2/24/2010

By Ariana Witt

A group of University of Iowa students are circulating an electronic petition in hopes of saving a decade-old human-rights program.

Recent across-the-board budget cuts could damage the UI Center for Human Rights [1], which has provided more than 100 student interns with a chance to aid worldwide humanitarian efforts.

UI senior Lauren Dana, a center intern, created a Facebook group to raise awareness about the issue.

“We want to show that this is something we students really care about,” Dana said.

Organizers of the group, “Save the UICHR,” said they hope to collect 500 signatures for a petition letter by 5 p.m. on Friday. They’ll send the letter to the state Board of Regents, UI Provost Wallace Loh, and UI President Sally Mason.

“We want to show that this is something we students really care about,” Dana said.

By Tuesday, the group had collected more than 400 of the signatures needed.

The petition stems from potential staff cuts the program could soon face.

In past years, International Programs provided the center with a grant and expected it to raise additional money, Loh said.

While he predicted that the center won’t disappear because of the small funding it’s currently receiving from International Programs, he said it will see a difference in staff pay.

Read the full story here. [2]

Contributed with permission from The Daily Iowan.