Police examine suitcase at student union; find flowers, not explosives

Police evacuated the Student Union Memorial Center and the Second Street Garage yesterday afternoon after someone called police about a suspicious suitcase on the north side of the union.

The suitcase was determined not to be a bomb after the Tucson Police Department's bomb squad responded to the scene around 1 p.m. and found that the package contained two dead flowers. [Read article]

TEMPE - President Peter Likins on Friday tried to dissuade regents from adopting minimum standards of admission for homeschooled students, saying the universities should be allowed to admit them based on their own criteria.

But some homeschooled students say a tougher admissions policy, which takes effect in 2006 and grants automatic admission only to students in the top 25 percent of their high school classes, discriminates against students who were educated at home. Those students have no class rank. [Read article]

About 40 people, including several students, marched down North Fourth Avenue Saturday to try to draw attention to International Worker's Day, also known as May Day, and to protest the war in Iraq.

The march, which set out to show support for the solidarity of workers worldwide and organized by the Tucson Radical Action Network, quickly turned into a forum for marchers to protest the American government and the war in Iraq. [Read article]

Every day, William Beezley and Paul Beezley share a ride on their way to teach history at the UA.

What's more, the two also share a history outside the classroom as father and son.

William, a history professor and Paul's father, said he came to the university in 1998 because the UA has a strong program in Latin American studies.

One year later, Paul, a history lecturer who was in search of a tenure-track job, unexpectedly found a position at the UA. [Read article]

When J.P. Benedict was inaugurated as ASUA president last year, he was not only nervous to make the speech but also to fill the shoes of student leader for a whole year.

But Benedict, a marketing senior, said things have changed since that moment.

Today marks the end of what he called a "huge awakening" for him as a person and as a leader.

"I have learned to be more sure of myself since that moment," he said. "You learn to be sure of yourself in what you are doing because you represent all students at the UA." [Read article]

Freshman loves the greek life, can't live without her instant messaging

Wildcat: I'm Claire from the Daily Wildcat and you're on the spot.

Magness: All right! Yay!

Wildcat: Yay? I usually get groans of fear ... this whole happy thing is new to me.

Magness: It's exciting! I like reading "on the spot" because I like reading about real people and how they respond to real situations other than all the fake things like ... [Read article]

Things you always never wanted to know

Today

1937 - Margaret Mitchell's novel "Gone With the Wind" wins the Pulitzer Prize.

1947 - Japan's post-World War II constitution goes into effect.

1952 - A ski-modified U.S. Air Force C-47 piloted by Lt. Col. Joseph O. Fletcher of Oklahoma and Lt. Col. William P. Benedict of California becomes the first aircraft to land on the North Pole.

Tomorrow

1948 - Twenty-five-year-old Norman Mailer's first novel, "The Naked and the Dead," is published. [Read article]