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WEDNEDSAY, JANUARY 14, 2015
IN THE NEWS
Jewish victims of Paris attack buried in Israel Syria’s opposition rejects peace talks in Russia
VOLUME 108 • ISSUE 75
GPSC to invest in the future for spring semester BY ADRIANA ESPINOSA The Daily Wildcat
Throughout the spring semester, the Graduate and Professional Student Council plans to tackle a number of issues to improve the well-being of graduate students and professionals.
According to Zach Brooks, president of GPSC, the council will focus on long-term projects this semester, such as requesting an increase in the grant GPSC currently provides students with to help with childcare, thoroughly examining the fees that students pay each semester, specifically the
newly introduced iCourse fee, and generating discussions supporting higher education. Brooks said that GPSC has taken a stance to no longer support any newly proposed fee moving forward unless its purpose and use is clearly defined, adding that there is a lack of transparency in many fees the
Contaminated bootleg liquor kills 23 in India
BY BRANDI WALKER The Daily Wildcat
— The New York TImes
SPORTS
It’s time to let Stanley Johnson loose on offense Page 8
What you missed over winter break Page 8
Theatergoers wait for ‘Godot’ at The Rogue Page 12
OPINIONS Cartoon are always legal. That doesn’t mean they are always funny. Page 4
QUOTE TO NOTE “There are some who reerve a table every month and bring their friends. Monterey Court is an outdoor venue so kids are welcome ... [and] some people bring their dogs” —Ron Pandy
GPSC, 2
Parking at UA goes smart
Bartender accused of threatening to poison Boehner
ARTS & LIFE
university charges students. “I don’t think there is any real transparency for a lot of fees that students pay, and I don’t think that’s fair,” Brooks said. “There are some fees that are really good as far as being transparent and some are really, really poor.”
MOVIN’ ON UP SAVANNAH DOUGLAS/THE DAILY WILDCAT
SARAH VICARI, a speech and language therapy freshman, unloads her car to move back into her dorm room in Coronado Residence Hall. Vicari spent winter break in Scottsdale.
New smart parking meters that accept credit, debit and smart cards, as well as coins and stored value, have been installed by the city of Tucson near the UA campus and downtown, giving students and Tucsonans more options when it comes to paying for parking. The IPS Group is the company providing the meters being installed by the city of Tucson. According to the IPS Group, Inc. website, the meters are convenient because they allow the public to pay at their parking location — eliminating the need to locate a kiosk nearby. “It will be more convenient for people to feed the meters,” said Steve Kozachik, council member of Ward 6. “You don’t have to walk around with a pocket or a purse filled of quarters.” Kozachik said the new smart meters are similar to the ones that are used on the UA campus already, so students who have used them around campus will know how to operate the new ones. Ronald Sheck, an urban transportation consultant currently living in Tucson, said he really likes the design concept of the new parking meters. “[They are] certainly better than the standard, old-fashioned meters,” Sheck said. “Most people don’t keep a lot of change anymore. … Certainly, students have credit cards and smart cards, so it’s going to be a lot easier for them to use it.” Sheck also noted that the instructions explaining how to use the older meters had worn away over time, and the new installments would help to fix this problem. According to a news release from the city of Tucson from Dec. 18, the new smart meters can connect wirelessly to a smartphone app. The new app, GoTucson, was branded specifically for its use in Tucson. It is expected that the
PARKING, 2
Students eager for wage increase BY BRANDI WALKER The Daily Wildcat
To accommodate a slightly increased cost of living in the state of Arizona, the state minimum wage was increased 1.9 percent from $7.90 an hour to $8.05 an hour, impacting UA students and faculty members who work and earn minimum wage. Though well above the federal minimum wage, $7.25 an hour, Arizona’s $8.05 minimum wage remains in the middle of the spectrum when comparing it to other states — with minimum wage as high as $9.47 in Washington or $9.50 in Washington, D.C., according
to the National Conference of State Legislatures. According to a recent press release from the Industrial Commission of Arizona from Oct. 16, the minimum wage increase in Arizona is a result of the Raise the Minimum Wage for Working Arizonans Act that was enacted by Arizona voters in 2006. Alysa Herchet, a nutritional sciences junior and employee at Campus Athletics on University Boulevard, said she thinks the increase will be beneficial to students who earn minimum wage. “It puts a little extra money in your
WAGES, 2
Today
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BRANDI WALKER/THE DAILY WILDCAT
MIKAYLA KIRBY, a pre-physiology junior, helps a customer at IQ Fresh in the Student Union Memorial Center on Tuesday. Many students working on or near campus earning minimum wage will be affected by the minimum wage increase from $7.90 per hour to $8.05 per hour as of 2015.
Tomorrow
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Thursday
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