Showcase Showdown: Students Vie for 9,000

Over 100 exhibits were displayed by undergraduate and graduate students vying for over $9,000 in prize money. This year's showcase boasted 40 more exhibits than last year, said Kari Dorow, a sociology junior and director of the showcase.

The showcase opened Friday night with a musical performance by a University of Arizona jazz band noted for its electrified violin and a Mirmba, a gigantic xylophone.

Before Saturday's football game, the showcase was hot with the friendly competitive fire of it's researchers.

The big-top tent of student research included exhibits ranging from abstract, nude art to enzymes.

The circus atmosphere of Homecoming was tamed by the classroom atmosphere of the showcase, Dorrow said.

"The showcase is basically just an exhibition of student and graduate research," she said. "The showcase was invented to give the community of Tucson an idea of where their tax dollars are going towards."

One participant agreed.

"When people first came by they didn't understand, but I think they understood after they left," said Julie Graff, a math senior who presented studies on the examination of human body enzymes. "I got a lot of positive feedback."

Prize winners were scheduled to be announced today.