Rootin’ tootin’ protest Joaquin Rios (center), an Arizona State University junior, holds a sign sounding the rallying cry of a student march that called on lawmakers to increase funding for college financial aid.

With the rallying cry of “yee haw,” a group of Arizona university students called on the Legislature to put more money into the state’s college financial aid program.
A handful of lawmakers joined about 50 students at the April 4 rally. It started at Wesley Bolin Plaza and ended up on the Capitol grounds between the House and Senate.
At one point, Rep. David Schapira, D-17, took the bullhorn and singled out other lawmakers as they made their way to their respective chambers. He called out to them and said, if they supported increased financial aid for students, shout “yee haw!”
Schapira got “yee haws” from Reps. Lena Saradnick, Steve Farley and Mark Anderson and Sen. Karen Johnson. Sen. Jack Harper qualified his response.
“For engineering majors — yee haw!” Harper shouted.
Sen. Ken Cheuvront refused to show his support — or more to the point, yee haw — and was roundly booed by the students. Schapira told the group Cheuvront was just joking.
The rally’s organizer, the Arizona Students’ Association, is asking the Legislature to approve a $13.4 million match for the Arizona Financial Aid Trust. The trust, says ASA organizers, is the only direct financial aid the state provides instate students attending Arizona universities.
One percent of resident undergraduate tuition fees goes into AFAT. The state is supposed to match student contributions to AFAT by a 2-to-1 ratio.
The Legislature has failed to fund AFAT at the minimum authorized by law, say Tiffany Troidl, ASA lobbyist.
In addition, “Tuition has increased more than 70 percent in the last five years at Arizona’s public universities,” ASA said in a prepared released.
Reps. Jackie Thrasher, D-10, and Jennifer Burns, R-25, spoke in support of increased AFAT funding to a gathering of students at Wesley Bolin Plaza — before the march on the Capitol.
“We most likely will see some amount of money for AFAT in the budget,” Burns said before the event. She couldn’t predict what the Legislature would do, however.
Troidl said the governor’s proposed budget includes the amount being sought by ASA.