NorthernArizonaNews.com
INSIDE
Opinion: Applauding ASNAU, p 12 Sports: NAU v. BYU b-ball, p 21 A&E: Puppets, p 28
SINCE 1914
Life: Tattoos p 16
Issue 15, VOL 99 Dec. 8, 2011 - Jan. 18, 2012
Let it snow! Let it snow!
(Photos by Gean Shanks)
BY BREE PURDY
Lopez Lomong served as a flag-bearer at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and will carry the flag once again at the fall 2011 commencement ceremony. (Photo courtesy of NAU Media Relations)
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lagstaff received more than an inch of snow from Dec. 1 to Dec. 3. More than 25 inches of snow has fallen on the city since Sept. 5. The snow season typically spans from October until mid-March. Flagstaff was recently ranked the eighth snowiest city in the United States, according to USA Today, averaging over 100 inches annually.
Lomong will bear flag for second time BY WILLIAM BROWN
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NAU plans to create ‘University College’ in Fall 2012 BY maria dicosola
NAU plans to add a new college starting in Fall 2012. The addition, known as the University College, will be an academic home for first year students, undecided majors and transfer students so they can experience a wide range of classes and degree paths. Karen Pugliesi, the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs at NAU, is the proposed candidate to be the Dean of the new college. She said the college will help firstyear students be successful, as well as
decide what career path they want to pursue. “What the University College will do essentially is to bring together a number of the programs that we have in place to support students getting off on solid footing in their first year of college,” Pugliesi said. Pugliesi explained that NAU hopes to boost first-year students’ academic achievement and encourage them to intermingle co-curricular experiences so as to be more prepared at graduation. She also said the college will be used to help other colleges co-
ordinate better. “Supporting their academic success, supporting their learning and development of essential capacities and co-curricular experiences, and advising that will help them determine the plans that they have for their degree and for their careers beyond them and bring them all together in a way that helps us create better coherence and coordination among the different programs,” Pugliesi said. It is important to note that all see NEW COLLEGE page 9
his Fall’s graduating class will hold a distinction that few others have: one of their flag-bearers carried the U.S. flag in the 2008 Olympics. Lopez Lomong, originally from Sudan, has been working toward a bachelor’s degree in hotel and restaurant management while still continuing his training in Flagstaff. Matt Sewell, a graduate assistant for NAU Athletics media relations, said Lomong worked as hard in school to accomplish his goals as he has in the Olympic arena. “He came back and finished his degree when he originally left and turned professional in the sport of track and field,” Sewell said. “He had not finished his degree requirement, so it’s a great accomplishment for him to come back with all that he’s done professionally and finish his degree, that was very important to him.” Sewell also said Lomong remains active in school and extra activities despite his training. “The last two falls, he’s been a full-time student so he’s still very involved with a lot of different organizations and obviously his training and preparation for trying to make the [Olympic] team in London 2012,” Sewell said. Lomong won two NCAA titles while running for NAU in 2007 and was a five-time All-American.
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