$50K anonymous grant given to UApresents

After months of financial instability, a "challenge grant" of $50,000 has been promised to UApresents by an anonymous donor in an effort to reduce the organization's growing deficit.

The donor has guaranteed UApresents $50,000, while the UA will contribute $75,000 if UApresents raises $100,000 this season before the June 30 deadline, said Amanda Place, director of development for UApresents. [Read article]

UA students looking for cheaper textbooks and a way to get the most money for used books can find plenty of online resources, including a new book-trading Web site created by a UA alumnus.

At SwapSimple.com, students trade textbooks for other textbooks, replacing the traditional method of buying and reselling at a bookstore, said President Elliot Hirsch, who graduated from the UA in 2001 with a degree in psychology. [Read article]

Residents living in the La Aldea apartment complex can expect to see changes in the upcoming months, such as community assistants, after Residence Life gained ownership of the complex last week.

La Aldea, located on North Euclid Avenue, is a $21 million apartment-style complex that can house up to 325 students in single, double and quadruple rooms.

The building, which opened in fall 2003, was leased to Ambling Companies for entrepreneurial and financial reasons. [Read article]

Students returning this semester will be seeing a few new faces around campus as new transfer students start their academic careers at the UA.

Every semester, new students arrive, but it is a different experience transferring in the middle of the year. Most students are already settled and have their routine, job and clubs already in place.

Transfer students, however, face challenges such as making sure their credits transfer from their previous school, finding housing mid-year and starting over again in a new place. [Read article]

UA professor Jack Elliot has been named Region V Outstanding Educator of the Year by the Association for Career and Technical Education, making him the first person from Arizona to win the prestigious honor.

Elliot, a professor of agriculture education, said he was humbled to be nominated for the award by friends and colleagues within the department.

"It's great to be recognized by your peers and even more special to be acknowledged by people you work with, and bring an honor such as this back to a great institution like the U of A," Elliot said. [Read article]

Things you always never wanted to know