NEAL FINALLY SET TO ANNOUNCE SCHOOL CHOICE
ENGINEERS FLAUNT ARTISTIC TALENTS
SPORTS — 10
FAFSA FRAUDS A FRUSTRATION FOR STUDENTS
NEWS — 3
PERSPECTIVES — 4
DAILY WILDCAT
Tuesday, February ,
DAILYWILDCAT.COM
SERVING THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA SINCE 1899
UITS creates email system for employees By Yara Askar
COURTESY OF OFFICE OF UNIVERSITY RESEARCH PARKS
UA Science and Technology Park’s Solar Zone provides solar energy to Tucson Electric Power companies. Researchers at the UA are testing materials that would create more efficient and cost-effective solar panels.
Researchers to make low-cost solar panels By Danielle Salas DAILY WILDCAT
Even though the UA Tech Park had an economic impact of $2.67 billion in Pima County for 2009, UA researchers are looking to generate an even bigger revenue by creating more sustainable and inexpensive solar panels. The park’s solar zone helps spur both economic and environmental development for all of Arizona, according to John Grabo, director of business development at the park. With 1.9 million square feet and photovoltaic solar panels comprised of a thin film that generates 18.5 megawatts of energy into an electric grid, the park will eventually power about 3,700 homes in Tucson, according to Grabo. This is part of an effort to reach a state mandate requiring that utilities generate about 15 percent of their energy from renewable resources. In order to reach that goal, several UA professors are working on research projects, studying various materials that can generate sustainable and inexpensive energy. Neal Armstrong, a chemistry and biochemistry professor, is one of many working on this research through the Center for Interface Science, an organization he established in 2009 that focuses on thin film photovoltaic technologies. Current solar panel technologies can convert light from the sun into energy at a rate of about 20 percent and can last about 20 years, according to Armstrong.
Despite the advances that have been made in the past 50 years, Armstrong said that these technologies are still too expensive and inefficient to generate the kind of energy needed, which is why he is working on using cheap, organic materials to create new kinds of solar cells. The cells are created with polymers and small molecules, which are comparable to the dark dyes of computer ink cartridges, and are produced through a printing press-like operation, he said. Despite the fact that these cells currently convert energy at rates of 10 to 15 percent, he said he is confident that this technology will advance at a much faster rate than the siliconbased panels currently being used. Such technology is not only cheaper, but also easier to produce and more durable than silicon-based panels. Armstrong said it is a matter of knowing which materials will convert at a higher rate. Paul Lee, a staff scientist and UA alumnus, created a machine to test such materials called the “photovoltaic deposition chamber.” The machine separates organic and metal material that goes into cells in order to prevent contamination, according to Lee. Students will then test the conversion rate of the material, seeing which composition is most effective. If the research is successful, Armstrong said the projected cost of the cells for new solar panels, in addition to the cost of installation, will be $1 per cell instead of $3. “It’s still expensive, but still cheaper than $3,” he added.
Apathy greets emotional wellness talk By Savannah Martin DAILY WILDCAT A few moments before her workshop on emotional wellness was scheduled to begin, Gabrielle Price, an ATLAS mentor, stood in front of an empty conference room. By the time the workshop started at 4 p.m., a single student sat at her side. “Not a lot of students are interested in emotional wellness,” Price, a public health junior, said. The one student who did seem interested, architecture freshman Ramon Lopez, said he attended the workshop to fulfill an out-of-class assignment. He could have attended any number of events on campus, but this event seemed the most appealing, he said. “I want to see the level of stress I’m at right now because it will help improve my stability,” Lopez said. A few minutes later, Lisa Marie, a general studies senior with an emphasis in social behavior and human understanding, arrived. Marie would be the last student to walk through the door. The ATLAS program hosted the emotional wellness workshop in the Student Union Memorial Center on Monday. ATLAS, which stands for Applied Tailored Leadership Adventure for Success, is a campus leadership program that certifies students in various areas, including
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Lisa Marie (left), a local community service consultant, answers a jeopardy-style question asked by Gabrielle Price, a public health junior, while Ramon Lopez, an architecture freshman, awaits his turn during an emotional wellness workshop in the Student Union Memorial Center on Monday.
wellness, leadership and event planning. of wellness workshops that addresses The program also provides mentors, like physical, spiritual and occupational health, Price, who work one-on-one with students among other categories. looking to improve their leadership skills. This workshop was part of a series EMOTION, 2
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College is expensive, and obviously no one wants to pay more than they have to. But hiding money to save a few tuition dollars is unfair to families who truly need the aid.” PERSPECTIVES — 4
DAILY WILDCAT University Information Technology Services will migrate all staff and employees to its own email and calendar system some time this semester, aiming to give them more control over their information through the UA instead of Microsoft. Rather than purchasing the mailing software system from Microsoft, UITS will now employ its own cloud system, giving users more local control of their online environment and configuration in the interest of all staff and employees, according to Derek Masseth, senior director of client and infrastructure services for UITS. With all UA staff and employees’ accounts on the same system, users will be on the same calendar system and have all of the same features, such as sharing calendars between users, said Julie Suess, information technology project manager for UITS. “Doing this ourselves with this platform, we can deliver the same features and functionality needs to all users regardless of what their choice is,” Masseth said. Before this, the university was running on a system developed by Microsoft, under an agreement that Microsoft maintained. That was later replaced by
EMAIL, 2
Researchers tag shopping science By Brittany Mejia DAILY WILDCAT
A new study conducted by associate professors in the Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences might help derive a theory about why people shop and browse through different online and offline channels, such as in stores or online. Sherry Lotz and Mary Ann Eastlick, associate professors in the college, are working together on a new study that will allow them to analyze why people choose to purchase and search for products in certain arrangements consisting of store and online channels. “It’s really interesting now that we have all these channels because people will use different variations,” Lotz said. “We are really interested in finding out why people do the activity they do and in which channels.” The two conducted a qualitative study in 2009, which allowed them to conduct in-depth interviews and gauge the general response. However, the new quantitative study uses a survey approach and should provide more detailed information. In the 2009 study, Lotz and Eastlick found that there are gender differences when it comes to shopping, and that people tend to avoid stores with bad customer service or pushy salespeople. “If you treat the customers with respect and you’re nice to them, they’re going to want to come back,” said Emma Pinter, a pre-dental and studio art junior who works at Old Navy. “If you’re rude, they’re going to say, ‘This store is terrible, the people are so rude.’” A recent bad customer service experience Pinter said she remembers is when she went to get her hair cut, and an employee acted extremely snobby. After the experience, Pinter decided she was not returning. Other stores place a high focus on connecting with customers in order to ensure they return. “Our number-one priority in here is customers,” said Taness Billington, a manager at Grand Central Clothing on University Boulevard. “We train our girls like that, that everything is centered around the customers. Without them, you would have no business.” In regards to the new study, Billington said it would be helpful for her company because store workers could gain a better understanding of why students choose to use different channels of shopping. The new survey has more than 200 questions and focuses on different factors relating to purchasing and searching for products online and in stores. Lotz and Eastlick contracted Zoomerang, an online survey tool, to collect the data from a panel of consumers. Data analyzing will most likely take place this summer, Lotz said. She said the actual survey results should be done around the fall. “From an academic perspective, no one has definitively figured out why people use the channels they do,” Lotz said. “Hopefully by analyzing this data, we will have a better idea of why people actually purchase in a channel and browse in others.”
WORTH
NOTING This day in history
>> 1965: Black nationalist leader Malcolm X is assassinated. >> 1972: President Nixon becomes the first U.S. president to visit China.
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