SAUL LOEB/Arizona Daily Wildcat CatCard office employees Donna Baker, left, and Pat Zeigler admire a new spire installed north of the Student Union Memorial Center January 29. The piece, which showcases a monsoon using tiles wrapped around the base, is the first of three works that will be placed around the student union.

The Good

The Geraldo Rivera Bathroom

Named after the former UA student and lacrosse player, the Geraldo Rivera Bathroom honors an astute journalist whose sensitive dealings with Trailer Trash, USA, make him a role model for all UA graduates looking to be somebody. Off the beaten path, this bathroom can always be relied upon for a clean, modern and usually solo restroom experience ÷ just like at home. Think germ-free: stainless steel (-looking) stall doors, glimmering white tiles and an endless source of toilet paper and paper towels, which is precisely why I will not reveal the pristine Geraldo Rivera Bathroomâs location.

Rose Garden

Nestled next to the Forbes building is a beautiful little flower oasis that smells and looks heavenly. Some green-thumb UA gardener coaxes a variety of different colors and species of roses in this haven.

The Gould-Simpson View

Take the elevator and zip up to the 10th floor of the geology building at sunset with someone whose hand you can squeeze. A ceiling-to-floor-length window on the northeast corner of the building frames a gorgeous spread of Tucson with a Catalina Mountains backdrop like an Ansel Adams photograph.

Grass! Grass!

New to the U is the plethora of soft, returfed green as far as the eye can see ÷ almost ÷ on the Mall and McKaleâs lawn. Even though this non-indigenous plant gobbles up precious desert water resources, enjoy it! Roll around! Bring a dog and a Frisbee! Try not to think about the nice square of grass of the former Mall stage area, now besieged by student union construction, or the grass that was paved over on the east end of the Mall for supposedly ătemporaryä vehicle parking, but will most likely never be free for grass again. Sniff, sniff.

Olive and orange tree walkways

Pedestrian traffic on campus can get intense, especially on the hour between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m., which is why it is imperative for personal sanity to ferret out a nice walking route between classes. Parallel to Park Avenue is a lovely north/south sidewalk, graced with flanking olive trees. It makes me feel like I am strolling on an Italian villa. Short but sweet is the pathway shaded by orange trees between Maricopa and Yuma dormitories. Hit this tunnel of green in the spring and be rewarded with a whiff of orange blossom perfume.

ÎOmelet Ladyâ at the Cactus Grill

Based strictly on hearsay, this woman makes the best omelets with the best smile in the student union.

The old student union (now a heap of rubble)

The ugly, new and modern indoor student union canât beat $2.50 movies at Gallagher Theater and naps in the Cellar.

Frog & Firkin

Although technically not on campus, nor set at an outstandingly pretty location, Frog & Firkin makes the grade because: At this great outdoor patio bar, the more beers you drink, the prettier all the people walking by become.

The Fishpond

The favorite spot for the Drawing 101 class is the fishpond east of Gila dormitory. Orange goldfish and little turtles swim around in the murky water bordered by rocks and palm trees. Ignoring the Park Avenue traffic whizzing by only 10 feet away, the fishpond is a nice little spot to eat lunch and pretend the UA is a lush riparian preserve.

Recreation Center Pool

I propose that the big blue pool is prettiest during the menâs water polo team practices. However, many males would argue that prime viewing time is during the height of bikini season, when the balmy fall and spring weather lures babes in hordes out to the white, plastic lounge chairs. The womenâs synchronized swimming tournament, which included senior citizens and was held earlier this spring at the pool, was entertaining, as well. Regardless of your eye candy preference, the pool is a classic UA icon.

The Bad

Computers in Food Court

Despite a sterile design, the new student union facility is an improvement over the old one. The one glaring exception is the computer bank in the food court of the building. Who thought that food and computers would be a good idea? The eating-while-surfing prohibition is largely ignored, and various chunks of nourishment can often be seen adorning the unprotected keyboards. This is not the extent of the areaâs problems, though. At any given time, Internet-hungry students can be assured that one or more of the computers will simply not work. Of those that do function, inexplicable ăpassword checkpointsä bar users from accessing some Web-based e-mail sites, such as Yahoo! Combined with uncomfortable stools and a questionable location in the path of near-constant foot traffic, and the student union food court computers seem to be a very expensive mistake.

PHAROS in CCIT

In the midst of tuition hikes, housing shortages and course cancellations, University of Arizona students are suffering a death by 1,000 budget cuts. The most recent one is the addition of a PHAROS machine to the Center for Computing and Information Technology, now charging students to print from the centerâs computers. True, this system is already in effect in the Integrated Learning Center. True, it costs the university when students print documents. However, students are paying several thousand dollars a year to attend UA, and some of them arenât receiving the housing or classes they reasonably expected. Tuition is being raised in the aftermath of the recent budget cuts, and meanwhile students have to pay extra for one more service they shouldnât have to fund.

The Ugly

Top of the library

It is high time that the Main Library was spruced up, and it will no doubt serve students well in the years to come. But why is the exterior of the addition so different from the rest of the building? It looks like the top of a completely different edifice ÷ perhaps a snazzy modern one from downtown ÷ was airlifted onto our nondescript brown library. While there is nothing particularly offensive about either design on its own, it is a representation of the clash between modern and traditional architecture that is occurring all over the UA campus. Before this year, most of the buildings were red brick ÷ charming to some, monotonous to others ÷ but nobody would argue that they didnât match. Now, these same buildings lie alongside the shiny, modern Freshman Center/Information Commons and the student union, and as a result the campus looks like it is having a stylistic identity crisis.

Strange new art popping up in weird places

What in the world is the giant silver monstrosity hiding in the saguaros east of the student union? During the cactus garden debacle, UA students made it clear that the campusâ Sonoran Desert heritage remained an important part of the campus community, and that it should be preserved. Why, then, is there a large, shiny edifice vaguely resembling a basketball player smack in the middle of what used to be a peaceful patch of desert landscaping? Call me an elitist when it comes to design, but itâs jarring to walk out of the student union and be momentarily blinded by a piece of art. Hopefully, this is not foreshadowing the style of the new cactus garden.

These repeated attempts at fusion of the old and the new, the classic and the trendy, are disturbingly similar to those of our neighbors to the north, Arizona State University. The UA needs to be careful to preserve its own identity, which students, faculty and staff are so proud of.