Student primary elections begin today, but only the offices of president and administrative vice president are contested.

Freshman Class Council Director J.P. Benedict, Administrative Vice President Jered Mansell and Senator Travis Pritchett are all on the ticket for president. Two will survive and move onto the general election next week.

The student body president acts as chief executive officer, chief financial officer and chief spokesperson for the students. [Read article]

Last minute appointment eases burden of elections commissioner

Student senators appointed Chief of Staff Sam Chang to the position of assistant elections commissioner Friday, only three days before the primary elections.

Student Body President Doug Hartz proposed the appointment of Chang to handle simple election issues, including poster appropriateness and filing complaints, in order to provide Elections Commissioner Jason Korner with more time to be as "fully accessible as he'd like to be." [Read article]

While some college students spent their Friday night finding ways to keep their minds off of school, more than 700 students packed the Levine Ballroom in the Student Union Memorial Center to kick off the 10th annual Arizona Collegiate Leadership Conference.

Students from 21 institutions, including all three state universities, made this year's conference the largest to date.

Student organizers Samantha Zipp and Kimmey Hardisty said they began planning the conference in the wake of Sept. 11. [Read article]

Meet the candidates running for contested student government offices

Vote online today & tomorrow: ASUA.ARIZONA.EDU

J.P. Benedict
President
ð Business administration and marketing senior

Benedict, vice president of Sigma Chi fraternity, currently serves as director of the Freshman Class Council, which he co-founded with Melanie Rainer last year. [Read article]

Theatre major doesn't have the butt to wear tights, prefers to work behind the scenes

WILDCAT: Ooh, theater, that's so fun.

CHAMBERS: Yeah.

WILDCAT: I used to want to be an actress. I used to put on plays for my parents. OK, but back to you.

CHAMBERS: Well, I do the technical part.

WILDCAT: Oh, the lights, camera, action part of it?

CHAMBERS: Yeah, the behind-the-scenes stuff. [Read article]

· On average, 2.7 people are killed every year by vending machines.

· Peanuts are one of the ingredients in dynamite.

· During the filming of "The Shawshank Redemption," the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals objected to the scene where a maggot is fed to a crow, requesting that a maggot that had died of natural causes be used. [Read article]

Monday
· 1931 ÷ "The Star-Spangled Banner" officially became the national anthem of the United States.

· 1974 ÷ A Turkish Airlines DC-10 crashed shortly after takeoff from Orly Airport in Paris, killing almost 350 people.

· 1991 ÷ Black motorist Rodney King was severely beaten by Los Angeles police officers in a scene captured on amateur video. [Read article]