UA employees, student seek supervisor's seat

Two UA employees and one graduate student will vie for the position recently vacated by Raul Grijalva on the Pima County Board of Supervisors.

The candidates are just three of the twelve who have applied for the open position.

University of Arizona research analyst Salom—n Baldenegro, political science Professor John Crow and Rodney Glassman, a public administration graduate student will face against nine other candidates off for the job.

Grijalva, a Democrat, resigned from his seat in District 5 last week to run for Congress in the new 7th Congressional District.

Prop. 301 money funding technology improvements

The $15-$18 million the university expects to receive from Proposition 301 monies will be used to increase student access to technical fields.

The money, which comes from a 0.6 percent sales tax passed in November, 2000, is being used to fund seven initiatives in the fields of science, math, medicine and technology.

The university plans to use the money to better prepare math and science teachers and increase the availability of higher education and technology.

The money, which comes at a time when the university has been struggling to cut millions from its yearly budget, is exempt from being recollected to offset statewide budget cuts.

"Prop. 301 money comes at a very welcome point in time because these are dollars that are, by statute, off-limits to cut," Provost George Davis said in a press release. "This means we can still make some much-needed investment in some of our priority areas of research."

In addition, UA has three long-term projects that would expand the medical, Internet technology, optical science and technology fields.

New compliance officer takes over

The director of the Disability Resource Center has taken on the job of the university's American Disabilities Compliance Officer in addition to her normal duties.

Campus Life Vice President Saundra Taylor appointed Sue Kroeger to the position when Joyce Meder retired Jan. 1.

The ADA Compliance Officer makes sure the university's programs, services and facilities are in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The officer also works with the university's attorneys to protect UA from accommodation requests and risk lawsuits.

Kroeger is also responsible for working with groups that oversee affirmative action and other equal opportunity programs to ensure that they are compliant with ADA.

Business program earns national recognition

The Berger program at the Eller College of Business was named the 2002 National Model Program in Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Education.

The program stresses increasing student entrepreneurship by offering seminars and exchange programs intended to bridge the gap between the academic and business communities, according to its Web site.

"This is an important award among entrepreneurship educators," said Gary D. Libecap, director of the Karl Eller Center for the Study of Private Market Economy, which holds the Berger program. Libecap represented the Berger program at the competition for National Model Program distinction.

The award was the latest in a series of honors won by the program.

It also garnered an excellence award from Nasdaq, and was ranked 12th in the country by Success Magazine and 20th in the country by U.S. News & World Report.

"These accomplishments are a direct reflection of the tremendous advantage our students and programs have through the support of our alumni, friends and the business and academic communities," Libecap said.

Journalism graduate wins Mensa award

A UA journalism graduate who works for The Arizona Republic recently won a prestigious award for a story on education of gifted students.

Beverly Medlyn won the Mensa Education and Research Foundation Press Award, which will be presented in July at the American Mensa annual gathering in Scottsdale.

Medlyn found that gifted education is often the first program to be cut when money is scarce. The follow-up stories consisted of interviews with gifted education experts.

After Medlyn's article and follow-ups were printed, a number of school boards began reevaluating their gifted education programs.

Arizona's gifted education programs rank at the bottom of the nation for overall education spending.

Mensa is the international high-IQ society whose affiliate MERF offers scholarships, conducts research and recognizes outstanding work.