KUAT-TV anchor honored

KUAT-TV's Bill Buckmaster was honored with the first Alzheimer's Disease Public Awareness Award, presented by the Arizona Alzheimer's Disease Consortium.

Buckmaster, anchor and managing editor of the station's weeknight TV newsmagazine, "Arizona Illustrated," has produced more than 20 segments about Alzheimer's during his 16 years with the program.

He also produced a half-hour special program about the disease and its impact on families in Southern Arizona. The "Arizona Illustrated" special aired Jan. 21 in conjunction with a national PBS program, "The Forgetting: A Portrait of Alzheimer's."

The award was presented Friday during the AADC's annual meeting at the Tucson Marriott University Park.

Buckmaster said, "I am so honored to receive this award from these Alzheimer's researchers who are working tirelessly to find better treatment and eventually a cure for this mind-robbing disease. Alzheimer's has deeply affected me personally, because my mother suffered from it. In 1991, it took her life."

UA Cares Campaign reports $400K in donations

The UA announced that it raised $422,040 in the fall 2003 UA Cares Campaign. The contributions were designated for 161 nonprofit organizations and more than 150 university programs.

The 2003 campaign was the first to involve students, and it worked closely with the Arizona Health Sciences Center.

Honorary Chairman of the UA Cares Campaign and UA President Peter Likins gave an overview of the accomplishments at the UA Cares culmination celebration, Feb. 3, at the President's Scholarship Suite. About 90 campaign coordinators and volunteers attended the event.

Thanks were given to all the department coordinators, the Honorary Leadership Council of Deans and Vice Presidents, and steering committee members for making the 2003 UA Cares Campaign a success.