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HOLLY(WOOD) FILLED DAYS OF WINTER
Leather, spandex and other reasons to hit the theater this holiday. WILDLIFE, B4
EDITORIAL
The Daily Wildcat gives its take on ASUA’s involvement in the UA’s re-accreditation.
PERSPECTIVES, A4
ARIZONA DAILY WILDCAT
wednesday, december ,
tucson, arizona
dailywildcat.com
Sports ‘school’ UA grad rates
Athletes on campus more likely to complete degree By Michelle A. Monroe ARIZONA DAILY WILDCAT Despite a reputation for being last in the Pacific 10 Conference, UA athletes have a greater graduation rate than the rest of campus, according to a Daily Wildcat review of statistics. The UA’s 2010 six-year graduation rate is 60 percent, 2 percentage points higher than 2009, according to reports from the Office of Institutional Research and Planning Support. However, Arizona Athletics graduated 65 percent of its students, according to the latest NCAA reports. In the last six years, the athletics’ graduation rate has not dropped below 60
percent, while the UA’s graduation rate is at an all-time high, looking back to 1991. Five UA teams graduated at least 90 percent of their players last year: women’s golf, women’s tennis, gymnastics, women’s swim and soccer. Three out of 16 teams fall below the UA average: men’s tennis, football, baseball and men’s basketball. Women’s golf is the only sport to not drop below an 86 percent graduation rate since 2004 and has had two consecutive years of 100 percent graduation. “I just think that in the last 10 years we’ve had a lot of girls turn pro early, and with that we’ve looked at more
recruits that will stay for four years and who think education is just as important as their future golf career,” said Laura Ianello, UA head women’s golf coach. Women’s tennis rose from only graduating half its players in 2005, to all of them last year. “I try and bring in the type of character that takes care of academics,” said Vicky Maes, UA women’s tennis head coach. “It’s not easy. We travel, we have a lot of foreign kids who struggle at language … College athletics is mostly about graduating student athletes. I went to school ATHLETICS, page A5
Colin Darland/ Arizona Daily Wildcat
Student workers toil over finals
Campus dirty dealings Club aims to decrease UA green waste with compost project By Bethany Barnes ARIZONA DAILY WILDCAT When Rachel Maxwell started with Compost Go-Live she didn’t know much about the dirty business of composting. Over the course of the semester, the environmental sciences junior learned about different types of composting, including how to bag and sell it, and wrote her first business proposal . Compost Go-Live is a Students for Sustainability team that is working to compost food waste from the Student Union Memorial Center restaurants and plant waste from around campus. After doing a pilot project over the summer and prepping during this semester, the group is ready to hire students and begin composting on a regular basis. Maxwell is excited to learn new skills next semester, like driving a tractor. The Compost Go-Live interns will be trained on caring for the compost so they will be able to help out when needed. The group is hiring four students to do manual labor such as turning and watering the compost and transporting it to the Controlled Environment Agriculture Center. While students do not need composting experience, a clean driving record is required.
By Jazmine Woodberry ARIZONA DAILY WILDCAT
Rodney Haas/Arizona Daily Wildcat
Polly Juang, left, and Rachel Maxwell stand on a pile of compost while Alex Harris uses a pole to dig through the dirt. All three are members of Students for Sustainability who are looking to recycle the compost starting next semester.
Being focused on trash isn’t always the most glamorous interest. “My boyfriend tends to make fun of me a lot,” Maxwell said, noting that one time her boyfriend went with her to test the compost and he was nervous the car would reek of trash. Maxwell said he was surprised when the drive was pleasant.
“The compost does not smell like trash. A lot of people have that misconception. It smells like dirt and it smells really good actually,” said Polly Juang , Compost Go-Live co-manager and engineering management senior. Juang said when she joined the team she didn’t really know what compost was, but
now she is “really into it” and has enjoyed the bonding experience with fellow interns. Maxwell says her parents are surprised at her involvement with sustainability because of the difference between UA’s approach to sustainability and her sister ’s school, Arizona COMPOST, page A3
Regents to vote on credit transfer change By Luke Money ARIZONA DAILY WILDCAT The Arizona Board of Regents will meet on campus in the Grand Ballroom of the Student Union Memorial Center tomorrow and Friday. It is the second meeting of the semester, but its first on campus at the UA since last March. Items that will be discussed during the meeting include whether to approve fiveyear strategic plans for all three Arizona universities and whether to endorse a common course numbering system to simplify transferring between Arizona schools.
COMING IN JANUARY
Stop the presses!
The board will also finalize members of the executive committee for UA Healthcare Inc. and decide whether to offer a two-year contract extension to UA baseball head coach Andrew Lopez. The meeting is open to the public on both Thursday and Friday and students are encouraged to attend. There will be an open call to the audience session on Thursday for anyone interested in addressing the board. The Daily Wildcat will be maintaining live blog coverage of the meeting at dailywildcat.com for those unable to attend. The regents will not meet at the UA again until next April.
The Arizona Daily Wildcat will cease print production until the first day of classes for the spring semester, Jan. 12, 2011.
IF YOU GO What: Arizona Board of Regents meeting Where: Student Union Memorial Center Grand Ballroom When: Thursday, 1:30 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. – noon Special coverage on dailywildcat.com
EMPLOYEES, page A8
QUICK HITS ”Loesser is More!” a performance featuring Broadway hits composer Frank Loesser, at 7:30 p.m., UA Marroney Theater, 1025 N. Olive Road.
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As many students head into the pressures of finals week, UA’s student employees are stressing out about more than just grades. Nineteen percent of UA employees are graduate assistants and associates, 2,856 positions, and with thousands more undergraduates earning hourly wages in varying departments, many students pull campus double duty. The $2.5 million springing from the $80 student services fee, mandated in 2008 by the Arizona Board of Regents and paid by every UA student, is helping to pay undergraduate wages and graduate salaries. Bill Ruggirello, assistant director of career services, said Arizona Student Unions, the Department of Campus Recreation and the UofA Bookstore all employ a great deal of students. “And that can vary from minimum wage to who knows how much … we just advertise jobs but we are not where everything is funneled through,” Ruggirello said. Student employment opportunities offer no guarantee of employment outside of a student position. These jobs max out at 30 hours a week during class sessions and 40 hours a week during vacations, ranging from four student groups of varying levels of skills and education. Student employees in Student Groups A, B and C titles are nonexempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act and may not be scheduled to work or be paid overtime. International students possessing an F-1 student visa or a J-1 exchange visitor visa, with permission from their sponsor, may be employed under general student employment, according to the Career Services website.
One-17 Shorts, free screenings of short films by One-17 Productions at 5:30 p.m., The Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd.
: @DailyWildcat