PHOENIX – Two bills were passed yesterday which could make the penalties more severe for driving while under the influence of alcohol in Arizona, by adding a device to a convicted person's car that prevents it from starting if alcohol is detected on the driver's breath.

The breath sensor, called an ignition-interlocking device, would require a driver to breathe into it before he or she started the car. [Read article]

A financial aid scam continues to target UA students in which an unknown caller informs the student they have qualified for a grant, but first must release their personal information in order to receive it.

Sgt. Eugene Mejia, University of Arizona Police Department spokesman, said at least 12 individuals have reported similar calls over the past six months. He sent out a campus alert in September but said the problem continues and students are no longer the only ones being targeted. [Read article]

The UA will increase graduate teaching and research assistants' tuition waivers from 60 percent to 70 percent next year, although the figure is 10 percent less than administrators had originally expected.

President Peter Likins said because of budget constraints, the university could not grant an 80 percent tuition waiver to graduate assistants and opted to slow the rate at which the UA reaches full tuition remission. [Read article]

Mexico's lenient drinking laws are enabling underage UA students to drive south of the border on the weekends to consume alcohol, which has authorities questioning how to curb the activity and prevent minors from driving back intoxicated.

Sen. Robert Cannell, D-Yuma, wants to implement a law requiring minors to receive parental permission before crossing the border, which even he said is "very unlikely to happen." [Read article]

The U.S. Department of State recently issued a warning for travelers to Mexico stating the climate is unstable due to shootings, threats and violence relating to drug trafficking.

Juan Pablo Guzman, spokesperson for Nogales, Ariz. Police Department, said he, however, has not seen any violence on either side of the border.

"Everything seems to be very normal," he said.

The warning issued by the U.S. department stated situations along the United States-Mexico border were unstable, but, Guzman said, violence related to the drug trafficking is concentrated in the southern areas of Sonora, Mexico. [Read article]

PHOENIX – A bill in the state Legislature could allow health professionals to choose whether they will prescribe, fill prescriptions or participate in activities related to abortion, contraception, emergency contraception or sterilization.

Potentially, the bill could mean a pharmacist could choose not to fill birth control prescriptions or morning-after pill prescriptions on "moral or religious grounds," according to the bill, HB2541. [Read article]

It all began in Columbus, Ohio.

He was drawn to Russian music at 13. He discovered Russian literature at 14. He majored in Russian in college, followed by a Ph.D. in political science. There was no turning back.

Since 1988, Pat Willerton has shared his passion for all things Russian with scores of students as an associate professor of political science at the UA. Willerton teaches courses in comparative politics, Russian foreign policy, Russian domestic politics and comparative political elites. [Read article]

A UA sorority has created a calendar featuring some of the finest men on campus to raise funds for AIDS/HIV research.

Every year, the UA chapter of Alpha Epsilon Phi publishes a calendar of the UA's 12 most attractive men, and donates all proceeds to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids Foundation, said Rebecca Gerrick, the sorority's philanthropy chair.

The foundation's Web site states their mission is to provide assistance to families and children with HIV or AIDS. [Read article]