ARIZONA SUMMER
Tribal tradition lives on By Will Ferguson ARIZONA SUMMER WILDCAT At a small camp nestled at the end of a dirt road in the heart of Saguaro National Park, Stella Tucker keeps a time-honored tradition of the Tohono O’odham tribe alive. Every summer, Tucker and her family return to their small camp to gather fruit from the saguaro cactus until the monsoon rains come. Tucker uses saguaro fruit to make syrup, jam and a wine that is used in a Tohono O’odham wine ceremony. “I remember when my great grandfather would get his wagon and his horses ready and we would go out to our camp in the mountains,” she said. “We would carry our bedding and our water and our food, and we camped there until we made enough syrup to bring home.” While the wine ceremony and the harvesting of saguaro fruit remain Tohono O’odham traditions, Tucker said younger generations of her tribe are losing interest in the practice. “When I first started coming here with my grandmother, there were five or six families living here, doing the harvest,”Tucker said.“Now I
am the only one here. The younger people aren’t coming out to take over the harvest and keep the tradition alive.” While, according to Tucker, the saguaro fruit harvest has lost popularity among younger generations of Tohono O’odham, the Undergraduate Biology Research Program at the UA has been helping Tucker and her family with the harvest for 22 years. A week ago, Carol Bender, director of UBRP, led a group of undergraduate and graduate biology students on a trip to Saguaro National Park West to help Tucker with the harvest. “We have been doing this for so many years, it has almost become a tradition for UBRP,” Bender said. After arriving at Tucker’s small camp late in the afternoon, students and volunteers separated into groups to hunt down and harvest the fruit. Each group was given a long pole made from the spine of a dead saguaro with which to knock the cactus fruit down. One student would knock the fruit down and another would attempt to catch it in a
JUNE 23-29, 2010 dailywildcat.com
plastic bucket — a process that sounds easier than it actually is. “It seems like only the tall ones have fruit,” said Michelle Lacomb, an undergraduate from Rice University who was participating on the trip. While many of the cacti were overburdened with fruit, a good portion of it was not ready for harvest, a trend that Tucker said has been increasing over the years. “This year the fruit is really late,”Tucker said. “There was a time when we used to pick through the whole month of May. Now it seems to be moving into the month of June.” Bender said during the same time last year, she remembered more fruit ready to be harvested. “Last year, there was so much fruit and it was so ripe that by the end of the night, we all looked like the victims of an ax murderer,”she said. UA students and volunteers spent almost SAGUARO, page 2
Gordon Bates/Arizona Summer Wildcat
New Wildcats roam UA campus By Bethany Barnes ARIZONA SUMMER WILDCAT
With around 7,300 students participating in summer orientation, there will be a lot of new faces on campus this fall. Over the summer, future students will be introduced to the college environment and be given a chance to take part in coursework, a fact that has many incoming freshmen excited about their collegiate careers. Mallory Loftus, an incoming freshman, said she was most excited about “all the new people and getting out of my little Scottsdale bubble.” For the most part, this year’s orientation remains unchanged. “Orientation as a process is going to start to change next summer more towards a one-day process for students,” said Keith Humphrey, an assistant vice president in Student Affairs. “As a result, we have not made lots of big changes this summer.” There has been one change to orientation this year; now, for every first day of orientation, a dinner will be provided for all students in Main Gate Square. Local restaurants provide the food and clubs have booths set up so students can explore and mingle. “It’s a really nice way to get students connected to an important part of our community,” Humphrey said. According to Humphrey, orientation is running very smoothly, and both parents and students are enjoying the events. “I think it’s great because it gives parents a chance to know a little bit more about what they will be doing,” said parent Leticia Beltran. In addition to going through orientation, many incoming freshmen have already begun taking UA classes through the New Start Summer Program. The program seeks to prepare incoming freshmen for life as a Wildcat. New Start also helps students prepare for both the challenges and opportunities they will face come fall. “I think freshmen face a lot of challenges, which is why New Start is so important. Freshmen are experiencing their independence for the first time and that can be scary or just overwhelming,” said Mary Kuper, New Start Summer Program Coordinator. “Plus, the University of Arizona, even as we try to be FRESHMEN, page 3
Slice of green in the desert By Julia Etters ARIZONA SUMMER WILDCAT
One of the largest of its species in the Western Hemisphere, a tall baobab tree decorates the southwest corner of the Administration building with its colorful orange flowers. This unique specimen is one of the 8,000 trees that make up the UA Campus Arboretum, which was named a 2010 Tree Campus USA by the National Arbor Day Foundation and Toyota. “The trees aren’t like the normal trees you see in the desert, which gives UA the feel of not being in Tucson. Not seeing the mountains, seeing all the grass and trees — it’s a change from the dirt and dead trees outside of campus.You can always look forward to going back to a nice, green campus,”said Rachel Svetlik, a UA sophomore. Junior Taylor-Rose Olea appreciates the greenery as well. “I especially like the Mall area with all the palm trees and green. I like the area on the west side of campus, between Park and the CESL building. It’s so shady and cool,”Olea said. The diversity of plants and trees providing the shade and splendor around campus includes more than 400 different species, according to UA Arboretum director Libby Davidson. The Arboretum website gives a detailed map, locating each plant and tree on campus. Photos are provided as identification, and a“What’s in Bloom”link showcases specific seasons’plants and trees.There are also lists of important trees, tree walks and historical information. In 1999, the first committee meeting established the Arboretum, but Davidson said they had somewhat of a grand opening in 2002. “Everyone that came to the table at the first meeting were plant people. We knew there were a lot of unique trees and that we needed to document them,”Davidson said. Davidson, faculty and staff, students, members of the biology and plant science departments and many more make up the UA Arboretum crew. The Arboretum makes its money through memberships, donations and gifts. Donors can earn a bench with their name on it or adopt a tree. According to the Arboretum’s website, its goal is to protect and enhance this collection, as well as fully utilize the benefits of outdoor education. “Students will do projects, independent study, class activities and more,”Davidson said. Even if UA students are unaware of the Arboretum, they cannot miss the beauty of the campus. “There’s this area with a walkway with two rows of orange trees across from Centennial Hall. It’s really shaded and pretty when it’s in bloom. It’s my favorite place. Sometimes I just sit there, and sometimes I’ll take a different way to class to pass them. Also, if I have time in between classes, I like to walk around campus and look at all the trees,” said Caitlin Ocheltree, a junior. While the scenic campus is enjoyable, sometimes taking care of the plants and trees is not. Facilities Management ground services tend them all on a daily basis. “About 50 to 60 people of ground crew are all trained as horticulturists.They look at the plants’area and decide if there are diseases or not,” Davidson said.
Unfortunately, they spend a little more time picking up garbage than working on the actual plants, she added. “They are skilled people who would rather be looking at plants than picking up trash,”Davidson said. Davidson estimates that about 20 trees are taken down annually for reasons such as construction or damage. Preservation and protection are important to keep the Arboretum alive and well. Davidson said a good example is the big eucalyptus across from the Student Recreation Center, located in the middle of a construction zone, that is protected by a fence. “The effort to protect this would not have happened before the Arboretum became active,”Davidson said. While some students may take these efforts for granted, others truly appreciate being outside at the UA. “I took a field science class for two years in high school, which made me appreciate being outside and the campus. I’ve danced at the UA and we’ve done class and yoga outside, which is really nice,”said Allyna Sanchez, a sophomore.
For more information about the UA Campus Arboretum, visit its website at arboretum.arizona.edu.
Lisa Beth Earle/Arizona Summer Wildcat
Red Mexican Bird of Paradise (Caesalpinia pulcherrima), a shrub native to the Tropics, can be found at many locations around campus.