When people call Melinda Preston's Tucson mobile phone number for the first time, some are taken aback by the voicemail message that greets them.

The voice is of Preston's son, Matthew, a University of Arizona biomedical graduate who was killed in October 2001 while riding his bicycle home from work. Although his voicemail message is simple and does not even mention his name, it means the world to his mother. Preston's decision to keep the mobile phone and the voicemail message has helped keep her son's memory alive for herself and anybody who calls. [Read article]

Just over a week before the weekend storms crawled over Tucson, on July 3 ÷ the date on which many had predicted the season would begin, researchers in the UA department of atmospheric sciences were getting their own taste of the monsoon season.

That day a team of researchers made the final contribution to a project that they said will help both weather watchers and concerned citizens better understand Arizona's rainy season. The project is based on the use of a number of weather sensors, called Global Positioning System (GPS) sensors that collect humidity data and could thereby help people prepare for dangerous monsoon thunderstorms. [Read article]

Nurses, physicians and other UMC staff reveled over their achievements on Thursday, as they sipped margaritas and munched on Mexican food while listening to a mariachi band.

As if getting through the first week being the only level one trauma center in Southern Arizona wasn't enough, last month, UMC also became the only magnet hospital in the state.

The magnet recognition, according to Arizona Nurses Association executive director Marla Weston, means University Medical Center has become of the top 1 percent of facilities in the nation to be recognized for having an elite-level nursing staff. [Read article]

Estimates released by the Arizona Department of Economic Security in March show that the statewide recession is over, according to officials from the UA office of Economic and Business Research.

The findings, which were compiled by a team headed by Economic and Business Research Director Marshall Vest, show that the job base in Arizona has been growing over the past year. Vest is also the director of the Forecasting Project, which provides general economic forecasts and analyses to the public and the news media, and detailed forecasts to government and private business sponsors. [Read article]

Area bike shops offer discounted safety equipment to students who register their bikes

As thousands of incoming students prepare to descend on the campus, University officials, in conjunction with local bike shops, are stepping up a program to keep students safe and informed while on their bicycles.

Headed by UA Parking and Transportation's alternative transportation department, the program was designed to reward students and Tucson residents who register their bicycles on campus while also promoting bicycle safety. [Read article]

Biology senior has never seen it rain cats and dogs, but likes to feed cacti to flies

WILDCAT: This is some pretty crazy weather. What do you think about the monsoon?

BITLER: I love it. It's great.

WILDCAT: You think it's about to rain cats and dogs on us?

BITLER: Heck yeah.

WILDCAT: Speaking of cats and dogs, have you ever seen them literally fall from the sky? [Read article]

Award winning UA English prof dies

Regents Professor J. Douglas Canfield, 63, died July 3 after a two-year battle with idiopathic-pulmonary fibrosis.

For many, Canfield will be remembered as a fighter and an optimist who loved his work and his life.

Before he died, Canfield said that if his health stabilized, he would like to continue teaching English at the university until he was 70. [Read article]

80 mph winds brought in by Hurricane Claudette ravaged the 350-mile long Texas gulf coast on Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the Coast Guard had to rescue two men whose 92-foot shrimp boat sank.

1st aircraft designated "Navy One," used to fly President Bush aboard an aircraft carrier to greet sailors returning from the war against Iraq, made its final landing Tuesday. The S-3B Viking was flown to Pensacola Fla. from North Island Naval Air Station in San Diego and will go on permanent display Thursday at the National Museum of Naval Aviation. [Read article]

Solar-powered racecar begins trek today

The UA's solar-powered racecar, Turbulence, is on the road today, racing in the American Solar Car Challenge, the longest solar car race in the world.

The race began Sunday morning in front of the museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, and will end July 20 in Claremont, Calif.

By Tuesday night, the Arizona team had fallen from 10th to 12th place in the race, and had completed 629.23 miles ÷ just under a third of the total length of the race. [Read article]