HOME IN HARLEM: MOMO’S WORLD
WILDCATS MOVE TO 2-0 AFTER 52-6 BEATDOWN
Daily Wildcat TV presents a look inside the life of UA basketball player Momo Jones
SPORTS, 8
ONLINE AT: dailywildcat.com
ARIZONA DAILY WILDCAT
monday, september ,
tucson, arizona
dailywildcat.com
Locals swarm to Bat Night By Bethany Barnes ARIZONA DAILY WILDCAT
Ginny Polin/Arizona Daily Wildcat
The 60-by-14-foot mural on the side of the Rialto Theatre was painted by artist Joe Pagac as a testament to the Rialto. The mural, which took him eight hours to paint, will be the last one he creates in Tucson.
White out: City censors artist’s creativity By Jazmine Woodberry ARIZONA DAILY WILDCAT
UA alumnus Joe Pagac finds himself at odds with Tucson commercial sign laws, paints over mural in protest
J
oe Pagac, a heavy-bearded, dark-haired man, slips in iPod headphones, humming songs by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros and Peter Bjorn and John. Six gallons of paint, six rollers and dozens of brushes are tucked under his arms. It’s only the beginning.
A 60-by-14-foot wall and eight hours to paint it. Over his music soars the drunken yelps of vagrant men, doling out street corner financial advice, and blatant advances of single women, which leave his girlfriend quite remiss. To some, it would be distracting, to Pagac it’s inspiring. It’s not an impossible feat; 10 months of art precede this work. It’s not an impossible feat …
but this time it’s his final act. Because of a complaint filed with the city against the signs, after the mural for the New Pornographers’ July 21 show brought up the subject of pornography between a mother and child, this mural will be Pagac’s last. “In America, for whatever reason, we have a ‘get rid of it all and avoid the lawsuit’ mentality,” said Pagac, a Tucson native, UA visual
communication and illustration alumnus and the Rialto Theatre’s muralist. “This is one example of things getting so boring and the fun getting sucked out of everything.” The mural is located on the side of the Rialto. Its surface is matted, rocky, expansive and pops vibrantly with blues and reds and yet people pass by it daily, unaware of its story. MURAL, page 3
UAPD combats bike theft By Lucy Valencia ARIZONA DAILY WILDCAT To curb the yearly back-to-school spike in bike burglary, UAPD is promoting an education program around campus to help cyclists avoid theft and citations. “We always see an increase in bicycle theft at the beginning of the year,” said Bethany Wilson, a crime prevention officer with the University of Arizona Police Department, in regards to students’ return to campus. It is the perfect time for thieves on the prowl for bikes to go “shopping.” There are about 10,000 to 11,000 bicycles on UA’s campus on any given weekday, according to a bulletin released by Anthony Daykin, the chief of police for UAPD. “So the potential to be injured here, because of the high number of bikers, is worse,” Wilson said.
Parking and Transportation Services, with whom UAPD often collaborates, helped fund the educational program. They are one of the numerous departments on campus working to subdue bicycle theft. “One of the things we’re doing right now is the new bike valet program that provides an extra level of security for students that want to park their bike,” said Bill Davidson, marketing specialist for Parking and Transportation Services. “It’s a fenced-in area where you can park your bike, kind of like a car valet.” The idea for both the valet parking program and the education program came after bicycles were being stolen from racks near the residence halls around campus. Even though most of these bikes were locked, thieves were still finding ways to cut through bolts and chains using bolt cutters.
COMING WEDNESDAY
Secret UA spots revealed
Jose Bermudez, a UAPD officer, says the department has been reminding students to register their serial number with Parking and Transportation Services. “Know your bike’s serial number along with the tag number you get,” Bermudez said. “If your bike is stolen and recovered, we can match that owner to their bike if it is registered in the system.” When it comes to citations for traffic violations, UAPD is, in some cases, even stricter than offcampus law enforcement. “We cite (bicyclists) the same way that we would cite a vehicle, so the ticket prices are the same,” Wilson said. According to Wilson, a citation for failing to stop at a stop sign while riding a bicycle is $220 on campus. Tucson Police Department will usually cite the same violation for $200. “I mean, do you really want to spend that?” Wilson said.
IF YOU GO Bike-theft education Sept. 15: 9 a.m. - Noon Highland Avenue and Fourth Street Sept. 21: Noon - 3 p.m. University Boulevard and Cherry Avenue Sept. 23: 9 a.m. - Noon Arizona Health Sciences Center/south of Science Library Sept. 29: 9 a.m. - Noon Olive Avenue and Second Street
BATS, page 3
QUICK HITS Wildlife uncovers and disects the best hidden places to chill between classes on campus
Live Latin music at Guadalajara Grill, 1220 E. Prince Road, at 7 p.m.
News is always breaking at dailywildcat.com ... or follow us on
Tucsonans of all ages went batty and piled into the dry Rillito riverbed for the third annual Bat Night. There are 40,000 bats that live under the Campbell Avenue Bridge from April to September and fly out nightly to forage for food. Bat Night officials invited the Tucson community on Saturday to come together to watch the bats and mourn the loss of the riparian ecosystem of the Rillito riverbed. People donned bat earrings, played with bat puppets and dressed children in Batman shirts in the spirit of the event. From chihuahuas to Great Danes, even man’s best friend left the doghouse to watch bats fill the skies. This year the Rillito River Project worked closely with the UA. Visual communications graduate student Jessica Gerlach turned Bat Night into her thesis project. Gerlach created banners, illustrations and cards each representing a species that no longer lives in the riverbed. “The species are being highlighted because the habitat for this species has been lost in this riverbed, so we are trying to reflect on the loss of those species,” Gerlach said. Gerlach began her research in February and worked through the summer to see the project to its fruition. After creating the illustrations and cards, Gerlach worked to get volunteers who would be able to talk about each species and hand out the cards. “I’ve always been really interested in the connections between our environment and educating people,” Gerlach said. “I feel like visual communications is a field where educating can happen if you make dynamic kinds of events like this.” Gerlach’s banners surround a giant sandbox and stage created by the UA College of Architecture. Around 25 UA arts and architecture students were up at 6 a.m. filling sandbags to create the sandbox and stage for the event. The idea of using the sandbags came from UA architecture alumna Jennifer Heinfeld, who was interested in creating an temporary structure. “We can create this great space, create these structures and then when the event is over, empty out the bags and it’s like nothing ever happened so it’s a great way of making something ephemeral,” said Beth Weinstein, assistant architecture professor. The sandbox was filled with children and costumed play leaders during the event. “I feel it’s really important that people notice the river, become aware of the river, become aware of the fact that the river used to have water year round. Because there is only water here part of the year, the animals and plants
Exhibit of live butterflies and interactive displays at the Tucson Botanical Gardens, 2150 N. Alvernon Way.
: @DailyWildcat