Stargazing tomorrow

The Sunnyside Neighborhood Association is partnering with the Flandrau Science Center and Planetarium and the College of Public Health for a night of stargazing and food tomorrow night. The event starts at 5 p.m. with a rocket blast kickoff, followed by a hot dog cookout and then stargazing until midnight through telescopes provided by Flandrau.

The free event will be held at the Peace Garden on the northwest corner of Manuel Herrera Jr. Park, 5901 S. Fiesta Ave.

Corporation donates $2.5 million to endowment

The Phelps Dodge Corp. donated $2.5 million to set up an endowed professorship in the department of mining and geological engineering. The gift will fund the Douglas C. Yearley Phelps Dodge Chair in Mineral Processing.

Phelps Dodge is funding the professorship partly because the UA has one of the few minerals programs left in the country that educates economic geologists, mining engineers and mineral processing engineers, according to a press release.

Last year, about 110 students graduated with mining engineering degrees nationwide. Meanwhile, consumption of natural resources is at an all-time high, and mining companies are clamoring for more graduates, the release stated.

"This is a significant gift," said department head Mary Poulton in a press release. "It allows us to establish a new faculty position immediately."

The gift continues a relationship between Phelps Dodge and the UA that spans more than 100 years.

The company also is investing in the UA through the Leonard R. Judd Scholarship Program, which provides about $64,000 annually to students in mineral resources-related majors. These students also receive a paid summer internship as part of the scholarship package.