friday, september , tucson, arizona
PODCAST
DW ONLINE
UA transformation backlash
DW
The Daily Wildcat’s Bryan Roy and Shain Bergan discuss the UA’s budget crisis, unrest within the faculty and the anonymous staff blog “UA Defender”
SPORTS
’Jacks lumber into Tucson
Football gets one last game to adjust before the schedule tightens up PAGE 7
Arizona Daily Wildcat
dailywildcat.com
Bear Down, Wildcats! Lick the Lumberjacks!
Asbestos present in UA campus buildings By Rikki Mitchell ARIZONA DAILY WILDCAT A list from the Department of Risk Management and Safety shows that at least 14 buildings around campus contain asbestos for a variety of purposes. According to the department, asbestos materials pose no threat to building inhabitants if they are left intact. However, there is a potential threat if the materials become damaged and
airborne, where inhabitants could inhale them. “If you inhale those fibers, because of their strength they don’t break down in the body,” said Herbert Wagner, associate director of the Department of Risk Management and Safety. “They attach themselves to the epithelia layer of the lungs and sort of stick there.” Asbestos is a group of minerals that is very strong and resistant to heat and chemicals. Many older buildings use
asbestos materials for fireproofing as well as in insulation pipes, acoustical decorative ceilings, flooring and roofing materials. “It does not burn,” Wagner said. “It became a very popular building material because of that physical nature.” The Department of Risk Management and Safety did a survey in the early 1980s to find out where all asbestos materials are located on campus. Wagner said this knowledge could
Hookah hang-ups
be used to manage disturbances that could occur. All maintenance personnel on campus are trained to know what asbestos looks like and when to report any kind of disturbance, he said. “Anytime that maintenance activities or construction or demolition activities involve disturbing or potentially disturbing the asbestos, we go ahead and have it removed safely by an asbestos company that can come in and safely
As smoking shisha grows in popularity, consumers may not be aware of possible dangers, side effects.
and properly remove it before we have the opportunity to get involved with it,” Wagner said. Since 1975, the Environmental Protection Agency as well as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration have stopped new buildings from using asbestos. The newer buildings on campus have no asbestos, Wagner said. However, he added, some buildings ASBESTOS, page 6
Mosaic to ease student troubles Part two of a two-part series By Michelle Monroe ARIZONA DAILY WILDCAT
Tim Glass/Arizona Daily Wildcat
Israel Shulte, a physical education senior, and Vishal Ganesan, a classics junior, enjoy hookah outside Espresso Art on University Boulevard on Sept. 3. Espresso Art offers hookah from noon outside and 6 p.m. inside until closing at midnight.
By Angel Allen ARIZONA DAILY WILDCAT It’s a beautiful evening and you’re puffing smoke rings with your friends, but while the fruit punch taste you inhale may be sweet and relaxing, officials say it comes with the cloudy possibility of future illness. Hookahs are single or multiple stemmed water pipes used to smoke tobacco. They continue to be a popular fixture around the UA campus. But health officials say many students remain ignorant of the ill health effects of shisha, the flavored tobacco smoked in hookahs. A May report issued by the Journal of
Adolescent Health said hookah use is incresing among college students, despite growing consensus that it may be as dangerous as cigarettes. Hirbod Jalili, a Pima Community College computer sciences student from Iran, said he grew up smoking hookah, starting at age 14. In Iran,“there’s no age for it, anyone can do it. It’s a tradition,” he said. Usually families and friends smoke together as a relaxing hobby, Jalili said. Tea and dates are often served along with the hookah as complementary items. Hacène Chaouch, an optical engineering graduate student from Algeria, said, “We know it’s harmful and it’s not the reason we
get together, but it’s something to do when we are together. It’s social.” Local café Espresso Art, 944 E. University Blvd., offers hookah smoking starting from noon outside and 6 p.m. inside until closing at midnight each evening. Owner Danny Mannheim said he enjoys offering an international feel to his café. Mannheim said his café is usually filled with students, professors, Middle Easterners, among others, who choose between 20 shisha flavors, including peach, mint and grape. A hookah session generally lasts 45 to 80 minutes, depending on how many people are HOOKAH, page 12
The long-awaited campus-wide information technology overhaul known as the Mosaic project is finally nearing completion, at least in part. In coming months, much of the behind-the-scenes computing that allows an enormous and complex institution like the UA will be updated to meet the demands of a university in the 21st century. Yesterday, the Arizona Daily Wildcat examined how this overhaul will affect UA employees. Today, we look at changes to the system that will affect students. Students frustrated with the delays and confusion caused by Student Link may have something to look forward to when they register for classes next semester. The main changes students can expect to see will be new software to manage room and course scheduling, said Tom Bourgeois , co-director of student administration for Mosaic. These changes, he said, are “not glamorous, but it’s the foundation.” Other changes will include software that manages the university’s curriculum, like course changes or new courses, and providing more current information in the online catalogue. Professors generally begin to prepare for fall classes a year in advance, so the project will implement catalogue changes now in order for them to be trained as soon as possible, Bourgeois said. Students will not see an impact when signing up for classes this spring, but will for fall 2010, as the Web site for Student Link retains its old URL but originates from a different source, known MOSAIC, page 6
ASUA green program is growing like a weed By Marissa Hopkins ARIZONA DAILY WILDCAT The ASUA Sustainability program had 15 regular volunteers at its conception last year. With the start of a new sustainability internship program this year, there will be 53 students working regularly toward sustainability at the UA — and getting credit for it. Sustainability Director Lesley Ash said she and Brendan Nuriddin, the associate director and architecture senior, developed the internship program over the summer in order to encourage more students to get involved with the program.
“To go from 15 volunteers to 53 regular workers is huge,” said Ash, a veterinary sciences senior. Many people couldn’t make last year’s completely volunteer-based program a top priority, Ash said, but now students are getting credit, which should encourage more consistent participation. The interns are participating in the program through either independent study or educational leadership. They are receiving one credit per semester in the year-long internship, and are required to put in a minimum of four hours per week, Ash said. The four hours per week is a requirement from the independent study program.
The goals this year are to put the UA on the forefront of sustainability, and to provide the new interns with the tools they need to succeed in this program and life afterward. The original intent was to have up to 30 interns, Ash said, but when almost 70 applications for the internship came in, she and Nurridin decided to increase the number of students accepted. Eleven of the interns are returning from last year. The group of interns includes engineering, biology, environmental sciAshlee Salamon/Arizona Daily Wildcat ence, business and even a few arts and ASUA sustainability director Lesley Ash, a veterinary science senior, and assistant director Brenphysiology majors, Ash said. dan Nuriddin, an architecture senior, present information to meeting-goers on Wednesday, Sept. 9, about sustainability proposals. The ASUA Sustainability program had only 15 regular volunteers last
GREEN, page 12 year, but the program has increased to 53 students.