UA faculty leaving for better pay, research space at peer institutions

Prominent chemistry professor Seth Marder left the UA last year because of the limited research space the university gave him.

He found the space he needed later that year - 1800 miles from Tucson, at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Vernon Smith, a world-renowned economics professor, left the UA in 2001 because his research wasn't receiving enough funding from the university. [Read article]

Responding to pressure to slow down plans for revamping the state university system, the Arizona Board of Regents has given the public more time to offer alternatives to the regional university system proposed last month.

At Board of Regents' President Chris Herstam's recommendation, the board last week unanimously approved extending the previous July 1st due date for alternative proposals until August 1. [Read article]

Higher admissions standards may be bad news for Arizona's minority students

Stricter automatic admissions policies starting in 2006 may make it harder for Arizona high school students - especially minorities - to get into the UA, according to a recent ABOR high school eligibility study.

Six percent of American Indians, nine percent of African Americans and 11 percent of Hispanics in Arizona would be guaranteed admission into the state university of their choice if they applied under the requirements the universities will be using in 2006, approximately one-third of those eligible using current standards. [Read article]

Tuition dollars will be funding building renewal projects at the university this year, setting a "bad precedent" UA administrators hope won't be repeated next year.

Last week the Arizona Board of Regents gave the UA the authority to sell $20 million in certificates of participation - effectively bonds whose debt service will be funded by tuition.

$1.9 million of the $5.8 million debt for the Poetry Center will also be paid for tuition. The rest will be paid by gifts. [Read article]

The Rialto Theatre, a downtown performance venue frequented by many UA students, will be shut down for approximately six months for interior and exterior renovations.

The Rio Nuevo District is expected to purchase the 85-year-old theater in the next several weeks, according to Doug Biggers, manager of the Congress Street Investors and the Congress Street Historic Theatres Foundation.

"The Rio Nuevo District has approved the purchase from the Rialto [Theatre] Foundation," Donovan Durband, Executive Director of the Tucson Downtown Alliance, said. "It's really a done deal, other than awaiting the appraisal. It should be finalized within a couple months." [Read article]

Three fast-food businesses on University Boulevard are still open and thriving in their first summer on campus.

La Salsa, Jimmy John's and the Pita Pit are brand new to the campus area this year and are still doing business over the summer.

"It's been a better summer than we predicted," said Chris Wright, owner and operator of Jimmy John's.

The businesses plan for the summer months to be slow so the lack of business doesn't hurt them. [Read article]

University employees acted the hero, detaining a man they caught trying to steal laptops until police arrived at 4 p.m. on June 15.

Clayton Nelson was arrested on 3 counts of third degree burglary and one count of theft for allegedly stealing two laptop computers, a printer and a tool bag from the Marvel building, 1213 E. South Campus Drive, reports stated.

Employees in the building remembered the man from an incident on May 25 in which the man was attempting to steal a computer monitor. [Read article]

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's... a UA student reading comic books.

There comes a time in life when fantasy is sorely needed. University of Arizona students made anxious by approaching paper deadlines and tests encounter this time repeatedly.

Comic books can be an elixir for student anxiety. Or in the words of pre-computer science sophomore Alex Trebisky:

"They're kind of fun and cool."

Fantasy Comics, located up the street from the UA at 2595 N. First Ave., is offering another world to students already sick of this one. [Read article]

Flandrau Science Center launches "Ring World"

The Flandrau Science Center will introduce "Ring World," a new planetarium show about NASA's Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn, just as the spacecraft arrives at the ringed planet.

"Ring World" follows the Cassini mission on its seven-year, 2 billion-mile journey to this mysterious world and its entourage of moons. The show is narrated by John Billingsley, known for his role as Dr. Phlox on Star Trek: Enterprise. [Read article]

300
Wives kept by King Aziz Ibn Saud, who ruled Saudi Arabia from 1932 until his death in 1953.

318,979,564,000
Possible ways of playing just the first four moves on each side in a game of chess.

2,500,000
Rivets that secure the Eiffel Tower.

1,290 ft.
The distance below sea level at which the Jordan River enters the Dead Sea.

7,100
Islands that make up the Philippines. Its total land area is about that of Arizona [Read article]

Wednesday

High: 100 Low: 70

Thursday

High: 101 Low: 74

Friday

	High: 103 Low: 76