DEAR BICYCLISTS, PLEASE DON’T LOSE YOUR HEAD
Jackson’s Journey SPORTS — 6
PERSPECTIVES — 4
Daily Wildcat
Tuesday, september 13, 2011
dailywildcat.com
serving the university of arizona since 1899
presidential search
Regents pick Florida firm to market UA’s top job Agency will provide advice on hunt for new UA president By Luke Money Daily Wildcat
The Arizona Board of Regents has selected Greenwood/Asher and Associates, Inc. to serve as the consulting firm throughout the search for a long-term UA president. Greenwood/Asher specializes in academic searches, particularly for university presidents. Jan Greenwood will serve as the principal search consultant according to Katie Paquet, the associate vice president for public affairs and external relations for the regents. Greenwood could not be reached as of press time. Greenwood/Asher, which is headquartered in Miramar Beach, Fla., has been involved in a number of recent presidential searches, including those at Washington State University, George Mason University and James Madison University. During a meeting of the UA Faculty Senate on Monday Regent Rick Myers, one of the co-chairs of the Presidential Search Committee, said Greenwood/Asher was one of the four firms to be interviewed out of the total of 14 that were considered. “The position we are trying to fill will well affect how the university moves forward,” Myers said. “We need someone to focus on academics, research and athletics but (who) also has the leadership qualities and personalities to leverage the UA’s ideas.” Wanda Howell, the chair of the Faculty Senate, said it is important to develop key candidates for the position by December or January and for an official hire to be made by March. But Howell said the potential candidate pool is much smaller than it normally would be, since so many major universities are searching for presidents. Howell also said the UA is accepting applications for the position and has received a few already. Current UA President Eugene Sander said making the UA attractive to potential candidates was not an issue and that it is important for a potential new president to inspire confidence. “When a leader walks through that door, you need to just know that it’s your new president,” he said. “It’s as
Faculty senate, 2
Gordon Bates/ Daily Wildcat
The UA Computer Science Department’s Beichuan Zhang shows the network hardware that he and four UA students are using for an Internet technology project. Zhang is working to reduce energy use for network servers by monitoring user traffic and adjusting server activity.
UA looks at lessening Internet energy usage By Amer Taleb Daily Wildcat
Computer networks constantly waste money because of their constant energy consumption, even if they are idle. A UA professor’s “green” improvements may finally force them to absorb power proportionately. Beichuan Zhang, an assistant professor of computer science, proposed turning network links on and off according to traffic levels. His team’s 10-page paper won him the Applied Networking Research Prize, given to two people on the planet this year. “It’s an international award so no, I didn’t expect to win,” he said, grinning. “And then I got the email.” It’s hard to measure where Zhang’s prize
ranks among other awards won by the UA’s computer science faculty because it’s so unique, said Saumya Debray, interim department head of Computer Science. But if you’re one of only two people in the world to win one, it’s probably pretty special, he added. People have been concerned about computing energy issues for years, but that’s only half the battle, Debray said. “If someone doesn’t give you a way to solve the problem, what can you do?” Debray asked. “Dr. Zhang showed that by intelligently managing the infrastructure of the Internet, you can reduce the energy usage of the network. And that’s what’s cool.” The award was sponsored by The Internet Society, which oversees major
players and protocol makers in the Internet world. More than 20 teams competed for the prize. Professors tend to work on long term theoretical problems while industries search for answers to issues faced today. “The two communities are disconnected,” Zhang said. The Internet Society is trying to bridge the gap between theory and practice by working with university researchers to produce a more effective Internet in the near future, Zhang said. Just because trash doesn’t fly out of your computer, doesn’t mean your network isn’t wasting energy, he added.
Network, 2
Drop a class, pay in cash Senator visits for LGBTQ seminar
$25 fee deters students from ditching courses late in the semester By Conrad Pursley Daily Wildcat
When Amanda Merz, a senior studying journalism and geography, heard about the $25 drop fee given to courses dropped after the first week of classes, she said it was “ridiculous,” and just a ploy to squeeze more money out of students. However, school officials say it has become a necessity due to student abuse of the registration process. The revenue collected from the drop fee, which was $133,575.00 last semester, is used to increase course offerings in general education and high demand areas. Irene Delgado, the UA’s assistant registrar, said the fee, which started in fall 2009, was implemented because students would frequently sign up for more classes than they intended to take, then pick and choose which ones they were comfortable with during the second
By the Numbers Fall 2009 – $129,525
Number of late fees charged
Spring 2010 – $142,385
Fall 2009 – 5,181
Fall 2010 – $112,825
Spring 2010 – 5,695
Spring 2011 – $133,575
Fall 2010 – 4,513
Revenue collected
Spring 2011 – 5,343 Source: Office of the Registrar
week of class and drop the others. This prevented many incoming freshmen and transfer students from getting the courses they needed to complete their degrees. About 13,000 courses were dropped in the second week of the fall 2007 semester alone. Furthermore, many professors don’t allow students to enroll in their class after the first week, meaning all those seats go to waste throughout the remainder of the semester. Delgado said that ever since the fee was implemented the volume of complaints from students unable to enroll in their desired classes has subsided. In fact, drop classes in the
second week of school fell from 13,000 in 2007 to 5,181 in fall 2009, according to data from the Office of the Registrar. Wanda Howell, the chair of the Faculty Senate, said that this fee is for a student’s own good. “The idea is to sort of discourage students from enrolling in multiple classes and thereby discouraging other students from signing (up),” she said. Howell went on to say she believes all faculty members would look at the fee in the same light. The fee amount of $25 was decided upon, because it was believed
Drop Fee, 2
By Alexandra Bortnik Daily Wildcat
State Sen. Paula Aboud will visit campus today as part of the UA’s Out on The Job Speaker Series. The series is a one-hour seminar that brings speakers from Tucson’s community together to talk about the challenges Paula Aboud and benefits State senator, they’ve expeDistrict 28 rienced from being “out” on the job. Aboud, who graduated from the UA with a degree in English, works as a semi-retired property manager. Listening to Aboud’s various experiences in the professional world, along with her political involvement in Tucson, will be like “seeing one of our own out on the work force,” said Cynthia Lee, an intern for Pride
If You Go Student Union Memorial Center Room 412 Noon - 1 p.m. Free and open to public
Alliance and a senior studying public health and business. “It’s just a good thing for students to come and see how they could deal with (being out on the job) and how it could be very beneficial for them,” she said. Lee encourages all students to attend and said that any student will benefit from what Aboud and other speakers have to say. The seminar will be held in room 412 of the Student Union Memorial Center from 12 to 1 p.m. and is sponsored by LGBTQ Affairs, Career Services, ASUA Pride Alliance and the Institute for LGBT Studies.