Bobbie Jo Buel's first story for the Arizona Daily Wildcat was ripped up by an editor and thrown out the window.

"I think it was a case of hazing the new kid," said Buel, the executive editor for the Arizona Daily Star and a Wildcat alumna.

Today, Buel and seven other former Wildcat-ers will be inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame during a ceremony at the Doubletree Hotel. The inductees will join a group of 13 individuals inducted two years ago.

"This whole thing is painful to me," Buel said. "I am so undeserving of this. Looking at the people on this list I think 'What the heck am I doing here?'"

Other inductees include Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist and reporter for the Miami Herald, Elinor J. Brecher; award-winning journalist and author, Lynne Olson; and Star cartoonist David Fitzsimmons.

"This is a distinguished group of people who span an interesting era in Wildcat history," said Mark Woodhams, director of Arizona Student Media.

Inductee Michael Chihak, editor and publisher of the Tucson Citizen, was a Wildcat reporter at the height of the Vietnam War. There were a number of violent protests occurring on campus during that time.

Chihak recalled a particular incident involving a group of black students picketing at a UA basketball game.

The team's opponent on that day was Brigham Young University.

In those days, Mormons were saying blacks were inferior, Chihak said. The protest turned violent, prompting the response of dozens of police officers. Nine people were arrested, including the student body president.

"I had many memorable experiences at the Wildcat," Chihak said. "The level of self-confidence I gained was the

translation of experience into reality."

That kind of experience has become a family tradition. Chihak's daughter, also a Wildcat alum, is now a copy editor for The Arizona Republic.

"Two generations of Chihaks have benefited from their experiences at the Wildcat," Chihak said.

The keynote speaker for the event is Thom Calandra, founding editor of CBS Marketwatch and a Wildcat alum. Woodhams expects 150 former and present-day Wildcat staff members to attend the event, which starts at 7 p.m.

The inductees were selected by a committee of Tucson-area alumni in September.

The hall-of-famers will be recognized on a wall in the renovated Park Student Union, where the Wildcat offices will move over winter break.

There will be plenty of room on that wall for more names, Woodhams said.

"It's conceivable that there are even greater ones to come," Woodhams said, referring to future nominees.

"We look forward to recognizing them all."