2.25.14 by Arizona Daily Wildcat

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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2014

VOLUME 107 • ISSUE 103

Minority retention at high BY KATYA MENDOZA The Daily Wildcat

The UA’s minority student retention rate is the highest it has been in the school’s history. The first time the UA broke 80 percent retention was in 2012, when freshman to sophomore retention increased from 79.7 to 80.9 percent. Jeff Orgera, senior assistant vice president for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management, said the rate currently stands at 81.5 percent. To calculate retention, a count is taken of the number of freshmen during the first week of school, then another is taken of the sophomores at the beginning of the following year to see how many have returned.

UA talks Obama’s education policies

“It’s really good news because minority students in their college to do with academics, it has to do with providing that space for the the UA is a diverse institution endeavors. “The whole purpose of this student to feel comfortable with with a large number of ethnic minorities coming here,” Orgera cultural center existing, along themselves and others so that their said. “Regardless of what type with the other three, is to provide experience here is a positive one,” of student you are, you will have resources and retention programs Ramierez said. Maria Moore, program director the same opportunities as other for minority students,” Ramirez for African American students to become Student Affairs, said successful.” There is no simple formula to that the AASA works to Diversity support adjusting to college. provide unity within a centers such as — Jeff Orgera, cultural community for Asian Pacific senior assistant vice president for Student Affairs and students. American Student Enrollment Management Although the minority Affairs and Native rate is at an all-time American Student high, Orgera said that students Affairs seek to provide students said. Ramirez said the CHSA, along are still facing obstacles that are with support systems that promote success while embracing their with the other three diversity causing them to drop out. “They’re the same type of support centers, work to provide cultural identities. Ana Maria Ramirez, a higher students with cultural and social obstacles for all students, whether education graduate student, said experiences as well as academic they feel like they don’t fit in with the institution or feeling like they that the Chicano/Hispano Student assistance. “Retention doesn’t only have Affairs center is designed to help MINORITY, 3

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BY HANNAH PLOTKIN

A U.S. Department of Education official met with representatives of campus political groups on Monday to discuss President Barack Obama’s education policies as laid out in the State of the Union Address. The meeting with Ken Bedell, a senior adviser for the Department of Education, was sponsored by the UA’s National Institute for Civil Discourse. Students representing the Young Democrats and College Republicans clubs were in attendance. Michael Sheridan, a political science junior and vice president of the Young Democrats club, said that the most important thing Obama spoke about was creating a universal pre-kindergarten program in the U.S. “Studies show … students who went through universal pre-K are more likely to attend university,” Sheridan said. Nick Mahon, a philosophy, politics, economics and law junior and president of the Young Democrats, said that he was most struck by Obama’s inclusion of class, poverty and economic status in the discussion of education. Mahon said there is a strong correlation between the prosperity of an area and the success of its schools. “I think [successful education] is very important with the way that our country is headed,” he said.

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STUDENTS OF ENGR102 FROM LEFT Alec Jones, Sean Jurecky, Faisal Alhussain and Neil Nivgane, all pre-engineering freshmen, test their solar oven and discuss improvements with professor Supapan Seraphin on the UA Mall on Monday morning. All ENGR102 students will participate in the Solar Oven Throwdown on March 8 at 1 p.m. in the same location.

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Club ‘LEAD’s the way for students BY JAZMINE FOSTER-HALL

The Daily Wildcat

A new club on campus is helping students to branch out and reach their potential. The club LEAD, which stands for Leadership, Extracurricular, Academics and Difference, focuses on helping students grow and achieve their life goals, said Erin Reynolds, campus leader of the UA section of LEAD. The club originated with a summer program hosted by Southwestern Advantage that helps college students to develop the skills and the character they need to grow in life, Reynolds said. “They’ve been doing the summer sales and leadership program since 1868,” Reynolds said, “and what they realized was … it’s a very small amount of students in a very short period of time.” The LEAD program was created when people who worked at the summer program decided they needed a way to increase the impact of the summer sessions, Reynolds said. LEAD is now active on 27 campuses across the country. The program focuses on three main components: weekly seminars, one-on-one meetings and a growth notebook, where students write down personal assessments

COURTESY OF ANDREW ALVAREZ

UA STUDENTS Erin Reynolds (left, Denisse Diaz (center) and Caitlin Gullette (right) recently participated in the Neon Vibe 5k Night Race as part of the new UA LEAD club. LEAD is active on 27 campuses around the country.

of their growth over the course of a semester, Reynolds said. Topics for the weekly seminars include habits of successful people, building momentum throughout the school year and the art of happiness, said Andrew Alvarez, a junior studying management information systems and accounting and a member of LEAD. Ryan Shively, a management information systems senior and a member of LEAD, said the club’s mission is to help students identify

their life goals and focus on them. “The point of the program is … to get a big group of people together that all have goals that they’re trying to set, either academically or careerwise,” Shively said. “It’s a place they can help develop a path to reach those goals.” The goals students set don’t have to be about academics or leadership, but can involve any aspect of life, Alvarez said. “Say if a kid wants to maybe lose weight … but never really

understands how important it is to set that goal or even how to set that goal,” Alvarez said. “It really helps kids understand more about themselves.” Members of LEAD act as mentors for younger students and then become coaches once they’ve demonstrated their own personal growth, Reynolds said. The service aspect of the program is the most underdeveloped so far, Reynolds said, as the club is working on forming partnerships with local organizations. The other aspects, especially extracurriculars, are well underway at the UA. “A couple weeks ago a group of us got together and ran in the [Tucson Neon Vibe 5K],” Reynolds said, “and some people are getting together to watch the basketball game.” LEAD stands out from other leadership programs on campus because of its wide focus and the way it uses a community to help students achieve personal goals, Alvarez said. “What the club really does is allow you to evaluate yourself honestly, and then you set weekly goals to meet long term ones,” Alvarez said. “A lot of students think it’s really interesting to have somebody hold them accountable for committing to

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While the Arizona government’s decision is disheartening, the LGBTQ community’s progress is not over.” OPINIONS — 4