Originally expecting a large turnout for student government applications, student leaders are still hopeful for an intense campaign despite the disappointment of receiving less than half of the response they intended.

The Associated Students of the University of Arizona election commission received 33 applications for all four elected positions, a little more than half of the applications that were picked up. [Read article]

A new club on campus is working independently to collect student support to make the UA more environmentally savvy and cost-efficient.

The Energy Conservation and Lifestyles Initiative Partnering Students and their Environment is a nonprofit group comprised of 15 students who are working toward the goal of conserving natural resources on campus.

The club is proposing a two-semester fee of $1 per student each semester, with students voting for whether they want the fee. [Read article]

Student groups and departments are teaming up to put on a full range of events to celebrate Black History Month, despite the small black student population at the UA.

Although the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Center on campus had a small budget last year, Alex Wright, director of African American Student Affairs, said this year there are many events planned.

Wright said there are always budget problems, but if you are creative there are ways around them. [Read article]

The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences went looking for a new tractor and came away with a steal of a deal.

The Agriculture Center had $53,000 to spend on a new tractor and, with the help of John Deere Corporation, walked away with an $180,000 machine, said Gene Sander, dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

The tractor is the first piece of new equipment the department has acquired since 1988 after functioning with only one machine of its kind until the donation. [Read article]

Hiding in parts of the cervix and penis, chlamydia is one of the most abundant sexually transmitted diseases in the nation, but it is often overlooked.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site, chlamydia is the most frequently reported sexually transmitted disease in the United States, but when diagnosed, it is easily treatable.

Chlamydia is a common STD caused by bacteria that affects the cervix in women and the urethra at the tip of the penis in men, but symptoms are often mild or nonexistent, said Faye Libbey, a nurse practitioner in the Women's Health Clinic at Campus Health Service. [Read article]

In the midst of a national obesity crisis, University Medical Center is hosting a series of fitness workshops to help people burn off excess fat and make healthier life choices.

The Tucson Challenge Workshop is the first of four monthly fitness seminars for the general public that emphasize weight loss and health maintenance by making long-term lifestyle changes.

"We are helping people join together to lose weight," said Lauve Metcalfe, Tucson Challenge coordinator. [Read article]

PHOENIX - University leadership made a plea to state legislators Wednesday, asking them to reinstate the financial support they received five years ago.

UA President Peter Likins and Alistair Chapman, Associated Students of the University of Arizona president, joined Arizona State University President Michael Crow and student leadership from Northern Arizona University and ASU to ask for more money for state universities. [Read article]

"You can't build a great university on Wal-Mart prices."
- Michael Crow, Arizona State University president, on supporting propositions to raise state university tuition costs.

"I want a nice guy, a nice, funny, good sense of humor, cute, obviously, you know, just a good guy."
- Tara Reid, actress, on soliciting potential boyfriends during a Monday taping of the "Ellen Degeneres Show," asking single men to submit 60-second taped auditions for review. No shit. [Read article]