Arizona Supreme Court to hear oral arguments at college of law

The Arizona Supreme Court will hold oral arguments in two cases at the UA James E. Rogers College of Law on Thursday as part of an effort to increase public access to the workings of the state's highest court.

At the conclusion of the second oral argument, scheduled to begin at approximately 2 p.m., all five justices of the Supreme Court will be available to answer general questions from audience members. The justices welcome people to take advantage of this unique opportunity to speak directly with them on topics of interest, though they are prohibited from answering questions about specific pending cases.

Oral arguments often involve complex legal issues that have been appealed to the Supreme Court. Attorneys representing clients in the cases are allowed limited time to argue on behalf of those clients. Oral argument is the only opportunity the justices have to question the lawyers about the issues on appeal.

Prestigious association names seven UA scientists as Fellows

Seven UA faculty members have been named Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science for 2002. Election as a Fellow of the AAAS is an honor bestowed on members by their peers. It recognizes "efforts to advance science or foster applications that are deemed scientifically or socially distinguished," according to the AAAS.

This year, the AAAS elected 291 new fellows, including UA's Jonathan Lunine, professor of planetary sciences; David William Galbraith, professor of plant sciences; Elizabeth Vierling, professor of biochemistry; Seth Marder, professor of chemistry; D. Terence Langendoen, professor of linguistics; Charlene McQueen, professor of pharmacology and toxicology; and Merrill Garrett, professor of psychology.

Founded in 1848, the AAAS is the world's largest federation of scientists. Its activities include publishing the weekly magazine Science, one of the world's most prestigious scientific journals.

Foundation donates $600,000 for business-tech collaboration

The Thomas R. Brown Family Foundation of Tucson announced a significant gift to the UA on Oct. 25 to foster further excellence and deeper collaboration between the Eller College of Business and Public Administration and the College of Engineering and Mines.

The colleges will receive $200,000 per year for three years to assist in recruiting two world-class scholars who will play a leadership role in building links between the two colleges and promote research, teaching and service to the community in engineering and management.

Upon successful recruitment of the world-class scholars and the demonstration of an expanded collaboration effort, the foundation hopes to establish two permanently endowed chairs to support the endeavor.

The College of Engineering and Mines and the Eller College will also jointly receive $100,000 per year for three years in scholarship support. This support is designated to help the College of Engineering and Mines recruit more National Merit Scholars to its undergraduate program, and for the business college to recruit more technically-seasoned students to its MBA Program.