior Joanna Keyl was shocked when she came home in July to find that her bike, along with her roommate’s, had been stolen from the front porch of her home. “They were pretty run of the mill, crappy bikes so we didn’t really think people would be all that keen to steal them,”said Keyl, who lives near Speedway Boulevard and Campbell Avenue. “I guess we were wrong.” Keyl is not alone. According to University of Arizona Police Department Officer Andrew Valenzuela, bicycle thefts are the number one reported property crime on campus. UAPD records indicate that 286 bicycle thefts have been reported on campus from January of this year through Aug. 31, already nearing the 2008 total of 332. “There’s a high volume of bicycles on campus Monday through Friday,” Valenzuela said. “Anywhere from 10,000 to 11,000 (bicycles) are on campus throughout the week.” Bike thefts on campus are “widespread and random” he said. “There isn’t any one true area that is prone to
bicycle theft more than others.” Keyl stepped out to get coffee around 10 p.m. and when she returned home, the bikes were gone. “I wasn’t gone for more than half an hour,” she said. Keyl said the bikes weren’t locked at the time they were stolen, but she usually locks hers with a U-lock, as recommended by UAPD. “I was pretty angry,” she said. “But I also know I was in a large way responsible because I didn’t lock it up.” She said she didn’t report the bikes stolen because she didn’t think they would ever be recovered. While there is no way to guarantee a bike won’t be stolen, there are ways to reduce the chances, such as proper use of an efficient lock, Valenzuela said. “(A major problem) is improper use of security devices such as a U-lock, a chain link or cable lock, which are the three most common ways to lock a bike on campus,” he said. “The last two are easily defeated. You can cut a chain link or cut a cable but it’s very hard, without proper equipment, to cut through a very sturdy u-bolt lock.” THEFT, page 3