Official review begun after Polk's collapse

Arizona Athletics officials said they do not see a need to change health standard tests despite two student-athlete deaths in the last 16 months.

The athletics department doesn't think its testing standards are related to the June 8, 2004, death of UA football player McCollins Umeh or the Sept. 26 death of UA women's basketball center Shawntinice Polk, said Kathleen "Rocky" LaRose, senior associate director of athletics. [Read article]

ASU, NAU ahead of UA in ethnic minority faculty percentages

Departments across campus are trying to increase their faculty diversity, but recent reports show the UA as a whole is trailing behind the other two state universities in its percentage of ethnic minority faculty.

Each university's report on faculty includes professors, associate professors and assistant professors, and does not include instructor, lecturer, research or visiting titles. [Read article]

A UA student known for her love of children and her positive outlook on life was killed Saturd ay night in a motorcycle collision.

Michelle Grace Combs, a 20-year-old retailing and consumer sciences sophomore, died after the motorcycle she was riding collided with a car around 10:40 p.m. at South Country Club Road and East Beverly Drive, said Officer Dallas Wilson, Tucson Police Department spokesman. [Read article]

Muslim students and professors at the UA began fasting yesterday during Ramadan, a holy month-long holiday commemorating the revealing of the Quran.

Ramadan occurs during the ninth month of the Muslim calendar and lasts 29 to 30 days, depending on the sighting of the moon, said Scott C. Lucas, an assistant professor of Near Eastern studies.

During this time Muslims must refrain from all food, drink and sexual activity from daybreak until sunset, which can be quite difficult, Lucas said. [Read article]

President Likins receives award for diversity

President Peter Likins will receive an award today for his leadership and commitment to enhancing diversity at the university.

The event starts at 1:15 p.m. in the South Ballroom of the Student Union Memorial Center, where Likins will receive the first Excellence and Diversity Award, which will be in his name thereafter, said Edith Auslander, vice president and senior associate to the president and Diversity Coalition chairwoman. [Read article]

Adjunct professor wins Nobel Prize for physics

Roy J. Glauber, an optical sciences adjunct professor, won a 2005 Nobel Prize in physics for his pioneering work on the nature and behavior of light.

Glauber, who came to the UA as an adjunct in 1988, is being honored for research he performed at Harvard University in the '60s that updated the theory of the nature of light to include modern quantum principles. [Read article]