Editor's Note: parts of the following story - a compilation of the top 10 stories of the 2000-01 school year - first ran on May 9. The selection has since been updated.
1. Fourth Avenue riots. Tucson Police arrested 17 people - including seven UA students - during the rioting that ensued along the popular North Fourth Avenue area after Arizona's loss to Duke in the NCAA title basketball game.
Rioters tipped cars, torched a street vendor's motor home and damaged and looted several businesses in the district the night of April 2. UA freshman Jeff Knepper's left eye had to be surgically removed after he was shot with a police projectile, and seven others who were hit have filed claims against the city about the use of force.
Officers fired more than 450 rounds of non-lethal ammunitions after ordering the crowd of about 1,500 people to disperse. UA President Peter Likins offered $1,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of individuals who engaged in acts of violence that night.
A panel of Tucson residents, media and officials is viewing footage from the night of the riot to evaluate actions of the Tucson Police Department to determine whether their crowd control measures were excessive.
2. Wildcats play for NCAA basketball title
After a shaky season start and the death of his wife Bobbi (see #3), Arizona men's basketball coach Lute Olson led the Wildcats to the NCAA title basketball game for the first time since 1997. The Wildcats handily disposed of Eastern Illinois, Butler, Mississippi, Illinois and Michigan State, but fell to Duke, 82-72, on April 2. The team ended its season with a 28-8 overall record.
Fans were disappointed, but welcomed home their favorite team at Arizona Stadium the afternoon following the game. More than 3,000 students and Tucson community members held up banners and chanted "Number two ain't so bad!" to show their continuous support for the Wildcats. Performances by the Pride of Arizona marching band, UA's cheerleaders and the recently-released rap songs "Battle with the Cats" and "Where My Real Wildcats At" helped the crowd build up their spirit.
3. Bobbi Olson dies of cancer
Bobbi Olson, wife of Arizona men's basketball coach Lute Olson for 47 years, where she served as hostess and mother figure to years of prospective, present and past players, died on Jan. 1 of ovarian cancer. She was 65.
About 1,500 people filled McKale Center for a memorial service on Jan. 8., where UA athletic director Jim Livengood, junior forward Richard Jefferson, and U.S. Representative Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.) among others, spoke of their relationships with the popular Tucsonan. In lieu of flowers, the Olson family asked that donations be made to the Arizona Cancer Center, where Bobbi Olson had been undergoing treatments. The Center plans to build an endowment program for ovarian cancer research.
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Arizona Daily Wildcat file photo
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A member of UA's Students Against Sweatshops locks himself to the Administration building during the Nov. 9 lockdown. A total of eight demonstrators were arrested after eight hours of protests.
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4. Students Against Sweatshops lockdown
As the sun rose on Nov. 9, members of UA's Students Against Sweatshops chained themselves to all but one hidden entrance to the Administration building in protest of university President Peter Likins' membership in the Fair Labor Association, a sweatshop monitoring organization that allows corporations on its governing board. The protesters linked arms through PVC pipes, which were reinforced with roofing material and steel rods. A few even secured their necks to door handles of the building with bicycle U-locks. UAPD officers cleared the area after using the "jaws of life" to break the pipe links. After eight hours of protests, eight demonstrators were arrested.
All but about 30 of the Administration building's 444 employees were sent home for the day. The UA pays its full-time employees a minimum of $7 per hour, meaning the protest cost the university at least $15,000 in wasted man-hours.
5. ASUA elections campaign controversy
The race for ASUA administrative vice president was marked by controversy when candidate Brandon D'Angelo was disqualified for campaign violations.
D'Angelo, an undeclared sophomore, was disqualified from the original race just after midnight March 8 - the final day of the general elections. Associated Students elections commissioner Joe Rogers decided that D'Angelo violated the sanctions placed on him earlier in the day after he sent a mass e-mail to 4,200 students. D'Angelo was told to remove all campaign materials as a penalty, but ASUA officials learned of a banner still hanging on a sorority house after the materials-removal deadline.
D'Angelo's opponent, Tricia Williams, a political science junior, was named ASUA administrative vice president March 8 after his disqualification. D'Angelo appealed to the ASUA Supreme Court and won the right to a special run-off election, which Williams eventually won with 80 percent of the vote.
6. UA launches start of Campaign Arizona
After years of anticipation, planning and preliminarily fundraising, Campaign Arizona - the university's $1 billion fundraising campaign - got off to its official start. Dignitaries, celebrities and wealthy benefactors attended the Oct. 6 gala on the Old Main lawn, which gave a glittery start for the largest private fundraising event in the UA's history. As of March 31, $551.2 million have been raised. The campaign is scheduled to end June 30, 2005.
7. Christopher City housing complex closes down
Christopher City, the university-run graduate and family housing complex, shut down last Aug. 31, displacing the residents of 305 units. The aging apartments, 3401 N. Columbus Blvd., were recently brought under scrutiny for being infested with toxic mold, which some residents claimed made them sick. The complex has since been bought by the DeGrazia Company, who plans to build a residential community. The university has plans for a graduate student residence hall, but the hall will not provide housing for families.
8. Construction nears completion of first phase
Nearly two years of dirt mounds, construction vehicles and detours has come to an end now that the newly-completed Integrated Learning Center has almost neared completion. The center will offer breakthrough technology for this year's freshman class, including videotaped lectures for students to access through the Internet. Classes in the underground ILC will start next month after the fences are removed and vegetation on the east end of the UA Mall is restored this summer.
The first portions of the renovated Memorial Student Union opened their doors July 2 with the opening of the new food court. Overall student reactions have been positive to the new facility, which welcomed new food venues like Panda Express.
The new UofA Bookstore saw its first customers in March.
Construction will continue on the central part of the union until about August 2002.
9. Graduate teaching assistants make advances
This year, university and state officials continued to recognize the heavy workload of graduate teaching assistants. In December, UA Provost George Davis passed an initiative allowing tuition and registration fees for graduate teaching assistants to be taken out of their first five university paychecks. In March, the Arizona Regents heard a proposal that would eliminate tuition fees for graduate students, although no legislative action has yet been taken. In April, Gov. Jane Hull vetoed several sections of the Senate budget, but her cuts did not include the $1.5 million that legislators deemed should be set aside to hire about 104 new TAs at the UA. In June, Likins proposed hiring more TAs to alleviate workloads, and also proposed using $700,000 to start a process to eliminate registration fees for TAs.
10. Sky View residents speak out
Residents of the university-leased Sky View Apartments, 1050 E. Eighth St., brought a long list of complaints to Residence Life officials about the deteriorating condition of their apartments.
Dirty, damaged and faulty carpet, furniture, plumbing and appliances led many residents and parents to complain that the students - many of them freshmen - were not receiving a fair and enjoyable university housing experience.
Residence Life acquired the off-campus complex this year to alleviate the growing demand for undergraduate housing, but by November, Residence Life officials allowed residents to terminate their rental agreements. Nearly 40 percent took advantage of the offer.
-compiled by Katie Clark, Hillary Davis and Maya Schechter
