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Fall 2000 semester preview

In this, the last issue of the 2000 Arizona Summer Wildcat, the editorial board wanted to offer a glimpse of the upcoming fall semester, including the good, the bad and certainly the ugly.

The Good:

ð Everyone is paying more for tuition this year - but it's not as bad as the state university presidents had wanted.

ð It might actually rain a couple times this semester.

ð Ben Graff's dream of being student body president has been realized. Don't forget Ben, there are 35,000 students here, and they're all important.

ð The Tyndall Avenue Parking Garage will be opened by the end of the semester, and named in honor of the late Marlis Davis, former director of Parking & Transportation Services. In addition to the 1,700 parking spaces, the structure actually looks classy.

ð The Interfraternity Council's Party Relocation Resolution will begin cutting the number of alcohol-related events (read: parties) held at chapter houses. Five will be permitted this semester, three next semester and just Homecoming after that.

ð Napster is still alive - for the time being.

The Bad:

ð A UA record of about 5,500 students will live in Residence Life housing this fall. Not all will be on campus, because the university had to lease three off-campus apartment complexes to handle the massive influx of students. What problems this may present remains to be seen, but this "temporary" housing solution should be just that. Here's a vote for the university to step up plans for new on-campus housing. The students are just going to keep coming.

ð Large portions of the school are still under construction - including most of the heart of campus. And although the Integrated Learning Center and the new bookstore are expected to be done by the end of the semester, that's just the beginning.

ð Nearly 300 families were forced from the university-owned Christopher City complex after UA officials decided to tear the facility down. That's 300 UA families, most of them low-income and international students who may or may not have the finances to return to school. Eviction notices - even in light of barely livable conditions - will never be taken well and university officials should have tread the situation much more carefully.

The Ugly:

ð UA's football team is pegged to top out in eighth place in the Pacific 10 Conference. At least we're not picked to be first. Hopefully, the players can stay out of trouble with the law and remain respectable representatives of the campus community.

ð Quality professors still will be courted by other universities and offered substantially higher salaries. Unfortunately, the beautiful weather won't be enough to convince all of them to stay as terribly underpaid faculty, and some will leave.

ð November is election time, which means a barrage of advertisements from both Republicans and Democrats. If electing a president weren't so much of a circus, we could all engage in some stimulating discussions. As the system stands now, election time merely registers as an annoyance to most.