Arboretum plans ribbon cutting ceremony for Saturday morning

The UA Campus Arboretum ribbon cutting ceremony and opening celebration will take place this Saturday.

The event will honor past UA botanists, feature tree planting, tours of the Arboretum and a plant sale. The featured speaker of the event will be Dr. David Yetman of "The Desert Speaks."

Cacti and other prizes will also be raffled off at the event.

The Campus Arboretum has recently been accepted into the American Association of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta.

The event will take place between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. and will begin on the west side of Old Main.

For more information, or to register for the raffle, visit http://arboretum.arizona.edu/kickoff.html.

Astronomers find debris from Apollo missions orbiting Earth

Two UA astronomers used the 61-inch telescope at the Steward Observatory near Mount Bigelow in the Santa Catalina Mountains for observations of an object numbered as J002E3. The object was first discovered on Sept. 3 by an amateur astronomer in southern California.

The news made headlines as the only satellite other than the moon to be naturally drawn into the Earth's orbit.

After a peer review by colleagues at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the astronomers have concluded that the object may be from either Apollo 8, 10, 11 or most likely from Apollo 12.

Paul Chodas of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory calculated that the object had been in orbit since April 2002, and due to its small size and awkward orbit, he suggested the object was most likely "space junk," possibly from American astronauts during the Apollo program.

UA research technician Carl Hergenrother and research associate Robert Whiteley made observations with filters to sample the colors that the object reflects.

The two astronomers discovered that the object seemed to have properties consistent with white Titanium oxide paint used during several of the Apollo missions.

Regent's professorships for 2003 open for nominations

President Peter Likins is now accepting nominations for Regent's Professors for 2003.

The 2002 Regent's Professors have not been announced or approved by the Arizona Board of Regents, yet this year's nominations are due because of the time and consideration that the nomination process requires.

The honor is reserved to those professors with exceptional achievements that have led to national and international recognition. Regent's Professors make up 3 percent of the tenure and tenure-track faculty at the university.

The appointments come with a modest salary increase and with expectations of the professor to exemplify high objectives and scholarship through their creative research and instruction.

Once a nomination is made, it can be under consideration for up to three years. Criteria and nomination information has been distributed to the faculty.

The deadline to submit a nomination is March 21, 2003.