Protesters accuse officers of violating civil rights

Nearly 40 students assembled in front of the Administration building yesterday afternoon to protest what they called a history of racist actions in the University of Arizona Police Department.

Protesters deplored what they considered a "disturbing trend of racial profiling and brutality" in the police force.

"Police have been going after Africans and harassing minorities everyday," said Rachel Wilson, a UA employee and activist. [Read article]

Editor's note: This is the first in a two-part series on UA research in biosciences. Tomorrow will feature the economic impacts of that research.

More than 50 years have passed since two British scientists discovered the structure of DNA. Their finding marked the first step in what has been a half-century-long process of unlocking the molecule's mysteries.

Now, scientists have mapped the human genome. Research is leaping beyond learning DNA's structure, and scientists around the world are searching for ways to apply their newfound genetic knowledge toward improving quality of life. [Read article]

Nathan Bell remembers the first time he set eyes on the UA Mall.

Bell, a computer engineering and science sophomore, visited UA when he was a high school junior, and he remembers standing on the grass, watching the Mall come to life as students threw a frisbee around and laid out in the sun.

But now Bell eats his lunch on the lawn in front of the Administration building, 100 yards away from the place where he stood that day. From there, he can see the mangled and almost bare stretch of land that was once the center of campus life. [Read article]

The big announcement came last June.

After a four-month, $90 million fundraising effort that included an $8 million investment from UA, university and civic leaders across the state learned they had landed the scientific equivalent of a lottery jackpot.

One of the best geneticists in the nation was moving to Arizona, and he would be leading an effort to turn the state into a leader in the biosciences. [Read article]

Junior not into patting butts of statues, hopes to become involved in ASUA

WILDCAT: What's the deal with getting all dressed up? Not all of us dress like that every day you know.

ORTMANN: I had an interview with ASUA today.

WILDCAT: For ASUA? For what?

ORTMANN: Different positions in the president's cabinet and the vice president's cabinet.

WILDCAT: Sweet! What inspired you to want to be a part of ASUA? [Read article]

· A "claque" is a group of people hired to applaud an act or performer.

· Myrtle Beach, South Carolina has the most mini-golf courses per square mile in the US. There are 47 in a 60-mile area.

· Shambu Tamang was the youngest person ever to ascend Mount Everest. He was 17 years, 6 months, and 15 days old when he reached the summit.

· Progeria is a disease that causes the entire life cycle to be compressed into less than 20 years. By the time a sufferer is seven years old, he looks, feels and acts like an old person, and he may die of "old age" by the time he is 11 or 12 years old. [Read article]

Paper on the rocks

The Maneater
University of Missouri

Amid charges of censorship and mismanagement, a decision by the University of Missouri ÷ St. Louis student government could leave the campus without a student newspaper.

UMSL's student activities budget committee decided April 11 to eliminate its usual subsidy for The Current, leaving the weekly student-run newspaper's future in doubt. [Read article]