The campus landscape continues to change as building progresses

As the construction area of the Student Union Memorial Center shrinks and its completion nears, the southern part of campus is being rebuilt and housing for graduate students is being replaced.

Construction of the Student Union Memorial Center, which started in July 1999, is supposed to be completed Dec. 15.

"It feels great to have the completion date so near. We are on the home stretch and rounding third," said Bill Shiba, associate director of Arizona Student Unions, said earlier this semester. [Read article]

Make sure you and the Īrents ÷ parents, for those not in the know ÷ check out these events.

Friday

Register for a day of family fun
Registration tents will be set up at Old Main from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

This is exactly where your dad will end up if he's the type of guy to don bike shorts and a fanny pack on a college campus.

Feeling harmonious?
Come see the Arizona Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Thomas Cockrell for a concert you won't forget. The concert starts at 7:30 p.m. at the cozy Crowder Hall. [Read article]

This year's freshman class size exceeded only by last year's

The UA is housing the largest enrollment ever, with 35,847 graduate and undergraduate students ÷ exceeding the previous record by 171 students.

The bulge was anticipated. Last year's record-breaking freshman class of 5,949 and this year's 5,808 freshman class coming in as the second-largest ever.

This is the highest enrollment in the history of the university and highest undergraduate enrollment, said Rick Kroc, director of assessment and enrollment research. [Read article]

The three Arizona university presidents were requested to outline plans for the future directions of their institutions at an August retreat with the Arizona Board of Regents.

As it turned out, each president's plan fit with the next.

"Changing Directions" was born.

Under the initiative, the UA would become a research powerhouse, make the admissions process more rigorous and raise tuition, while ASU would educate the majority of Arizona students and NAU would focus primarily on the undergraduate education. [Read article]

If you were to describe the kind of people usually found relaxing on the UA Mall, your roster might include the boys who always seem to overthrow their Frisbee right into the middle of a group of girls sitting down to lunch, that kid with messy hair who just happened to fall asleep again and that girl with the walkman eating her hotdog with only mustard on it. But on Saturday afternoons before UA home football games, none of these characters can be found and a completely different element takes over: the tailgaters. [Read article]