10. Fraternities disciplined

Sigma Chi lost its university recognition late last month after an investigation reportedly revealed fraternity members had forced pledges to perform calisthenics, clean, paint and repair the fraternity house and eat cans of beans even after they vomited. Three pledges were also forced to sit inside a walk-in freezer for an undisclosed period of time.

In March, Sigma Alpha Epsilon temporarily lost its university recognition after pledges damaged a float belonging to another fraternity while Sigma Alpha Epsilon was on probation for hazing violations, including paddling. [Read article]

Six chosen as UA seniors of the year

For six of UA's graduating seniors, this year's commencement will be a little different. Instead of watching the event from a distance, like most graduates do, they will experience graduation from the stage.

They are the seniors of the year, and during their commencement ceremonies, University President Pete Likins will present them with special awards. [Read article]

Thirty-three percent of students graduating with their bachelor's degrees will leave UA with not only a diploma, but with debt, according to the Office of Student Financial Aid.

However, those students who have yet to pay off loans owe, on average, about $17,500 and can expect to pay off those loans for 10 years, according to John Nametz, director of need-based aid.

The nationwide loan amount average for all bachelor's degree recipients in 1999-2000 was more than $18,000, and for public universities it was almost $17,000, according to the National Post secondary Student Aid Survey. That same school year, UA's more than 2,200 graduates averaged $17,620 in owed loans. [Read article]

Challenges still exist, poll says

Working women still feel the weight of the glass ceiling, according to a recent nationwide survey.

In an online poll conducted by CareerWomen.com last month, more than 96 percent of women polled said they believed corporate culture continues to favor men.

The majority of those surveyed said they are excluded from formal networks and hindered by stereotypes and preconceptions about a woman's capabilities in the workplace. [Read article]

Two of the state's biggest political names will address graduates Saturday, the first time in two years that UA will host commencement speakers at the spring ceremony.

Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano will speak at the morning ceremony and Republican Sen. Jon Kyl, a UA alumnus, will speak in the afternoon.

Their speeches will mark the return of speakers to UA's spring commencement, after administrators last year said they wanted to make the ceremony more student-centered. [Read article]

For thousands of students, their time at UA will draw to a close Saturday, as they graduate in the university's 128th Commencement Exercises.

University President Pete Likins will confer degrees to almost 5,000 students, including 3,558 undergraduates, 822 masters, 221 doctoral, 10 specialist, 91 medical, 50 pharmacy, and 136 juris doctoral students. Two honorary degrees will also be awarded. [Read article]

A UA graduation tradition has come under heat in recent years, but this year, President Pete Likins is serious when he says no tortillas at the ceremony.

Last year, Likins asked graduates not to throw tortillas. However, since many ignored the request, Likins sent out a formal letter to the class of 2003 stating reasons why tortilla flinging is inappropriate for the 128th commencement ceremony. [Read article]

From the classes she taught on death and dying to the UA students she counseled on loss and grief, death was always a part of associate nursing professor Cheryl McGaffic's life, as she was concerned about patients near death and lectured often on the special care that these patients must be given.

Spirituality was a focal point of McGaffic's life and she was nearing a transitional phase where she was planning on giving up nursing and becoming either an Episcopalian chaplain or pursuing a master's degree in divinity from UA, friends and family said. [Read article]

New program offers options to students

Forty-eight students, most of them men, are on their way to providing some relief for Southern Arizona's nursing shortage under the UA College of Nursing's new accelerated degree program set to launch next month.

The 14-month Accelerated BSN Partnership Program for College Graduates, a fast-paced curriculum for graduates with college degrees in non-nursing fields, is a collaboration between the College of Nursing, Carondelet Health Network and University Medical Center. The program provides financial support for students earning their bachelor of science in nursing. [Read article]

Officials hope to get more input

After four years of what some say was confusion, frustration and misunderstanding with the UA General Education requirements, graduating seniors were given a chance to rate the UA online.

The Survey of Graduating Seniors is a fifty-question survey that started in 1997, which asks universal campus questions about students' experiences while at the UA. [Read article]

Top awards for each college at UA

Family Studies and Human Development
· Vania Fletcher ÷ Outstanding Senior, departmental-wide award

Retailing and Consumer Sciences
· Lonny Sternberg ÷ Outstanding Senior

Fine Arts
· Lauren McCabe ÷ Outstanding Senior

Art
· Shelley Tolman ÷ Outstanding Senior [Read article]

This Friday, almost 5,000 people will be dressed in a cap and gown as they make their final step before entering the future, but their garb is a piece of history.

The answer is the U.S. Government. The American Council on Education has set a specific code for commencement garb, including tassels.

The Academic Costume code, followed by most colleges and universities, precisely states what attire should be worn at graduation, if the school chooses to adhere to the code, based on historical standards. [Read article]

Past commencements had incidents but no streakers

Students all over the nation are preparing for graduation this week, deciding what to wear under their gown, if anything.

Although running across the stage at graduation in nothing but a birthday suit may have crossed some graduates' minds, there has never been a streaker at a UA graduation.

At least not as far back as Associate Dean of Students, Jim Drnek, who has been at UA for 15 years, can recall. However, Drnek said that other forms of nudity have appeared at commencement. [Read article]

One might think that crazy graduation antics, that is, an off-the-wall wardrobe (or even a total lack of wardrobe), are confined to the movies, but one shouldn't forget that movies are inspired by reality.

Graduation at UA has seen its fair share of crazy apparel.

"There is a lot of stuff, people get very creative," said Alexis Hernandez, associate dean of students. "Some people do some very elaborate pieces on their mortar boards and it is very neat." [Read article]

Visions of diplomas are dancing in the heads of graduating UA seniors, along with the anticipation of gifts from family and friends, as they prepare to say goodbye to their home of the past several years.

"It's really over," said Meaghan Finnerty, a communication senior who is moving to New York City after graduation. "I am really going to miss school and Tucson and everything about the UA."

As a graduation gift, Finnerty's parents are paying for her to live in an apartment in Manhattan for three months, worth approximately $5,000, while she interns at Major League Baseball Productions, Finnerty said. [Read article]

RICK ANDERSON, JASON GARDNER, LUKE WALTON
Men's basketball seniors

It was their year.

From October through April, nobody on campus embodied ÎWildcat Spirit' more than these men's hoops tri-captains.

They had just about seen it all during their four-plus years in Tucson. From the 2001 Final Four, to starting the year unranked as juniors, to becoming the poster-children of UA athletics during their two-year run at the helm, Anderson, Gardner and Walton became three of the most recognizable faces in the city. Walton had the pedigree; Gardner had the raw skills and heart; Anderson had the shot. [Read article]

GREELEY, Colo. ÷ Unfortunately for senior visual arts major Ryan Talbot, finding a job in his field after graduation is not an easy task.

"As an art major, it's very difficult to find a job," Talbot said. "Many art majors end up going into teaching, and since there have been such drastic budget cuts in education, this makes it even harder."

Some students procrastinate when it comes to researching their career. [Read article]

Some of the year's most memorable campus moments captured on film [Read article]