With the country facing a librarian shortage, and the looming possibility of the School of Information Resources and Library Science being eliminated, director Brook Sheldon is already organizing students, alumni, and community members to support her school.

Yesterday she sent out a letter to Congressman Raul Grijalva, the state librarian, and the Hispanic coalition, asking for their support. [Read article]

Take an old run down motel, add refrigerators, Internet connections and over 600 hundred college students, and what do you get? The Sahara: a new option for students who like the residence hall lifestyle but who may not be able to get housing on campus due to recent housing problems.

The Sahara, located near North Stone Avenue and East Sixth Street, are built to resemble the atmosphere in which students in residence halls on campus live. Residence Life-like personnel such as resident assistants and hall directors will live on the premises . [Read article]

The Graduate and Professional Student Council said they oppose an administration plan that will try to reduce the effects of a tuition increase by raising the minimum credit requirement from six to nine units for all graduate students.

Under the administration's proposal, current students would not have to pay for the additional three units.

The administration's plan to keep graduate-level tuition down has been colored by serious doubt since it was released Tuesday. The GPSC announced their opposition to the plan yesterday in an emergency meeting. [Read article]

Carrying a McDonald's bag, Chris Coleman returned home to Coronado Residence Hall yesterday afternoon after walking halfway across campus from the Student Union Memorial Center.

Coleman, an engineering freshman, and residents of the three halls near the Park Student Union, had their convenient food stop on campus closed last month when a renovation and expansion project on the PSU began.

The project, which is expected to last until October, will bring additional eateries, retail shops and meeting areas to the PSU, according to union administrators. [Read article]

Fine arts senior is a fan of funky 70s pants, pirates and candy canes instead of real arms

WILDCAT: So what do you do?

WING: I mainly do paint and drawings.

WILDCAT: Wow! Are you a colorful painter?

WING: I'm more expressionistic, let's say. I do a lot of stuff that has happened to me ÷ dreams, stuff like that.

WILDCAT: Interesting. You would have been very popular in the 70s I'm sure. [Read article]

Professor of French and women's studies dies at 67

Monique Wittig, a professor of women's studies and French at UA, died Jan. 3, 2003 in Tucson. She was 67.

Wittig, a French writer, poet and social theorist, was born July 13, 1935 in Alsace, France.

As a founding leader in the French feminist movement, her literary and theoretical works were recognized as essential contributions to feminist thought in Europe and the United States and to the emerging movement for lesbian and gay rights.

Her work has been translated into a dozen languages, including German, Dutch, Finish, Japanese, and Spanish. After moving to the United States in the mid-1970s, Wittig held a number of university teaching positions before joining the department of French at the UA in 1990. Wittig also went on to become a professor of women's studies in 1998.

Agency awards $3.9 million to UA Education Center

The University of Arizona Center for Education and Research in Therapeutics has been awarded $3.9 million over five years by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to continue its efforts to promote the safe and effective use of medications.

AzCERT is part of a national network of seven centers ÷ all based at academic health sciences centers ÷ that are independent federally funded programs to improve therapeutic outcomes and reduce adverse events caused by medications. AzCERT focuses on preventing harm from drug interactions, especially those affecting women.

Previously based at Georgetown University, the Center moved to the UA when Dr. Woosley became UA Vice President of health sciences in September 2001.

"This research should result in hundreds of lives saved from preventable drug toxicity," Dr. Woosley says.

Mayor Walkup issues weight loss challenge to Tucsonans

Mayor Bob Walkup is challenging city residents to be "losers" in the first city-wide weight loss challenge to emphasize weight loss maintenance by making long-term lifestyle changes.

The Mayor's Fitness and Weight Loss Challenge is coordinated by the University of Arizona College of Medicine; implemented through the City of Tucson and supported by the Wellness Councils of Arizona, the Arizona Governor's Council on Health, Physical Fitness and Sports, as well as other cooperating groups, sponsoring agencies and funding partners.

The challenge is a 12-week team fitness and weight loss program designed to increase physical activity levels and provide skill development and social support for healthy lifestyle habits. It will be held Jan. 20 ÷ April 25.

Water line installation will cause Fourth Street closure

East-west traffic will be closed on East Fourth Street between North Park and North Highland Avenues from Saturday through Jan. 26, to install a water line on East Fourth Street.

This restriction includes emergency vehicles, as a trench will be dug across both lanes of East Fourth Street near the Biological Sciences East building.

Exam heist

SOUTH BEND, Ind. ÷ No new information has come to light regarding organic chemistry final exams that were stolen during finals week, according to Xavier Creary, Notre Dame University professor of the 200-level science course.

"So far there's been no clue as to what happened or who did it," he said.

Creary said the graded exams were taken from his unlocked office on Dec. 19 while he was at lunch.

Sex suggestion

AUSTIN, Texas ÷ The University of Texas-Austin student government voted Tuesday in a 33-1 decision to call for the Texas State Legislature to repeal the Homosexual Conduct Law.

The resolution calls for the repeal of a portion of the Texas Penal Code which makes acts of anal and oral sex illegal for same sex partners in Texas.

The resolution also recommends that UT Medical Branch in Galveston should not deny condoms or dental dams to inmates.

Budget Save

PRINCETON, N.J. ÷ Princeton University Provost Amy Gutmann said last week that Princeton University would avoid a budget deficit this year because of increases in alumni donations and prudent fiscal management.