Arizona Summer
August 6-19, 2012
WILDCAT Tucson, Arizona
Work in a workout with a busy schedule Monsoon– 8
DailyWildcat.com
Local students to apply for deferred action get help from lawyers, groups By Stephanie Casanova Arizona Summer Wildcat
With the help of local lawyers and organizations, some undocumented students have begun the process of applying for a temporary legal status in order to go to college. President Obama granted the defferred status to students who would qualify for the politically gridlocked DREAM Act (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors), which aims to give the students permanent residency. The temporary status will last two years, with the option to reapply, and students can apply starting Aug. 15.
Groups like Coalición de Derechos Humanos (The Human Rights Coalition) and Scholarships A-Z, as well as Margo Cowan, a lawyer at the Pima County Public Defender’s office, have been meeting with these students to ensure that they understand the qualifications and avoid scams. Cowan has been to Pueblo Magnet High School three times since Obama’s announcement granting deferred status to “DREAMers,” or undocumented students who have been in the country since before they were 16 years old, and are under the age of 31. The status allows students to remain in the U.S. for two years to attend
college and can be renewed. During Cowan’s visits to the school, she provided parents and students with information about the qualifications for the deferred status and answered questions about various situations. “We have an obligation to serve our community and particularly as lawyers we have an obligation to reach out and organize services for people who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford them,” Cowan said. Other lawyers who have partnered with Cowan have signed a representation form
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Deferred Action status requirements: — Came to the U.S. under the age of 16 — Has continuously resided in the U.S. for at least five years before June 15 and was present in the U.S. on June 15 — Is currently in school, has graduated from high school, obtained a GED or is an honorably discharged veteran of the Coast Guard or Armed Forces of the United States — Has not been convicted of a felony offense, a significant misdemeanor offense, multiple misdemeanor offenses or otherwise posses a threat to national security or public safety — Is under the age of 31 — A fee of $465 is also required to pay for the work permit and background check. Source: ImmigrationPolicy.org
UA club provides engineering solutions to villages abroad By Kyle Mittan Arizona Summer Wildcat
Few clubs on campus have to deal with diseases and terrorist organizations, but for members of the UA’s chapter of Engineers Without Borders, issues such as these are worth the risk. The chapter, which was formed in 2005, just three years after the organization was officially established nationwide, uses engineering to improve water infrastructure for villages in developing areas. Local members have traveled to Ghana, Mali and Bolivia to provide solutions to the local communities, according to Chelsea Kestler, a hydrology senior and the club’s project manager. Connecting with communities in other countries is done at the organization’s national level. Chapters then bid for each project by explaining their skillsets and qualifications, and how they can solve a particular issue in a given location. Once a chapter takes on a project, the commitment lasts five years, Kestler said. The chapter’s latest project in Marquirivi, Bolivia, began last fall, and aims to address the area’s poor plumbing system and provide locals with showers and latrines. Several club members visited the village for two weeks at the beginning of the summer to test and survey the area as part of the project’s first phase. Currently, the group is designing
photo courtesy of Chelsea Kestler
Systems engineering junior Lizzie Greene, center, and hydrology senior Chelsea Kestler, right, wash their clothes in buckets with a native woman in Marquirivi, Bolivia. Engineers Without Borders is replacing plumbing infrastructure for the village, and is currently in the project’s design phase.
the solution they plan to implement, and will return in about a year to construct and install it. Past projects have included a trip to Mafi Zongo, Ghana in 2005 to improve the area’s
water treatment and distribution, according to Patrick Mette, a former club officer and environmental engineering graduate student. The project served about 30 communities and 10,000 people total.
Despite the club’s goal to remain involved with each project for five years, some projects get cut short for security reasons, as was the case for the club’s rainwater harvesting project in Mandoli, Mali, where a terrorist organization arrived during the design phase, preventing any further travels to the area. “Once the Taliban show up, there’s not a lot you can about that,” Kestler said. Mette later confirmed that it had been Al-Qaeda. Unrelated to the security dangers, club members said that jumping into the cultures of a developing country can be a nervewracking and stressful experience, though it can vary from person to person. “Some people have done it before and are really adventurous and they can just hop right into a new place that they’ve never been and feel comfortable,” Mette said. Kestler added that much of the time spent abroad is used to build a trusting relationship with the community the club is working in, which is a necessary but often difficult aspect. “We’re trying not to just be engineers,” Mette added. “We’re also trying to act as, I guess, ambassadors, and develop a relationship with the communities.” While the club’s primary focus is developing infrastructure in other countries, they stay busy while they’re at home,
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