ASUA to release tuition proposal

Student lobbyists are expected to release a counteroffer today to UA President Peter Likins' proposal to raise next year's tuition by 12 percent for in-state students.

The Associated Students of the University of Arizona will announce their plan around noon on the Mall during a break in a concert.

Although ASUA President Ray Quintero would not hint at what the proposed plan would be, he said last week that Likins' proposed $300 hike is "way too high."

The 12 percent in-state increase would cost students an additional $300. Likins also proposed raising tuition for out-of-state students by 9.7 percent or $1,000.

Quintero, along with the incoming student government executives, will speak at today's rally, where students will be able to get more information on how to have their voice heard in the debate over next year's tuition, said student lobbyist Jenny Rimsza .

In the past, student government has typically lobbied for much lower tuition hikes than university administrators propose.

The Arizona Board of Regents will set tuition at its meeting April 25-26 at Northern Arizona University. The regents will also hold a teleconference from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. April 16, where students can voice their opinions about where next year's tuition should be set.

The conference will be held live in Room 211 of the Harvill building and Room 127 of the Douglass building.

Three 'Great Trees' named on campus

The Arizona Community Tree Council honored three campus trees as "Great Trees."

The distinction means that those trees are considered to be of local, state, national or international significance because of their history, age, size or species.

Included in the group of trees is a 37-foot-tall oak near the Main Gate, which is likely the largest tree of its kind in Tucson, and a 24-foot-tall calabash tree that is also probably the largest of its kind in the city.

The other tree, the 32-foot-tall baobab near the southwest corner of the Administration building, is the only flowering individual tree of its kind in the United States, according to a botanist at the Missouri Botanical Garden.

The trees were officially given the distinction in a ceremony at the State Capitol in Phoenix last month.

Landscape architecture professor emeritus Warren Jones and UA Arboretum Director Libby Davidson accepted plaques in commemoration of each of the trees.

This week is math awareness week at UA

The mathematics department will kick off Math Awareness Week with a celebration and presentation today.

The week, which focuses on a theme of "Math and the Genome," is intended to help students and the public better understand the mathematics in genome science.

The theme was chosen to recognize the enormous mathematical and computational contribution to the Human Genome Project.

In today's keynote address, which takes place in Room 200 of the Physics and Atmospheric Sciences building, molecular and cellular biology professor Sam Ward will discuss "Genetics, Biology and Mathematics."

Exhibits will be open to the public in the Mathematics building, and events and presentations are being held throughout the week.

Visit the Math Awareness Week web site at http://www.math.arizona.edu/~mcenter/maw2002 for a list of events.

Musician to speak at poetics and politics series

Muscogee poet and saxophonist Joy Harjo will speak today as part of a poetics and politics series to commemorate the American Indian Studies Program's 20th anniversary.

Harjo, who will speak at 7:30 p.m. in Room 100 of the Social Sciences building, has written six books of poetry and plays saxophone with her band, Poetic Justice.

The band has performed all over the world including the Middle East, India, Europe and North and South America. They also performed at the Olympic Games in Atlanta.

Poetic Justice has opened for popular groups, including the Indigo Girls and Toad the Wet Sprocket.

Its first CD won the award for Outstanding Musical Achievement from the First Americans in the Arts, and the band is currently producing two new CDs.

Harjo has won numerous literary honors including the 2001 American Indian Festival of Words Author Award from the Tulsa City Library and the 2000 Western Literature Association Distinguished Achievement Award.

She has narrated television series and shows, including the Emmy award-winning show, "Navajo Codetalkers," for National Geographic.

Harjo is currently a visiting professor at the University of California in Los Angeles, but lives in Honolulu, Hawaii when she is not teaching or touring.

Admission to the series is free and the event is open to the public. For additional information contact spolacca@email.arizona.edu.