Want to know about the other candidates? Read about Andres Cano’s push to reduce student fees and Diana Inzunza’s approach to uniting commuter students and the Downtown campus.
The main focus of criminal justice sophomore and presidential candidate Joseph Grossman’s campaign is simple — reduce tuition or, at the very least, stop it from rising again.
Tuition has increased over the last seven years, and Grossman said he is sick of it rising and wants to do something about it.
“It’s not an impossible thing to do,” Grossman said. “The real issue the president has to do is fight for our tuition, and I don’t think it’s OK to say that’s not a realistic thing to do.”
It’s the ability to achieve that goal that some students on the Downtown campus and other executive tickets said they are concerned about. The other presidential candidates have taken the stance that tuition is going to rise regardless of what ASASUD does, and it is more important to look at other costs, like student fees.
“I’m very happy Joe is against tuition increases … but it’s something that, realistically, is going to happen,” presidential candidate and nutrition freshman Diana Inzunza said.
While Grossman said he agrees that minimizing student fees are an important factor in reducing cost, he still believes ASASUD can affect tuition increases.
“I think that’s a pessimistic view and you don’t want leaders to have a negative outlook on (tuition),” Grossman said.
Grossman said that it’s going to take hard work, lobbying Congress with professionals and unifying all ASU campuses as well as the other state universities. Grossman said this problem affects all of Arizona, not just ASU.
Still, some executive tickets said there is little ASASUD can do, even when united with the rest of the state.
“I think his ideas on tuition are a little off the mark,” running mate to Andres Cano and journalism freshman Brittany Morris said. “He thinks he has a larger control over tuition than possible.”
One solution Grossman suggested was switching to differential funding, that is, a varied tuition based off the return expected from the students’ college education.
For example, the art school would charge less for tuition than the business school, because people who graduate with a business degree will likely make more off their investment than an art student would.
Grossman said some schools on the East Coast use this system, which also allows money paid into the specific colleges to be reinvested in those colleges. This system is much more privatized than the current system ASU has in place.
“Now the issue is pressing, so now is a great time to bring up the idea and try to work with that,” Grossman said.
Other issues Grossman said he is going to confront are the arbitrary nature of the election code and constitution, asking senators to reach out to their constituents more and creating a good working environment within ASASUD.
“You can expect me to fight,” Grossman said. “If there’s any issue that comes up, I’m going to be backing our school.”
Contact the reporter at connor.radnovich@asu.edu
