Business backgrounds could help in coping with $43M budget cuts

The strong background in business shared by all four UA presidential candidates could prove beneficial for the university's future, especially in the wake of decreased state funding, students and faculty said yesterday.

With more than $43 million in state budget cuts, it will be valuable for the next leader to have an understanding of finances to address issues like tuition hikes and growth management, said Elaine Ulrich, an optical sciences graduate student and president of the Graduate and Professional Student Council. [Read article]

Source: Shouting match preceded guard's dismissal

Senior guard Chris Rodgers was released from the team by Arizona men's basketball head coach Lute Olson last night after "long and serious deliberation."

According to sources close to the team, Rodgers and Olson had a verbal altercation in practice Monday.

The senior, who graduated in December with a degree in psychology, started 13 games for Arizona and averaged 10.8 points and 2.8 rebounds a game for the 10-6 Wildcats. [Read article]

"Welcome to the first day of class. I'll be your professor this semester. I see we have more people in here than are registered. I'm sorry, but I won't be able to add anyone."

Most students have heard something like this from a professor during their time at the UA. With the rampant class-availability problems that define to a certain extent the undergraduate experience here, we're accustomed to rituals such as the "sorry, but the class is full" speech on the first day of class. [Read article]

Fire twirling, sword swallowing on club's weekly agenda There's a little pyromaniac in all of us. Blame our caveman instincts, but our fascination with this force of nature - both destructive and life-sustaining - starts with childhood, where experiments with a Zippo lighter and your mother's industrial-sized can of hairspray gives you hours of fun and, if you're lucky, a brand-new set of eyebrows. [Read article]