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SPORTS, B1
ARIZONA DAILY WILDCAT
friday, september ,
tucson, arizona
dailywildcat.com
Funny phobias cause concern By Brenna Goth ARIZONA DAILY WILDCAT
Gordon Bates/Arizona Daily Wildcat
Before game time, Ron Fuchs, front, warehouse manager, and Steve Heck, pyrotechnician at Fireworks Productions of Arizona, prepare to run their pyro boards onto the field for the Wildcats’ team intro at the UA vs. The Citadel game on Saturday at Arizona Stadium. The boards held 60 shots and had enough fireworks for a 15-second display.
Pyrotechnists delight in igniting football fireworks By Michelle A. Monroe ARIZONA DAILY WILDCAT There’s something explosive on the field and it isn’t the players. Two pyrotechnists make the booming and bombastic opening sequence for each Arizona home football game. “I always wanted to push the button and make things go boom,” said Steve Heck, a pyrotechnician for Fireworks Productions of Arizona. His father, who worked for the same company for more than 40 years, brought Ron Fuchs, the other pyrotechnician for UA’s
games and warehouse manager, into the fiery world of incendiary devices. “First time I set off fireworks I was 5 and I was helping him (Fuchs’ father) do a high school show,” Fuchs said. Once you hear the fireworks go crack, you’ll never go back. “Once I learned how to shoot ‘em you just, you got hooked,” said Kerry Welty, president of Fireworks Productions of Arizona and one of the alternate UA firework technicians. The company carries a $10 million insurance policy, but the pyrotechnicians say there haven’t
been any accidents at the UA. “There’s been acts of stupidity during setting up but not during the show,” Heck said. “You don’t fear it (the fireworks) but you have to respect it; the day you don’t respect it is the day it’ll bite you.” All the fireworks used at the Arizona games are made for close-proximity ignitions. “When I was there this past weekend, Steve and I, we’re literally 10 feet away from the stuff when we shoot it,” Fuchs said. “This last game the cheerleaders and the flag guys, they were standing in between it when we set them off and they’re still
more going as the guys are coming through it.” Fireworks have welcomed the team onto the field since 2001. “Fireworks are unique to college football and we’re proud to have this new sort of tradition,” said Matt Brown, director of event operations for Arizona Athletics. “I know those guys love doing it and the ZonaZoo goes absolutely berserk.” The pyrotechnicians get excited for football season every year. “We look forward to having the seasons; it’s more work for FIREWORKS, page 3
Going to the beach, passing a piercing parlor or watching a Britney Spears music video causes little distress for most. For sufferers of omphalophobia, or the fear of belly buttons, these incidents could cause serious reactions. A phobia is a severe and illogical fear of an object or situation. About 8.7 percent of American adults have at least one phobia, according to a 2005 study from the National Institute of Mental Health. “To be a phobia it has to be something that doesn’t pose a threat,” said Sarah Burger, graduate student researcher in the Anxiety Research Group and clinical psychology doctoral candidate. “If you’re afraid of something actually dangerous, that’s called rational thinking.” Many people have strong fears or dislikes that may not technically be phobias. “OK, well, I really don’t like it when people rub carpet,” said nutrition freshman Kelli Kostizak. “It makes my stomach knot up.” Undecided freshman Sarah Brody said she knew a person with a “weird” fear. “I had someone who said they’re really afraid of moss,” Brody said. Unlike general, everyday fears, phobias can cause distress through anticipation, by either thinking about a situation or coming into contact with a certain object. “The phobia is kind of where the fear has reinforced itself,” said Michael Strangstalien, mental health clinician for Counseling and Psychological Services. “It doesn’t even need to necessarily happen.” PHOBIAS, page 3
500K SafeRide users in 10 years By Jazmine Woodberry ARIZONA DAILY WILDCAT Thirty years ago, ASUA Escort Service would help UA students get around. Today, ASUA’s SafeRide is one of the most visible and utilized services on campus. And this semester is extra special because the service will be serving its 500,000th passenger of this decade within the coming weeks. “We’re trying to break the records that were set last year,” said Chris Wozny, SafeRide administrative director. Last year, 76,882 passengers utilized SafeRide with a whopping 936 passengers served during one
night of Spring Fling, the annual student-run carnival. All those passengers mean a lot of late hours for the dedicated staff, which totals 35 employees this year. Although the staff noted that it isn’t hard to find students who want to work at SafeRide, a great deal of their staff graduated at the end of last year and 12 positions had to be filled — and quickly. “This year we decided to post something on Job Link,” he said. “And in an hour it had 100 views, by the next day 300, and by the end of the week it had over 600 views.” SAFERIDE, page 3
COMING MONDAY
Freshman freedom
Ernie Somoza/Arizona Daily Wildcat
SafeRide employee Tim Milner, a music and classics major, prepares to drive other SafeRide employees around in Van Gogh, the sevenpassenger SafeRide vehicle. SafeRide prepares to hit its 500,000 passenger mark for the decade by the end of the month.
An update on a four-year study about how students’ financial decisions are affected by new-found independence.
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