Pop singer helps to raise $35K for Southern Arizona homeless

Pop sensation Ashlee Simpson helped a local youth group raise $35,000 over the weekend to help battle youth homelessness in Pima County, far more than was originally expected.

The Teen Empowerment and Advocacy Movement of Tucson brought singer Simpson, 21, to Tucson for a benefit concert for youth homelessness.

TEAM Tucson is a nonprofit organization founded and run by local high school students. [Read article]

After being swept by Oregon schools, Arizona attempts to get back on track

After raising expectations by starting the Pacific 10 Conference season with a road sweep of the Washington schools, the Wildcats must look to rebound after a devastating sweep in Oregon.

Head coach Lute Olson said the Arizona men's basketball team was playing like a "mediocre ball club" after losses at the hands of Oregon and Oregon State. The Wildcats have dropped three of four and have gotten off to their worst start since the 1986-87 season at 10-6, as well as their worst conference start since 1984-85 at 3-3. In the ESPN/USA Today poll, unranked Arizona garnered a whopping total of one vote. [Read article]

Today, on our fourth day of classes, UA students are finally getting into a routine. We have found our classes, we have our syllabi and some have even started lectures. Yet our Sun Devil and Lumberjack peers will be stepping into class for the first time today. As it happens, our academic calendars are very different, as those of you with siblings or friends at ASU and NAU already know.

Starting school only three days before a three-day weekend poses two major problems: Monday-only classes are behind, and a Monday holiday three days after school begins means it is not much of a break from school. [Read article]

Fire twirling, sword swallowing on club's weekly agenda There's a little pyromaniac in all of us. Blame our caveman instincts, but our fascination with this force of nature - both destructive and life-sustaining - starts with childhood, where experiments with a Zippo lighter and your mother's industrial-sized can of hairspray gives you hours of fun and, if you're lucky, a brand-new set of eyebrows. [Read article]