Compiled by Melanie Klein

Parents interested in educational activities for their children this summer will want to know about the Summer Education and Enrichment for Kids program.

For the past seven years, the University of Arizona's Extended University has offered summer classes for children in kindergarten through eighth grade.

The classes focus on the idea that learning is fun and that children learn from hands-on activities, said Mary Lindley, program development specialist at Extended University.

Among the classes offered are "comic book making" and "monster movie makeup madness," for fourth- through eighth-graders. "Earth art," in which art is made from natural resources, is for children in kindergarten through second grade.

Foreign language classes involve singing, dancing and cooking while learning vocabulary in other languages, said Lindley.

Last year, nearly 1,000 children attended the summer classes, an increase from the 165 children enrolled in the first year, she said. The cost of attendance is determined by how many classes the child is enrolled in.

For more information, call the Extended University at 621-8632.

Licensing program offers tips on how to avoid UA rip-offs

The UA is trying to protect consumers from counterfeit merchandise.

With the success of the men's and women's basketball teams in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, University of Arizona merchandise sales have risen, spurring the production of counterfeit merchandise.

The UA licensing program was established to help promote and protect the university logo and its image within the community, said Dianne Kopf, director of public relations.

Three required components should appear on all UA merchandise that has been officially licensed for sale.

First is the red and blue "Officially Licensed Collegiate Products" label. Second, the product company name should appear on the label or on the product. Lastly, trademark or federal registration marks should appear with all official university trademarks.

Representatives from the Collegiate Licensing Company are patrolling the marketplaces during the NCAA tournament to ensure that vendors have proper permits to sell merchandise.

Status of Women commission taking pres. appointments

The UA Commission on the Status of Women is accepting applications for presidential appointment from students and faculty.

"The commission was created in 1992 to respond to an environment that was discriminatory towards women," said Jennifer Aviles, academic planning and review program coordinator.

The women's commission is currently working on the Arizona Board of Regents Vision 2000 list. Fifty recommendations for the improvement of women's status, professionally and non-professionally, are to be completed by the year 2000.

The commission's 12 completed projects include a child-care study that resulted in the creation of a campus child-care plan, and a UA gender salary equity study, which identified the recognition of salary inequities among faculty as the first step in redressing equity issues, Aviles said.

Applications for the three-year term are due April 26. For more information call Jennifer Aviles at 621-8676.

Web site offers tips, info on financial aid

Curious about financial aid debt, payments or loans? Sallie Mae's site on the World Wide Web offers help with its on-line financial aid budget worksheet.

The interactive calculator allows borrower to enter financial aid data, and computes the total loan balance, interest rate and the interest-impact on postponing loan payments.

The Web site offers information about available repayment options, the cost of deferring loans verses partial payment, and how to apply for financial aid.

Sallie Mae, a financial services provider, was created in 1972 by Congress as a secondary market to buy student loans from banks. One in every three student loans is owned by Sallie Mae.

"Student should really shop around for a lender because some lenders offer extra benefits for good standing clients," said Josh Dare of Sallie Mae public relations.

Prospective borrowers can contact their financial aid offices for preferred lender lists.

Sallie Mae's Great Rewards program provides Stafford Loan borrowers who make their first 48 scheduled payments on time an automatic, two-percentage-point rate reduction on the loan.

Borrowers who make payments to Sallie Mae electronically from checking or savings accounts receive a quarter percent interest rate reduction.

"We are very happy with the response to the Web site, which has had 3 quarters of a million hits since its creation in November," Dare said.

The site's location is http://www.salliemae.com

'Wildcat' editor, journalism senior earn Hearst honors

Two UA students placed in the 36th annual William Randolph Hearst Foundation's Journalism Awards Program.

In the sports writing division, Monty Phan, Arizona Daily Wildcat editor in chief, placed seventh for his article about the hype surrounding the success of Hideo Nomo, the second Japanese baseball player to play in the major leagues. Phan was awarded a $500 scholarship.

The 12th-place winner, journalism senior Adam Ramirez, was awarded a certificate of merit for his story about the turbulent events surrounding the spring training of the Seattle Seahawks.

"Winning the awards says a lot about the journalism department and the quality of student writing it's produced," Ramirez said.

In the profile writing division, Ramirez placed fifth, receiving a $600 scholarship.

"It was a surprise when I got the 12th-place award," Ramirez said. "But the profile story was the one that was close to my heart and I knew it was good."