Car drivers hoping to improve free service

During his SafeRide shift two nights ago, Joshua Wright went out of his way to be courteous to every customer, apologizing profusely for late pickups.

Wright's behavior is part of the driving service's new professional approach.

As SafeRide's new director, Wright has made changes to the driving service in order to increase the program's professionalism. [Read article]

Paul Snodgrass, a UA student taking the semester off to study abroad in the West Bank, was deported last Friday by Israel after being deemed a "national security risk," he said.

Snodgrass, 25, who was enrolled at the Bir Zeit University, located 26 kilometers from Jerusalem, said he was detained, searched, questioned and ultimately denied access into the country.

"I told them that I was going to the university to study, but they didn't believe me," Snodgrass said. "They accused me of going there to be converted to Islam or learn methods of terror." [Read article]

Two days after President Bush asked Congress for $87 billion for the reconstruction of Iraq, a group of panelists spoke to a crowd of 150 people about the obstacles facing the U.S. effort in the war-torn country.

The panel, entitled, "Iraq: Reflections and Reactions," was hosted by the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, one of 15 U.S. resource centers devoted to the study of the Middle East. Keynote panelists included a former ambassador to Oman, and professors from UA, Berkeley and the University of Beirut Departments of Political Studies and Public Administration. [Read article]

Get ready to bounce and sweat with the crowd, as melodious guitar riffs and pop hooks hit Tucson tonight when the Drive Thru Records Invasion Tour makes a stop at the Rialto Theatre.

The Starting Line headlines the 8 p.m. show, supported by Homegrown, Allister, The Early November and Senses Fail.

Amidst the surge of indistinguishable pop punk bands taking over the music world, The Starting Line has made a splash with a lyrically diverse album and noticeable musical ability. Say It Like You Mean It, with sales of more than 200,000, has given TSL a following that doesn't only include 14-year-old-Hot-Topic-frequenting girls. [Read article]

Students and faculty are being urged to start walking for a good cause.

In order to raise money and increase risk awareness, the American Diabetes Association and UA will be holding a "kick-off" event at the Koffler building, 1340 E. University Blvd.

The "kick-off" event will showcase medical advice, speakers and food, and will give students and faculty a chance to sign up for a walk-off, to be held Oct. 11, to raise money for diabetes research and education. [Read article]

Forget the stereotypes of college students being more concerned with hooking up than homework.

According to the latest statistics from the annual Campus Health and Wellness Survey, 80 percent of UA students have had either one or no sexual partners during the previous school year.

"The MTV spring break generalization doesn't fit for college students. It perpetuates the myth that college is for sex and partying," said Lee Ann Hamilton, campus health services educator. "A lot of students are busy studying and working. They don't center around alcohol and sex." [Read article]

Freshman in pink high heels has never used a UA bathroom, says some girls sweat quite a bit

Wildcat: How's today treating you? You standing here all by yourself. Lookin' like-

Sacks: It's good. It's okay, I don't know.

Wildcat: Yeah?

Sacks: I miss my boyfriend? He lives in Scottsdale.

Wildcat: He lives in Scottsdale?

Sacks: Yeah.

Wildcat: It seems like a lonely night. What you doing with pink high heels on? [Read article]

Things happening around campus

UA will recycle old phone books

The University of Arizona is once again getting ready to switch out its old phone books for new ones. The sixteenth annual telephone directory recycling program runs Sept. 10 through Oct. 3, and is sponsored by the UA Facilities Management Recycling and Waste Program.

Everyone is asked to be aware of the program and make sure all unwanted old phone directories are removed from campus buildings during the recycling collection period. Old directories will be removed from campus by Waste Management Recycle America and taken to GreenFiber, an insulation manufacturer in Phoenix, to be made into environmentally sound home and building insulation. [Read article]

Things you always never wanted to know

· The longest snowboarding vertical descent was recorded on April 20, 1998 when Tammy McMinn from the USA successfully snowboarded down a slope in British Colombia, Canada 101 times. The vertical descent total was a whopping 305,539 feet. To beat that in Tucson, one would have to snowboard down Mt. Lemmon, which from the base to the top is approximately 6,077 feet tall, 51 times. [Read article]

BOULDER, Colo. (U-WIRE) ÷ Rising tuition prices are leaving the nation's higher education institutions in a state of crisis, according to a report released last week by Congressional GOP education committee leaders.

But budget officials at the University of Colorado system responded that tuition decisions are not made in a "vacuum" and go through "accountability," adding that higher education has less value today than it did 10 years ago. [Read article]