FROSH’S HOT STREAK JUST WHAT CATS NEEDED
NASA MAY CURE THE HANGOVER. DRINK TO THAT
SPORTS — 8
TIPS TO LEARN FROM SMALL SCREEN LOVE
PERSPECTIVES — 4
ARTS & LIFE — 12
DAILY WILDCAT
Monday, February ,
DAILYWILDCAT.COM
SERVING THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA SINCE 1899
Fraternity takes lead on CATwalk UA needs EDITORIAL
By Mike Schmitz DAILY WILDCAT
After Bobbi Olson passed away from ovarian cancer on Jan. 1, 2001, representatives from Greek Life walked into her husband’s office with a plan. “They said they’d like to do something in Bobbi’s memory,” said Lute Olson, former UA head basketball coach, during a phone interview on Sunday. “They thought that a walk would be a great way to do it.” That plan evolved into CATwalk,
a walk developed to raise money for the Bobbi Olson Fund for women’s cancer research, education and prevention at the UA Cancer Center. With Greek Life running the operations, CATwalk raised more than $500,000 over the course of 11 years. But after Greek Life chose to cut ties with the project and take on a different one this year, the event was in danger of extinction — until Saturday. Through Pi Kappa Alpha and its 205-man Gamma Delta chapter, CATwalk has new life. With Olson
and 104 Arizona PIKE undergraduates and alumni members on hand at the PIKE University Regional Leadership Summit on Saturday in Irvine, Calif., the fraternity announced it had taken over total operations of CATwalk. “When Greek Life decided that they were going to take away CATwalk, it was like, ‘Wow, that’s a great opportunity for us,’” said Charles Eisner, president of Pi Kappa Alpha. “It’s a great opportunity to better the community and keep this (CATwalk) alive.”
Olson spoke at the summit for 30 minutes. He said he took so many pictures with fraternity members that “my eyes are still blurry.” On Saturday evening at the Irvine Hilton, he was ritualistically initiated as an official Pi Kappa Alpha alumnus member. “They asked me if I would like to be an honorary PIKE and I said I had never been involved in a fraternity, but the least I can do is accept the honorary membership,” said Olson,
CATWALK, 3
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY ANNIE MARUM / DAILY WILDCAT
‘Dirty’ students lament website Popular site could have negative social effects, but slim legal options By Brittny Mejia DAILY WILDCAT
With sites like Facebook and Twitter being vetted by employers, students are frequently warned not to post anything they don’t want seen online. But gossip sites like thedirty.com, which allows users to post about others
anonymously, make it harder to control an Internet presence. Jane, an anthropology sophomore who asked to remain anonymous, did not know she was on “the Dirty” until friends wrote her and let her know. Curious, she looked up the site for the first time and found a picture of herself with her sorority members. “There aren’t very many terms of endearment within the website,” she said. “It’s pretty much just bashing and calling girls ‘bitches,’ ‘whores,’ ‘sluts.’ I mean,
that’s the general scope when people are talking about my sorority and every sorority in general.” Part of the post read, “They (the sorority members) think that just because they got a decent pledge class they’re ‘on their way to the top.’ Well their pledge class may not be obese like the rest of them, but they are whores!!!” The Dirty’s founder, who goes by Nik Richie, wrote underneath, “It does suck, are there decent sororities left?” Users can post inappropriate
photos and videos of people they know or dislike. The site provides links that allow users to “submit dirt,” “advertise,” or simply search their colleges or cities for new gossip. With more than 100 pages of “dirt” under the Arizona/UA tab alone, it can sometimes be impossible to know whether a person is on the site until someone else points it out. John, a business management junior whose name has also been
strong leader as president
W
elcome to the UA, Ann Weaver Hart. You are visiting what could be a premier educational institution, but is, for now, a school that is struggling to find its footing. The UA’s mission is to provide a comprehensive, high-quality education that engages students. The goal is to graduate students who can be leaders in solving complex societal problems. The previous administration, headed by Robert Shelton, fought constantly with the backward, misguided ambitions of the Arizona Board of Regents. The regents sought to level the playing field for the state’s three universities, but instead of bringing Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University up to meet the UA’s standards, the board has dragged the UA down. ASU is the golden child of the regents for reasons that are laughable. It has increased enrollment each year to astronomical numbers and increased its freshman retention, but did so only by lowering its standards and requirements. The sacred cow is essentially a cash cow. The regents will continue to try and steer the UA in this direction, but the faculty, administration and students came here for what was promised to them: a dedication to quality education. In addition to the regents, the UA faces adversity from the Arizona Legislature, which refuses to recognize higher education as a top priority. Instead, it cuts millions of dollars in state funding every year and insists on proposing legislation like House Bill 2675, which would demand every full-time student not on a full-ride scholarship to pay $2,000 out of pocket. What this university needs is a champion. The UA needs a champion who will continue its tradition as the state’s flagship university, its premier research institution. It needs a champion who will halt the steady decline of its standards of admittance and performance. The UA needs a champion who will stand up to a state Legislature hell-bent on applying a broad brushstroke to whitewash educational tradition and differentiation.
DIRTY, 3
EDITORIAL, 3
New center to address problems QUOTE TO NOTE with sleep, educate physicians By Yara Askar DAILY WILDCAT
Patients with sleep problems can now turn to the Center for Sleep Disorders at the University of Arizona Medical Center for treatment. The center, which opened earlier this month, aims to diagnose and care for patients with sleep conditions, as well as educate the general public about the nature of sleep disorders, said Dr. Sairam Parthasarathy, medical director of the center and an associate professor of medicine. Research that allows patients to engage in therapy trials is also part of the center’s mission, Parthasarathy said. The center will treat a variety of sleep problems including sleep apnea, insomnia, narcolepsy, circadian rhythm disorder, hypersomnia and restless leg syndrome. The center mainly screens patients for sleep apnea, said Sicily La Rue, lead sleep technician and a registered polysomnographic technologist. Sleep apnea is
GORDON BATES / DAILY WILDCAT
Sairam Parthasarathy, director of the Center for Sleep Disorders, shows one of the rooms used for in-patient sleep studies. During one study session, nurses score 720 to 900 pages of polysomnographic data in the form of graphs, which Parthasarathy reviews to diagnose the specific disorder.
determined by hooking the patient to electrodes to monitor their pulse oximetry that tracks the oxygen level, a nasal cannula and belts around their chest, stomach and legs, La Rue said. One way to test for sleep apnea
is through a polysomnography diagnostic test performed on the patient overnight. The test monitors the brain waves, muscle tension, eye movement, respiration and audio monitoring for snoring behavior, La Rue said. This data
is then used to see what exactly the patient is experiencing, Parthasarathy added. Sleep deprivation can result in serious illness, such as diabetes, depression and may also be associated with cancer, Parthasarathy said. The amount of sleep that a person should receive depends directly on the individual, and as the human body grows, our strength grows with us and our sleeping needs decline, according to Parthasarathy. This is a result of nature’s system and developmental growth. Once a patient is diagnosed with sleep apnea, they receive treatment through a continuous positive airway pressure. This treatment uses mild air pressure to keep the airways open, La Rue said. The center can treat two patients a night, one at 8:30 p.m. and another at 9:30 p.m., Parthasarathy said. Part of the center’s research will further educate doctors and
SLEEP, 2
“
The lesson here is easy to grasp. One, don’t have sex with your siblings.” ARTS & LIFE — 12 HI
68 43 LOW
Sleepy Eye, Minn. Pillow, Pa. Reston, Va.
33 / 21 36 / 25 47 / 31
‘Like‘ us on Facebook facebook.com/dailywildcat
Follow us on Twitter twitter.com/dailywildcat
Look at our sets on Flickr flickr.com/arizonadailywildcat
Check out the PDF on Issuu issuu.com/arizonadailywildcat