Freshmen flying high
Despite injury setbacks, rookie Wildcats help extend Arizona in postseason efforts.
The joke’s on us
The Daily Wildcat editorial board sounds off on ASUA’s most recent shortcomings.
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ARIZONA DAILY WILDCAT
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tucson, arizona
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Hotline persists despite cuts
Poison control, baby advice at risk of closing By Samantha Munsey ARIZONA DAILY WILDCAT At the health call centers located inside the UA College of Pharmacy, it’s not uncommon to hear medical experts talk to frightened mothers and concerned pet owners about medication and exposure. But due to federal and state budgets providing one percent of its funding to call centers , services like the Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center and the Arizona Pregnancy Riskline are now feeling the squeeze. “A lot of the stuff we do here is a labor of love, nobody pays for it. And of course labor of love after a while goes away,” said Dr. F. Mazda Shirazi, who is the medical director of the Poison and Drug Information Center. Since its formation in 1955 by a College of Pharmacy doctor who specialized in toxicology, the Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center has been providing a 24-hour hotline to answer phone calls from all over the state of Arizona. At the call center, special medical experts can provide information about drug and animal exposures including rattlesnake bites and proper medicine doses for children. On average, the center receives 65,000 calls a year. “It’s a pretty cheap service for what we provide,” Shirazi said. “I would say a majority of our patients that call, we follow them (to make sure they are OK).” He went on to say that despite pressure to cut back on funding, the hotline will remain open and still will be taking calls in the future. This, however, cannot be said for the Arizona Pregnancy Riskline. Also located in the College of Pharmacy, the riskline specializes in answering questions about exposures for pregnant and breastfeeding women. “We get called about really anything that a pregnant woman might be concerned about,” said Dee Quinn, who is the founder and director of the riskline since 1999. The riskline center lost its funding from the state Legislature in 2009 due to budget cuts. As a result, phone lines are open five days a week, Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. “We hope to be here in the future (but) our funding is gone,” Quinn said. “We hope that we are still here to manage the phones, this is my main goal at the moment.” Despite cutbacks, both call centers are still trying to inform people of their services. With an effort to reach the tech-savvy and provide health information to a younger audience, both centers are providing new features online and on smart phones. POISON, page 7
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Mark Novak, a landscape architect with UA Planning, Design and Construction, discusses the project plan with Mike Delahanty, senior program coordinator with UA Parking and Transportation Services, during the Tyndall Avenue Improvement Project open house on Thursday. This project will widen the road and add crosswalks and bike paths on Tyndall Avenue between University Boulevard and Sixth Street.
Tyndall Avenue gets revamp By Eliza Molk ARIZONA DAILY WILDCAT
Parking and Transportation Services held and open house for the Tyndall Avenue Improvement Project, which will reconstruct the roadway between University Boulevard and Sixth Street to better accommodate vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian traffic. The project, which will begin construction on April 18, is projected to take up to four months to complete and will widen and re-pave the road, add crosswalks, a bike path, curbs to the sidewalks and new landscaping on Tyndall Avenue between University Boulevard and Sixth Street. Joe Chase, field engineering project manager of the Tyndall Avenue Improvement Project, said that “all heavy work” will take place after the semester ends, and that access to all local businesses and to UA facilities will not be impeded, with the exception of Tyndall Avenue Parking Garage, which will only be accessible off Euclid Avenue. Some of the open house attendees had concerns about construction noise, and
Best-selling author visits UA By John Kuells ARIZONA DAILY WILDCAT
Best-selling author Dr. Cornel West will be speaking at Centennial Hall at 7 p.m. His speech entitled “Borders to Democracy,” will look at issues such as race and immigration and how these aspects of diversity have an effect on the nation. West, a Princeton professor who gained national attention for his analytical look at racism in his book “Race Matters,” will speak as part of a “Who Draws the Line? Social Justice Perspectives on Diversity” series. According to Amanda Tachine, program director of Native American Student Affairs, West is the capstone speaker for this lecture series, which deals with issues of social justice. Tachine said this is
a very relevant and timely topic that can help students to better understand issues of diversity as it pertains to their lives. The appearance was made possible by a combined effort of diversity groups on campus, including Native American Student Affairs, African American Student Affairs, Asian Pacific American Student Affairs, ChicanoHispano Student Affairs, LGBTQ Affairs, Women’s Resource Center, as well as aid from the Tohono O’odham Nation , Student Service Fee, UofA Bookstores, the Office of the President and the Dean of Students Office. The event is free and open to the public and will feature a question-and-answer segment after the lecture in Centennial Hall has concluded. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the event will run until 8:30 p.m.
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although Chase said that he and his team would notify surrounding businesses and housing developments when concrete would be poured before its planned 7 a.m. start time, construction can be noisy and they “can’t do much about that.” Amanda Brobbel, the coordinator of graduate and international student housing, said that there was a lot of construction last year around the La Aldea graduate housing complex and it “really impeded” at the end of May before graduate students moved out. She explained that they had to open a back gate that opened out to the street, which was a fire hazard. “It’s not OK,” she said. “These are apartments, not dorms, and the students have furniture.” She added that although they “worked it out” in the end, she had to address construction problems more than once. Bruce Billings, the president of the Campus Christian Center, said that the project was “long overdue,” although he expressed concern that the project would not be addressing the alleys. He gave an example of the alley behind
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the Louise F. Marshall building, saying it was a “horrible mess” and that it needs to be “totally redone.” Construction will occur every Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., with occasional night and weekend construction. Once the existing roadway pavement has been removed, vehicular traffic will be restricted to one-way travel in a single lane. The project will cost $452,742.50, according to the City of Tucson Department of Transportation. The funding for the project “just now became available,” according to Chase, and the idea of the project has “been in the works for eight years.” The funding comes from a transportation enhancement grant using stimulus funds.
For more information,
please contact parking@email.arizona.edu or Joe Chase at Joe.Chase@tucsonaz.gov
Allen disqualified; ASUA declares special election By Luke Money ARIZONA DAILY WILDCAT
decision to the ASUA Supreme Court. Allen recently told the Daily Wildcat he would not appeal should Colletti uphold his disqualification. Colletti reinstated the candidacy of the other presidential candidate Daniel Hernandez, urging checks to be removed as he did not deem his violations to “be severely detrimental to the election process.” “Finally, the Supreme Court case revealed there certainly are some changes to make for next year,” Colletti wrote. “The court raises valid points of contention over what the standard of evidence is, and how we go about investigating complaints we receive. We shall re-evaluate going forward.” The special election date has been set for Tuesday, April 19.
ASUAElections Commissioner Michael Colletti decided not to reinstate the candidacy status of James Allen, the top recipient of votes in the ASUA general election that ended March 9. “I have deemed Mr. Allen’s actions to be severely detrimental to the election process, and therefore cannot ethically reinstate his candidacy status,” Colletti wrote in a statement to the Associated Students of the University of Arizona Clerk of the Court. “Therefore, a special election must occur to keep the integrity of the elections intact.” Allen’s continued disqualification means that a special election for ASUA president will have to be held in the coming weeks, unless Allen chooses to appeal Colletti’s
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