A guide to the UA's fraternities and sororities

More than 2,500 students at the UA are members of the 46 lettered social fraternities and sororities on campus. With so many groups focusing on different areas of service, academics and cultural issues, it is hard to keep them straight.

Whether you are looking to join or just looking to make sense of it all, here are short profiles on each of the social greek organizations at the UA. [Read article]

Get to know...

The Arizona Board of Regents

About once every two months, a group of nine individuals convenes to make decisions that affect tens of thousands of students in the state.

Tuition

Two consecutive years of record-setting tuition hikes beg the question: Is the UA heading toward a third?

Since 2002-2003, the university has more than doubled tuition rates, at the same time almost doubling the amount of tuition revenue that's set aside for financial aid.

But whether or not the trend will continue isn't clear.

UA President Peter Likins said it's too early to plan tuition rates for next year. [Read article]

UAPD made 218 liquor violation arrests and 243 drug violation arrests in 2003, according to its Web site.

Of these, 60 alcohol violation arrests and 63 drug violation arrests were made in the residence halls.

Coronado Residence Hall topped the charts in both categories, with 19 alcohol and 11 drug arrests. Forty-four percent of the halls had no alcohol-related citations; 40 percent had no arrests due to alcohol. [Read article]

Imagine that Mom and Dad come to visit you at the UA, but then decide to stick around and take a few classes. Perhaps they enroll in the same classes you plan to take. Would you welcome this, or possibly feel threatened or intimidated?

Some UA students feel put off by the idea of sharing their classrooms with nontraditional students, specifically students in their late 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, even 60s. However, others embrace older students as mentors and encouraging contributors to their classes. [Read article]

To avoid the high cost of parking on campus, many UA students are using bicycles, skateboards and other alternative methods of getting to and from classes.

With more than 9,600 bicycle parking spaces campus-wide and clearly defined bike routes, most UA students prefer riding their bicycles, as they can get around more quickly than if they had to walk from class to class.

Two wheels beat two feet [Read article]

In between classes, most students at the University of Arizona like to grab a bite to eat, or perhaps print out a research paper. Some might even want to get a haircut, make flight reservations or catch a movie.

All of these things, and a lot more, can be done at the Student Union Memorial Center (SUMC) located at the heart of UA.

The SUMC, first built in 1951, was reopened in 2003 after three years of renovations and expansions. Several restaurants and retail stores were added, including STA Travel and a Wells Fargo Bank branch. [Read article]

Many parents attending the University of Arizona quickly discover that the campus is not always "parent friendly." In order to unite and fight for the rights of UA parents, two mothers decided to do something about it.

When Lisa Elliott (then a psychology student) and anthropology junior Mariannette Pascal met on a playground two years ago, they put their heads together and started Babycats.

"Babycats is a student organization for those of us trying to get through school while being a parent," said Shelly Adrian, who became the organization's president when Elliot graduated in May. [Read article]

Supposedly, "it's not what you know, it's who you know," and in the dorms the cliché is doubly true. Because chances are, if you are living in the dorms, you are a freshman.

Whether you are attending UA to study hard and get a good education or just stopped by for directions to the party, you're going to need to know how to maneuver the labyrinthine social structures of dorm life. At some point you will need something that you don't have and have no way to get on your own. [Read article]

Decorating tight quarters on a tight budget

See if you can solve this riddle:

I carry heavy objects in 100-degree heat.

I have spent the past 24 hours in a car, hotel room or airplane with an irritated parent.

I just met someone I'll be living with for nine months and his hobbies include online dating and pit bull breeding.

Who am I?

If you answered a pitiful wretch condemned to the fifth ring of hell or a freshman on dorm move-in day, you're right. [Read article]

Getting out of your parents' house is a great blessing. Hell, I could've gone and shacked up at the No-Tell-Motel and it would have been a step in the right direction. (But most college freshmen won't have to deal with blacklights when they get out.)

Now that the leash is off, you have two options at the UA: take your chances in the dorms or live off campus.

The differences are countless, but I'll try to count some for you anyway. [Read article]

America's second favorite waste of time

Back in the day, gaming systems like Atari used to go on modest dates with the youth of America. Now the video game industry is having an unabashed, billion-dollar affair with gamers all over the world.

The UA student body reflects this billion-dollar relationship to video games, which are largely considered the second-most popular form of entertainment, following television. [Read article]

In the hysteria of settling in, meeting people and starting school, it is easy to lose sight of nutrition.

The Freshman 15 is not just an urban legend. It happens. But fear not; there are ways to avoid sudden weight gain without missing out on college culture.

It is a proven fact that the cheapest and most convenient food is usually the worst nutritionally.

Instead of shelling out big bucks for a fitness center membership, why not take advantage of the facilities provided by the University of Arizona and get in shape on campus?

The Student Recreation Center provides a lot more services than most major fitness centers in town, and students who take more than four units are already members through the Recreation Center Bond Retirement Fee.

This fee pays for the construction cost of the Rec Center, which opened in August 1990. [Read article]

The bell tolls and students burst out onto the UA Mall like GAP-donned cockroaches out of a sewer. Some make a beeline for their next class, but others scatter into varying nooks and crannies of the UA campus to wait for rides home or to kill time before upcoming classes.

At some point in their academic careers, UA students are going to experience time blocks; those blank, rectangular spaces on their Student Link graph schedule. [Read article]

You have the right to say no.

Sure, you've probably already been told that you can say no to drugs, sexual advances and Krispy Kreme donuts, but what about that guy in your class who's been pressuring you to convert to his religion?

The University Religious Council is reminding students that "no" should be enough, and has identified lines that religious organizations shouldn't cross when proselytizing on campus. [Read article]