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Editors-in-Chief
Sam Parker
Noor Haghighi editor@dailywildcat.com
News Editors
Sophia Hammer
Kanishka Chinnaraj news@dailywildcat.com
Opinions Editor Luke Lawson opinion@dailywildcat.com
Sports Editors
Nate Stenchever
Melisa Guzeloglu sports@dailywildcat.com
Editing Staff
Arts & Life Editor
Sierra Blaser Sabina Hernandez arts@dailywildcat.com
Photo/Multimedia Editors
Gracie Kayko Jay Corella photo@dailywildcat.com
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Nandini Manepalli Kiara Adams socials@dailywildcat.com
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Sam Parker Noor Haghighi
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Sophia Hammer Sela Margalit
GRACIE KAYKO Multimedia Editor
The Daily Wildcat has become one of the most important parts of my college experience. Working alongside my hard working and creative peers has taught me that with every photo, every interview, you’re working to get better, and that teamwork really is the backbone of not only a strong paper, but strong friendships. The Daily Wildcat staff, especially the photo desk, is a family to me. When I started on the photo desk my sophomore year, I was still in my shell and hadn’t figured out what kind of person, or what kind of jour-
-ist, I wanted to be. I wanted to find community while doing something important, like I had during high school while on my school paper. The Daily Wildcat was exactly what I needed. Over time, as I spent more time with other Daily Wildcat photographers, they helped shape me into the person I am today. The photographers on the photo desk take their work seriously, are insanely talented and know how to have a good laugh. It’s been the biggest honor to work as photo editor for the last two semesters, and saying goodbye to the Daily Wildcat will be one of the hardest parts of leaving college. I’m so excited to go work as a professional jour- nalist now, and can’t wait to see familiar faces from the Daily Wildcat in the force as well.
NATE STENCHEVER Sports Editor
Since being at the Daily Wildcat for four and a half years, I have done and seen so much. From being a member of the photo desk to being EIC running the Daily Wildcat From seeing multiple coaching changes on multiple teams to watching the fall of the UA president, the time I spent at the Wildcat has been some of the most memorable moments in my life, laughing with friends, staying late working and even going to the occasional party. I will never forget the friends I made, not only at the Wildcat but in passing
and all the memories we shared along the way. Now it is time for me to walk on a stage, collect my diploma that I have worked four and a half years for and start my next journey.
BY EMMA LAPOINTE
The Daily Wildcat
While general political focus remains concentrated on the presidential election and the upcoming 4 years, Tucson citizens could be missing out on local and state elections that have a more direct impact on them. Many races took place on Nov. 5 in Pima County, when voters were faced with a four-page ballot full of propositions, Senate candidates and House of Representatives candidates.
In the U.S. Senate race, Democrat Ruben Gallego defeated Republican Kari Lake, a former Arizona gubernatorial candidate.
Republicans won a Senate majority, holding 53 seats while Democrats hold 47, but Republicans will not reach a Senate supermajority.
A supermajority in the Senate is when one party holds a two-thirds majority, or 67 out of 100 senators. When a supermajority takes place, everything that party proposes will likely pass.
The race for the Senate seat in Arizona featured former candidate Lake, a close supporter of President-elect Donald Trump who has repeatedly denied the election results of her race against Katie Hobbs in 2022. Lake refused to concede her 2022 Arizona gubernatorial defeat and in turn was met with an election defamation lawsuit from a local Arizona election official.
Gallego is a former U.S. Representative for Arizona’s third congressional district and a veteran who ran on a strong stance for the right to an abortion and defending democracy.
Gallego is the son of immigrants and ran on plans to secure the border, protect water resources and indigenous communities, keep housing affordable, help veterans and support access to abortion, according to his campaign website.
Arizona also voted on and passed Proposition 139, which enshrines the right to an abortion in the Arizona state constitution. Thus, doctors can provide abortions before the point of fetal viability which is around the 24th week of preg-
nancy. Doctors will also not be punished for aiding in an abortion.
This decision comes about 6 months after the Arizona Supreme Court attempted to instate an 1864 abortion ban, which was fought back against by Gov. Hobbs and the Arizona state legislature. The proposition won with 61.61% of voters voting yes and 38.39% voting no.
Proposition 314 also passed, with 62.59% voting yes and 37.41% voting no. The proposition includes giving state and local police the power to arrest individuals crossing the border illegally outside of ports of entry.
The proposition also allows state judges to order deportations, making it a class 6 felony to submit false papers to an employer and a class 2 felony for anyone who crosses the border and is found to have caused the death of someone through the sale of fentanyl. This decision comes with President-elect
Trump’s hard on immigration plans, which he has said include mass deportations and “closing the border.”
The Associated Press also called the race between House of Representatives candidates Juan Ciscomani and Kirsten Engel on Nov. 13. With Ciscomani’s victory, this race officially pushed the Republicans over the majority for the U.S. House.
Ciscomani has close ties with former Arizona Governor Doug Ducey and ran his campaign on more secure border enforcement. This is the second time that Engel has lost a race to Ciscomani.
The race for Pima County sheriff has officially been called, but close results triggered a recount, voted on by the Pima County Board of Supervisors. Sheriff Chris Nanos and corrections lieutenant Heather Lappin were in a tight race, with Nanos ahead of Lappin by 495 votes or about 0.1%. Pima
County requires a recount when the margin is less than or equal to 0.5%.
Nanos, the current Pima County sheriff, has been put under pressure for placing Lappin on administrative leave days before the election. People have also been calling out Nanos’ corruption in past terms, with Pima County supervisors calling for his censure.
Adelita Grijalva won her race against Tucson Unified School District Board of Supervisors Val Romero in a landslide victory. Running for Board of Supervisors District 5, Grijalva won with 73.7% of the vote, and Romero, who ran as an Independent, lost with 26.3% of the vote.
Incumbent Matt Heinz won his election against John Backer with 61.8% of the vote. Both election winners were part of the Democratic Party and covered most of the Tucson area.
Incumbent Gabriella Cãzares-Kelly also won the election for Pima County Recorder with 59.2% of the vote. She has held office since January 2021. She ran against Republican Dominic CampbellGonzalez.
Ravi Shah, Sadie Shaw and Natalie Luna Rosa will all remain on the TUSD school board. Allison Pratt, Christopher King and Callie Basham Tippett will also remain on the Vail Unified School District Governing Board. At Catalina Foothills School District, Jackson Eileen will remain the President of the school board for another 2-year term. Also at CFSD, the board elected two new members, Jacquelyn Davoli and Tom Logue. In the presidential race, Pima County remained blue, as it has in past years, while at the national and state levels, Arizona has shifted to the right.
All seven swing states turned red in Trump’s favor, but several of these swing states and others voted for Democratic governors, senators and other elected officials. Reasons for this shift are still up for discussion and the motivations behind voters’ decisions will continue to unfold.
Until then, local, state and national governments are preparing for new administrations, ready for the new leadership changes to come in January.
BY GRACIE KAYKO Arizona Sonoran News
During the holiday season, people tend to feel more inclined to give their time and money to those less fortunate than themselves. The agencies that work with members of the community in need say they need that help more than ever this time of year.
It’s “the nature of the holiday season” that motivates people to volunteer, believes Mikay Wright, Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southern Arizona’s volunteer coordinator.
“As we are all reflecting on the gifts or the blessings that we have, I think it tends to be a perspective shift season for a lot of people,” Wright said. Volunteering helps places like the Ronald McDonald House, Casa Maria, Sister José Women’s Center and The Salvation Army operate on a dayto-day basis.
Casa Maria
Casa Maria Soup Kitchen is part of the Tucson Catholic Workers Movement. Their mission is to feed and clothe those in need, whether that be the unhoused or people living in low-income situations.
Brian Flagg has worked and lived at Casa Maria for 41 years.
“The Catholic worker believes in living simple and in community and everyday seeking to practice the works of mercy and the works of justice, so we are always out doing justice work,” said Flagg, who identifies as a Catholic worker.
Casa Maria needs volunteers in the soup kitchen every day from 8:30-11:30 a.m. Casa Maria relies almost entirely on volunteers and donations; the organization doesn’t receive government funding Jobs in the soup kitchen include packing lunches, bagging chips and cookies, serving soup, doing food preparation and cleaning up.
Flagg said it seems like people want to volunteer more during the holidays, but they need help year round.
Casa Maria is located at 352 E. 25th St. The only two days they’re closed are Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Sister José Women’s Center
Sister José Women’s Center is a nonprofit that serves women who are unhoused, experiencing insecure or insufficient housing and severe poverty. Sister José can house up to 60 guests in need of emergency shelter. The organization also serves women through its day program. Any guest who
walks through their doors can receive meals, clothing, do laundry and use their showers.
“We are always looking, we’re always happy to bring new people on board, especially people who are really ready to serve and to be present,” said Rachel Milles, the volunteer outreach coordinator.
A lot of volunteers work in their morning emergency services, helping guests get clothing, do laundry and serve breakfast.
Food preparation volunteers are important at Sister José. These jobs include preparing and serving breakfast, as well as prepping snacks, lunches and dinners.
The most popular volunteer work is their supper club, which serves dinner to the overnight guests at Sister José and is open every night, even on days when the center isn’t open.
While Sister José is a women’s center, they have opportunities for male volunteers. Working in donations, indirect service areas, cooking for supper club and doing donation pick ups are typical jobs for male volunteers. Sister José is also open to non-binary and gender conforming people.
Volunteers usually get to choose what they want to do, but sometimes Sister José will ask for help in specific areas.
Right now, the biggest need for volunteers is throughout December.
Sister José sees a spike in people wanting to volunteer during the holiday season, which is a benefit.
“As the weather turns, that creates a very immediate need,” said Jamie Albrecht, the volunteer engagement coordinator.
The center has already filled its volunteer spots for Thanksgiving and Christmas, but they still need help on other days around the holidays.
“People focus a lot on the holidays, and we do serve meals on those holidays which we’re very proud of, but we also like to sort of call attention to the other days, too,” Albrecht said.
“The days surrounding those holidays are very important to our outside guests to receive services.”
Ronald McDonald House
The Ronald McDonald House of Southern Arizona is a nonprofit organization that houses families who have a sick child in the hospital.
Families can stay at the house free of charge, allowing them to focus on their child’s care. Everything from meals to accommodations is taken care of largely with year-round volunteer help.
One of the most popular volunteer opportunities is “Chef for A Day,” where volunteers buy and prepare meals for all of the families staying at the house. With a large group of volunteers pitching in, the cost of food can be quite inexpensive, Wright said. She’s seen people cook
extravagant meals and not so extravagant ones, including hot dogs and fruit salads.
The Ronald McDonald House event season happens in the fall and early winter of each year, where the nonprofit needs volunteers to help with their events and offer one-time volunteer opportunities.
Coming this December and January, the organization will be looking for long-term volunteers to work at the house and their family rooms at the hospitals. Long-term volunteers will work one shift a week at the same time every week for a minimum of six months.
The family rooms are spaces in hospitals where families who have sick children can go and relax. A family does not have to be staying at the facility to use these rooms.
The responsibilities of volunteering in the family rooms include keeping the rooms tidy and stocked with drinks and snacks.
“But ultimately, the greatest role that the volunteers get to step into in the family rooms is they just get to be a warm presence [...] to families using the room,” Wright said.
Volunteers ask how the families are doing, and sometimes, it’s the only time they are asked during the day, as every other conversation is about the sick child, Wright said.
According to Wright, these rooms are meant to feel like home, and one parent even described it as an oasis.
At the house, volunteer responsibilities can look different each shift. Jobs include loading and unloading the dishwasher, keeping the common rooms clean, tidying up the toy rooms, working at the front desk or helping with administrative work.
Shifts in the house are three hours and four hours in the family rooms.
Wright said the house also needs help in
May, when students leave for the summer.
The Ronald McDonald House has many University of Arizona student volunteers who leave when school ends in May. The Salvation Army Tucson The Salvation Army has multiple programs in Tucson including the Amphi Corps Community Center, the Hospitality House and All Nations. These programs help unhoused and low-income people in need of food, shelter and other services.
The Amphi Corps is a neighborhood center that serves the Amphi/Flowing Wells area and the city of Tucson by offering programs, services and food boxes to economically disadvantaged neighborhoods, according to the website.
According to the Tucson Amphi Corps website, the greatest need right now is volunteer bell-ringers for the Salvation Army’s Red Kettle Campaign. The money raised from the Red Kettle will be used locally to “make a year-round impact in your community through social services assistance, homeless shelters, disaster relief, children’s programs, rehabilitation services, anti-human trafficking, and more,” according to the website.
To volunteer for The Salvation Army, join the opportunities list and wait to hear from a local volunteer coordinator, or contact the Salvation Army volunteer centers: Tucson Amphi Corps, (520) 888-1299; Tucson Hospitality House, (520) 795-9671; Tucson All Nations, (520) 795-4504.
Arizona Sonoran News is a news service of the University of Arizona School of Journalism.
BY RUBY WRAY
Researchers from the University of Arizona and Arizona State University presented the findings of their smart tree watering research the morning of Nov. 13 at the Arizona Experiment Station Campus Agricultural Center.
Funded through an Arizona Board of Regents’ Research Grant, researchers and graduate students studied the effects of tree watering water conservation and the state’s ongoing heat crises.
This year, Tucson experienced 100 consecutive days of 100-degree temperatures, an issue UA and ASU researchers are well aware of. ABOR’s grant program will pair the universities with state agencies.
These efforts toward water conservation and tree health gained national attention and the team’s research was selected for an Honor Award from the American Society of Landscape Architects, the highest level of award in the
field. The research will be presented at the American Geophysical Union conference in Washington, D.C. this December.
Lead researcher Bo Yang told the Daily Wildcat about the goals of their tree watering study.
“This research is funded by the Regents’ Research Grant based on tax dollars, money we are generating for this research to benefit all the people in Arizona,” Yang said. “The idea is to use these research findings to help people in backyards, cities, public spaces, parks and open areas.”
After studying the 80 tree saplings on the property, the team projected that 1,700 gallons of water could be saved per year, per tree through the early stages of tree establishment.
Vanessa Buzzard is a researcher and faculty advisor on the project.
“My research primarily focuses on trees and thinking about tree health,” Buzzard said.
“For this project, we’re looking at slow water practices and different watering techniques to help with tree establishment — so that’s the first year or two of their planting.”
ASU doctoral student Shiqi Wei said,“mainly the field work is done here at UA and back at ASU we do the modeling
work. We set up a land surface model to study the land and atmospheric interaction in this area and to study the climate change, climate, earth surface geology or any human activities that could impact this piece of land.”
UA researchers typically extract data from the field, while ASU researchers use a machine-learning model that replicates field data. The Phoenix model, Wei said, simulates the Phoenix area to determine how tree planting would affect different communities.
Darin Jin, a second-year landscape architecture student in the UA graduate program, became involved in Yang’s research last summer. For Jin, making this information accessible to as many people as possible was a rewarding experience.
“I see a part of our job as being able to distill the complex information into something more simplified and streamlined and have these takeaways so that people can understand it and do it in their way,” Jin said. Yang also touched on the accessibility of their findings for the community.
“In terms of breaking a complex research
question into simple tasks, we’re doing that in terms of irrigation scheduling and data collection,” Yang said. “For every tree, we have a QR code and hold public meetings here [Campus Agricultural Center]. We share all the data and information online.”
“I think what we do very well at this university is and it happens in all of the colleges, is getting the students to do applied work in the community, that’s a contribution to the community,” said Nancy Pollock-Ellwan, dean of the College of Architecture. “It’s very important to say that the American Society of Landscape Architects saw this as a top winner in terms of the research category. I think it’s a reflection of the excellence of our university, our students, our faculty and the kind of work they’re doing together.” Yang said that in the future they are working to design a simple, cost-effective irrigation system that can be easily implemented in community spaces and people’s backyards.
BY RUHI PAINAIK
The Daily Wildcat
Utilizing a cross-national approach, University of Arizona researcher Leslie Farland, ScD is conducting a study on infertility rates and long-term health outcomes in Mexican women through a collaboration with Mexico’s Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública alongside co-investigator Dalia Stern Solodkin, Ph.D.
Farland, an associate professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health at the UA, and her collaborator Stern, a researcher at the INSP, were recently awarded a $2.2 million grant from the National Institute of Health. They used this grant money to investigate the adverse healthcare outcomes in women of Mexican heritage related to infertility.
“We see associations between infertility and certain types of cancer, spe -
Hispanic women actually are more likely to experience infertility, and some of the diagnoses that cause infertility [such as polycystic ovary syndrome, or PCOS] present in a more severe manner in Hispanic women. ”
LESLIE FARLAND, UA RESEARCHER
cifically breast, ovarian and endometrial cancer. We also see an increased risk of heart disease, but all of the research to date has predominantly been done on non-Hispanic white women,” Farland said. “Hispanic women actually are more likely to experience infertility, and some of the diagnoses that cause
infertility [such as polycystic ovary syndrome, or PCOS] present in a more severe manner in Hispanic women.”
Lack of access to infertility care disproportionately affects Hispanic women due to barriers such as geographical and economic factors along with cultural circumstances. Additionally, even when
women of Hispanic origin do receive an infertility consultation, there is still an evident lack of infertility treatment. “When we looked at all of the existing cohort studies in the United States, we realized that there’s no current study that CONTINUED ON PAGE 9
exists that has enough Hispanic women, collected enough detailed information on infertility and has followed participants long enough to see if they will develop cardiovascular disease and cancer,” Farland said. “Infertility and reproductive risk factors [occur] in [our] 20s, 30s and even 40s, but cardiovascular disease and mortality happen for most people in their 50s, 60s and 70s.”
Previous research has shed light onto the economic barriers of accessing infertility treatment as well as certain racial disparities; however, there is not a significant amount of information on lifestyle and cultural factors in relation to infertility care.
“There is very little understanding of whether the risk [of developing adverse healthcare outcomes related to infertility] also happens in different populations such as Hispanic [women],” Stern said. “In the United States, even though Hispanics are the largest minority, there seems to be no data available to study these questions.”
Farland and Stern’s study uses data from the Mexican Teacher’s Cohort, which includes information on medical and lifestyle factors from over 115,000 female teachers across Mexico.
According to Farland, the study began in 2006.
“Those women have been followed
subsequently since to monitor their health status over time,” Farland said. “We’ve asked them detailed questions previously about experiencing infertility and other gynecologic conditions. Now, we’re following them over time to see whether or not they develop outcomes [such as] cancer, cardiovascular disease and also mortality.”
Farland and Stern will be analyzing survey data, linkages to electronic healthcare records, death certificates and the cancer registry of the Mexican Teacher’s Cohort, which involves follow-ups for this information every 3 years.
“One of the novel aspects of is that we are [conducting] the study with this existing cohort, but we’re also hoping to use some novel statistical techniques to think about how we could reweight the population of participants that we have in Mexico to be representative of Hispanic women in the United States,” Farland said.
“This study provides an incredible opportunity to first study [our] question and also utilize advanced methodological techniques to answer the question about infertility and long-term health outcomes,” Stern said.
Through their investigation, Farland and Stern’s research can provide the first pieces of evidence regarding the relationship between infertility and these health outcomes in order to improve the health of Hispanic women in clinical care within the United States and beyond.
BY DYLANN SWEENEY
The Daily Wildcat
Christmas season is fast approaching and with it comes the opportunity to go all out on festive decorations, listen to holiday classics by Mariah Carey and Michael Bublé and indulge in a sweet treat or two, it’s the holidays after all. Not to be forgotten from a must-do list this holiday season is treating yourself to a comforting cup of hot chocolate, one of the best parts about the colder months.
Whether you need a pick-me-up after a long study session for upcoming finals or want a drink to try with friends before you go your separate ways for winter break, there are plenty of places just off the University of Arizona campus to get hot chocolate. However, the best spots can sometimes be trickier to find, so keep reading for the ultimate guide. After all, what is the holiday season without a treat?
Woops! Bakeshop
Located at 845 E. University Blvd. in Main Gate Square, this cheerful, French inspired bakery invites you to taste their indulgent hot chocolate. Either consumed by itself or paired with one of their many flavors of macarons, the bakeshop’s hot chocolate is comparable to a melted Hershey’s bar, with the rich flavor complimented by a layer of creamy milk froth on top.
The bakeshop is known for its hot chocolate because of the extra effort they put in to create a memorable drink.
“We use Belgian chocolate chips and melt them into the hot chocolate,” said Ava Girton, a barista at Woops! Bakeshop.
Girton is a UA student and recommends the bakeshop as a place for students to come visit. Woops! offers a happy, comfortable environment to study in, an array of charming desserts and an unforgettable hot chocolate that will without a doubt bring students back for more. Snakes & Lattes
You could spend hours in this board
game bar and restaurant and equally as much time enjoying their special hot chocolate. Just a short walk from Old Main, Snakes & Lattes at 988 E. University Blvd. has over 600 board games lining the walls and is the perfect place to play a few rounds of Candy Land or Monopoly and chat up a storm while enjoying a hot drink on a cold day.
Snakes & Lattes barista Beck Neighbors knows that the restaurant values the quality of their food and drinks, especially when it comes to a beverage like hot chocolate.
“Our hot chocolate is just super creamy and we use a good quality chocolate syrup, so it makes the whole drink,” Neighbors said.
The friendly staff at Snakes & Lattes are more than happy to make their hot chocolate for you, best enjoyed in the restaurant’s family-friendly atmosphere that has a comforting feel as soon as you walk in.
“We bring in some pretty great people,” Neighbors said.
The hot chocolate itself is topped with whipped cream and served with straws to share if you bring friends, family or even a date along to try it with you.
Caffe Luce
Looking for somewhere quiet to sip on a frothy hot chocolate while you take a quiz or finish up those last few essay paragraphs?
Caffe Luce provides the perfect peaceful atmosphere for students to study, paired with delicious hot chocolate made by friendly baristas that go the extra mile by adding a unique latte art touch to their milk foam.
Kieran Douglas, a Caffe Luce barista, knows the cafe’s hot chocolate is the ideal drink for the holidays.
“It’s a classic drink, it makes people happy so it’s a solid choice for this time of year,” Douglas said.
Caffe Luce’s hot chocolate is sweet with a smooth and creamy texture that melts in your mouth and with locations in both Main Gate Square at 943 E. University Blvd. and Downtown Tucson, the cafe is easily accessible to students who want a hot drink regardless if they are on or off campus.
According to Douglas, the cafe is not only
a place to get a great cup of hot cocoa or a coffee but also a place that stands out for students and Tucson locals alike.
“I love all the interesting people that I get to meet, lots of characters and people who do really cool stuff for work or school,” Douglas said. “[Caffe Luce is] conveniently located, great hot chocolate [and] awesome baristas.”
One experience in this coffee shop and brewery will leave you wishing you could stay longer and their hot chocolate adds to this. Velvety and rich, the drink tastes like authentic chocolate without any overpowering artificial flavors. Screwbean Brewing is dedicated to producing a hot chocolate that will please customers and barista Kayla Polk knows her manager puts a lot of effort
into this.
“Our chocolate is really good, our syrup is really good,” Polk said. “We get a specific kind and my manager, she’s crazy when it comes to our recipe, so she went through every single hot chocolate sauce she could go through and this was her favorite one.”
Screwbean is located at 103 N. Park Ave. and is a short walk from campus. The coffee shop has both indoor and outdoor seating, providing great study space as well as a restaurant feel that adds to its charming atmosphere. Students enjoying a cup of hot chocolate here can expect an ideal setting for catching up on homework or talking with friends, plus a view of Screwbean’s outdoor string lights that add to the holiday feel.
BY SIERRA BLASER
Arizona Sonoran News
Finding sustainable funding as an artist in Tucson is a challenge, according to local artist Alex Jimenez.
Jimenez, a lifelong Tucsonan, sees the city’s art scene as a relaxed and supportive community compared to competitive places like Los Angeles and New York, where artists often feel more isolated.
“I find people are very supportive, even if you’re in competing markets with the same style,” Jimenez said. “What I see as the main reason why a lot of people aren’t able to fully sustain an art practice is because you need stable income, and it’s really hard to do that as an artist.”
A new city project is looking to change that.
The Somos Uno initiative was started last year by the City of Tucson to help protect and preserve local arts and culture, according to the project website.
The website says it “aims to lay the foundation for future history, heritage, arts, and culture endeavors, fostering creative engagement programs.”
A strategic plan is expected to be released in early 2025.
“There is no stable funding source for arts,” Jimenez said. “I believe it’s always up for negotiation, and it’s been hard to convince lawmakers that it’s essential.”
It is an understatement to say that Tucson is a city with an abundance of visual art.
With dozens of galleries around the city, over 200 art-related organizations and murals spread across the Old Pueblo, Tucson has an incredibly rich history with art, according to former Tucson Museum of Art curator Julie Sasse. Tucson has built this momentum for centuries.
“It’s almost sacrilegious to think about saying this is when the artists came, because the Indigenous people were making art way before white peo-
ple showed up,” Sasse said. “But where it starts to become recorded as art, it really was the late 1800s and the early 1900s.”
Sasse said the development of the railroad brought in artists from the Atlantic coast, first to paint murals at the train stops and eventually to make a name for themselves somewhere new.
“You know, we keep thinking nothing started till the 1960s here, and that’s not true. The Women’s Club came in 1900, and that was a group that was all over the country. They were also in Phoenix, and they were the ones who started both the Phoenix Art Museum in its early stages and also the Tucson Museum of Art,” Sasse said.
Many of these artists from the 1920s and 1930s planted the seeds for what would become some of Tucson’s finest art institutions, from the Tucson Fine Arts Association — now the Tucson Art Center — to different University of Arizona art departments, Sasse said.
“We’ve got such an inferiority complex, but we were doing some pretty good stuff back then compared to other cities of our size,” Sasse said.
Since the early-to-mid 1900s, the city’s art scene has continued to evolve with the creation of the Center for Creative Photography, the UA Fine Arts Program, the Tucson Museum of Contemporary Art and dozens of other organizations.
“I think the biggest thing is, we didn’t have a good PR person like they did in Santa Fe. There’s myriads of books about Santa Fe and Albuquerque and New Mexico artists, but Arizona? Not so much,” Sasse said.
With the creation of these institutions and the increase of visual arts seen across the city, Tucson has developed a pronounced reputation in the creative world, yet it can’t quite be compared to any other city, said Visit Tucson President and CEO Felipe Garcia.
“I think that we have been able to
recently develop our own proper image identity, and that has been kind of different and unique. With how we compare to others though, it’s challenging, because there’s many factors when we look at the economic side,” Garcia said.
According to Garcia, It’s hard to compare Tucson’s art, heritage and culture budget with other cities’ because some invest in things that Tucson doesn’t.
“I remember we were comparing Tucson against another city in the U.S. based on the line item allocated on the arts, heritage and culture, and this community I remember was like investing 10 times more than Tucson,” Garcia said. “But then when we started digging into this other community; what was included in those investments were their local suit, their convention center, things that we don’t include in our arts, culture and heritage [analysis].”
The Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona and the Arizona Commission on the Arts are two of the main organizations local artists and art institutions can go to seek funding, according to Jimenez. She said that in recent years, the two organizations have enhanced their application process to make it more accessible and less intimidating, especially for first time applicants.
“Everyone is trying to make their applications more accessible to, you know, like bilingual people, so we get more diversity of people funded, but also people who aren’t good at writing. They’re doing more video applications too,” Jimenez said. “So that’s been a change I’ve seen over the past 5 to 10 years.”
The application process is fairly straightforward, said Gabriela Muñoz, director of grants and programs at the Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona. She said the Arts Foundation tries to make the expectations of applicants as transparent as possible online, laying out the instructions as well as the criteria applicants
will be assessed on.
“We invest a lot of hours in connecting with artists, answering questions, supporting them, because we are invested in funding them through the Arts Foundation,” Muñoz said. “But above and beyond that, we’re really interested in augmenting their capacity to receive funding, not just from us, but from other funders.”
The Arts Foundation distributed $3.2 million to “672 artists and arts organizations via 16 diverse grant programs” within the last four years, according to the website.
According to the Somos Uno State of Culture Executive Summary, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Chicago, Illinois and San Antonio, Texas are the most comparable cities in the country to Tucson when it comes to arts and culture, but they all have differences in arts funding. San Antonio and Chicago utilize a transient occupancy or hotel-motel tax to fund arts and culture. However, unlike Tucson, a much larger percentage is earmarked. Albuquerque has an unusually large budget of over $50 million because it directly manages and staffs several major cultural facilities as well as a system of 19 libraries for the county.
The same study shows that Tucson’s core arts and cultural industries annually contribute $4.1 billion to the city’s economy with 52,184 jobs. That money doesn’t always seem to be returned to its contributors, but Jimenez hopes the Somos Uno project will alter that.
“I’m really interested in what the city can do on their end to address certain things like use of space. The city has lots of property and a lot of rec centers that have rooms and lots of art equipment, actually,” Jimenez said. “The city gives incentives to developers all the time, because they see development as being an economic gain for Tucson, but artists are also an economic gain because of what we contribute to our local economy and how we attract people.”
There are currently two projects in the works to help generate better
funding for the arts: the Somos Uno initiative and a ballot tax initiative that will be available to vote on early next year.
“Funding, of course, is always crucial, but some ways to get support for either artist space or rental space for events: The city and others can help subsidize or offset,” Garcia said.
Proposition 414, the Safe and Vibrant City, is based on an estimated $80 million annual tax revenue projection for the next 10 years. The proposed ballot measure invests in five vital areas, according to the community investment plan.
These include:
• Affordable housing and shelter (17.50%)
• Neighborhood and community resilience (16.75%)
• Enhanced emergency response (22.75%)
• Technology investments (12.25%)
• Capital investment for first responders (30.75%)
Part of the Neighborhood and Commu-
nity Resilience section offers $1 million per year to Somos Uno investments. The tax initiative will be up for vote in March of 2025, but Somos Uno will continue with or without the additional funding.
“This project was really living inside the mayor’s brain and was something that she had been thinking about since she was a council member at Ward 1, and she was a council member there for 12 years,” said Genesis Cubillas, Tucson Mayor Regina Romero’s policy advisor. “So once she became mayor in 2019, this was one of her priorities on making sure that we would strategize around our heritage, history, culture and arts.”
Tucson’s culinary scene has already put the city on a global map as the first United States UNESCO City of Gastronomy. Once the final plan is out, Romero will attempt to add arts and culture as a tourist draw as well, according to Cubillas.
“The overall purpose of this plan is to really give the City of Tucson a roadmap on how we take care of our cultural
assets, how we continue to be mindful of our history, and also how to put the City of Tucson on the map when it comes to the cultures and arts,” Cubillas said. “It’ll give us sort of a pathway on how we continue to fund the arts and expand, which is something that has been very important to a lot of community partners, organizations and individuals.”
When it comes to the visual arts, Cubillas said this project will allow better access to funding for artists and businesses.
“I think it’ll just give us more opportunity to not just dream of doing these things, but also give us an opportunity to do them,” Cubillas said.
The final Somos Uno plan will be available later this year or early 2025. Visit somosuno.tucsonaz.gov for more information.
Arizona Sonoran News is a news service of the University of Arizona School of Journalism.
BY AIDEN WILLIAMS
The Daily Wildcat
Whether you are passionate about dancing, photography, writing or film production, the University of Arizona offers a variety of artistic clubs for everyone to explore. Here are five artistic opportunities available to all students on campus.
Production of Art, Music, Film, Acting and Dance
One of the newest art clubs on campus, Production of Art, Music, Film, Acting and Dance, has been attempting to unite the university’s diverse fine arts communities together for some time now.
PAMFAD offers members the opportunity to try their hand at numerous fine arts disciplines. Filmmakers can learn to paint, musicians can try their hand at improv and dancers can even learn to write a screenplay.
The club offers members the opportunity to participate in group projects focused on giving back to the community. For example, members have created advertisements for local restaurants, dressed up as Disney princesses for children’s clinics and painted a mural on the side of a no-kill cat shelter.
“I like to think of it as more like a jack-of-all-trades club,” said Simran Grover, president of PAMFAD. “It’s just about finding the balance of having one core thing in common, which is the love for creativity and the need to express yourself.”
PAMFAD hosts a variety of events, including creative photography field trips, karaoke nights and portfolio and resume building events. The club also invites guest speakers from the film and music industries to share their experiences with members.
“If you want to find a Fine Arts Club, so not just a club focused on film or a specific aspect, but one focusing on the mission of Fine Arts in
general, then you should join PAMFAD,” said Ruben Reynoso, vice president of PAMFAD. “[It’s] a great way to connect with people of different majors, different backgrounds, different art disciplines and learn together and build a community.”
Meetings are held bi-weekly on Thursdays at 5 p.m. in Room 404 in the Harvill Building. There is an annual fee of $20, collected midway through the semester, which goes towards funding events. Students interested in joining PAMFAD can sign up through their website.
Persona Creative
Founded in 1978, Persona Creative is an undergraduate-run organization focused on the arts and literature.
Persona’s main output is an annual magazine, published at the end of the spring semester. Club members curate submissions from the student body, reviewing and providing feedback before using a rating system to decide if the piece is fit for publication. The rating system ensures that all member’s opinions are considered equally.
“Our criteria is not based so much on subject matter as it is on how that subject matter is handled. We like to see innovation,” said Rysi Koos, editor-in-chief of Persona Creative. “We like to see some original thought in there, some willingness to maybe push the boundaries of what has been done before.”
Formerly known as Persona Literary Magazine, the name was changed to emphasize that it is not exclusively a writing club. Persona accepts submissions from all artistic disciplines, including digital art, photography, sculpture, music and videos.
The university’s financial crisis has restricted Persona to a digital-only magazine this year, but leadership is hopeful that they can return to a physical publication again in 2025.
Beyond their magazine, Persona is expanding to events such as open mic nights, where anyone from musicians, poets and singers can showcase their craft. The club also offers two-unit intern-
ships for English degrees.
“We’re all united by a common interest, which is the creative, the literary and the artistic. It’s very nice to have that smaller community on campus,” said Abigail Ortiz-Velez, an intern at Persona Creative.
Persona Creative meets every Thursday at 5 p.m. in Room 310 in the Education Building. Artists interested in submitting work for the 2024-2025 magazine should visit the Persona Creative website.
Photography Club
Photographers of all skill levels are welcome to join the university’s photography club.
Membership is open to anyone interested in photography, regardless of experience or equipment. Whether you own a
high-end DSLR or a smartphone, the club welcomes all. The university also provides camera rentals to all enrolled students.
Members often participate in photo walks, where they will explore campus to photograph interesting sights. The club also organizes photography field trips to local spots such as Biosphere 2 and the Pima County Air and Space Museum.
In recent years, the club has been collecting members’ work into an annual photobook. This year’s edition featured work from over a dozen student photographers.
FROM PAGE 15
“I would say they should join the photography club if they want to learn more about photography and develop their skills, as well as have a community of supportive people who are all interested in photography,” said Maddux Muench, president of the Photography Club. “It’s a great way to kind of explore Tucson and the university.”
The Photography Club meets every Monday at 5 p.m. near the Old Main Fountain. Students interested in joining can contact the club through their Instagram.
University Filmmakers Organization
The University Filmmakers Organiza-
tion is a club dedicated to film production.
UFO provides students with hands-on experience through short film projects. The club produces around 13 to 14 mini-shorts each semester. These productions allow UFO members to try their hand at every position on a production from directing to cinematography to acting. UFO president Phoenix Lawson estimates that he has worked on 40 student film projects during his time with the organization.
“UFO, in my experience, has been the best place to go to make short form projects and to meet people who end up becoming not only some of your closest friends, but also your greatest collaborators,” Lawson said.
“I’ve met some of the best cinematographers, I’ve met some of the best directors, writers
and producers through UFO.”
Productions are not restricted by genre or premise. UFO has produced shorts ranging from the sci-fi drama “You’re A Reel One” to the action-comedy music video “Spoonman.” For one project, members split into four groups, each of which recreated the climatic duel between Obi-Wan and Anakin in “Revenge of the Sith.”
In addition to film production, UFO has expanded its activities to hosting film screenings. So far, they have screened films such as “Memento” and “The Triangle of Sadness” and are now allowing members to select future screenings.
“If you’re interested in storytelling, you’re interested in films, you’re interested in writing or editing, even art in general, I’d say
UFO is a great club to join,” said Oliver Orkand, vice president of UFO. “We’ve cultivated a very positive community that is very willing to help each other out.” UFO membership has expanded so much that they had to leave their previous meeting room in the Marshall Building. They now meet every Friday at 3 p.m. in Room 318 of the Harvill Building. There is a $15 membership fee which helps to fund production. Students interested in joining can sign up through the club’s Google Form.
The waltz, tango, foxtrot, mambo, bolero and East Coast swing are just a few of the dance styles taught at Wildcat Dancesport, the university’s ballroom dancing club.
Members are not required to know anything about the superabundance of ballroom dancing styles before signing up. Over the course of a year, Dancesport teaches ballroom dancing from the ground up.
“I joined here accidentally,” Dancesport member Subhadip Sahoo said. “Before that I never had any dancing experience, and also I didn’t like dancing, but when I joined here it changed my perspective.”
Dancesport participates in various competitions and festivals across the southwest, traveling from Phoenix to Las Vegas to San Francisco. At events such as ASU’s Solar Flare, members have the chance to meet dancers from other universities.
“It’s a lot of sparkles, it’s a lot of special dresses, hair, bow ties and fringe,” said Athena Simmons, assistant coach of Wildcat Dancesport. “We get to travel, compete, meet other universities, get to meet friends from other places and we’re all bonding over this dance that we all love to do.”
Membership of Dancesport is open to non-students as well. Simmons, who graduated from the University of Arizona in 2015 with a degree in psychology, has been a member of Dancesport for the last 14 years.
Dancesport meets Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays in Room A of the South Rec Center. The group has a $40 membership fee which helps cover the cost of a professional instructor. Students interested in joining can sign up through the club’s Google Form.
BY HENRY KAPLOWITZ
The Daily Wildcat
The spring semester will see three major Arizona teams start their season. With lots of new faces on each team, newcomers to each team are important to keep the programs turning. Arizona will welcome many new players in the spring and there are some key players for fans to watch for.
Baseball:
Left-handed pitcher Mason Russell was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the 20th round of this year’s MLB draft. He, however, chose to come to Arizona
Top 500 Fresh Arrivals on Campus rankings in September.
Outfielder Aaron Walton transferred to Arizona in June after spending two seasons with Samford University. Walton hit .286 with 9 home runs, 36 RBI and 15 stolen bases in his final season at Samford.
Over the summer, Walton played in the New England Collegiate Baseball League and was named an honorable mention on its postseason team after batting .311. Walton played on this team with current Arizona players Owen Kramkowski, Bryce McKnight and Zach Plasschaert.
Softball:
Pitcher Ryan Maddox redshirted this
instead of the Reds. The 6-foot-2 pitcher is only 18 and is from Casteel, Arizona where he led Casteel High School to a state title in 2023.
During that state title run, Russell threw a no-hitter in the semifinal game. Russell finished his high school career with a 13-6 record and a 2.52 earned run average while tossing north of 150 innings during his 4 years. The southpaw was ranked No. 16 in the Perfect Game
year after surgery on her right foot. Coming out of high school, Maddox was the sixth recruit nationally by Extra Inning Softball and the 2023 California Gatorade Player of the Year. In her 4 year high school career in Fresno, California, Maddox posted a 62-5 record with a 0.66 ERA and 772 strikeouts.
Infielder Kate Vance is from Chandler, Arizona and was named to the All-Arizona team twice during her high school career.
Vance, a freshman, was the No. 6 recruit and No. 3 infielder nationally by Extra Inning Softball’s ranking. Across her 4 years of high school, Vance batted .432 with 47 home runs and 125 RBI.
Kate Vance’s father, Cory Vance, played in the MLB for the Colorado Rockies and Texas Rangers.
Gymnastics:
Jessa Janicke is from St. Louis Park, Minnesota where she was the 2021 Minnesota state champion on floor and the 2023 Minnesota state champion on vault. Janicke, a freshman, was the No. 44 recruit by College Gym News after being a three-time national qualifier.
Entering this season, the University of Arizona football team had been extremely hyped to achieve success after a 10-3 2023 season and a bowl win against the University of Oklahoma in the Valero Alamo Bowl.
The offseason shook the Wildcats’ program entirely with the exodus of head coach Jedd Fisch, defensive coordinator Johnny Nansen, offensive coordinator Brennan Carroll and several key players on the previous year’s roster. While the Wildcats suffered several key losses, the main core of Noah Fifita, Jacob Manu and Tetairoa McMillan still kept hopes high as Arizona entered a new era for the program.
Despite these changes, the Wildcats were eager to get the season started. In the preseason Big 12 rankings, Arizona had landed fifth in the Big 12 predictions and Sports Illustrated saw the team having a nine-win season with a possibility of, at worst, going 6-6.
However, Arizona failed to meet their lofty expectations and finished the season 4-8. The Wildcats had several high points early on, with a win over the University of New Mexico and an upset victory over the University of Utah. That’s where the high points would end though, as Arizona started a five game losing streak after the Wildcats defeated the Utes.
Arizona also ended their season being blown out by in-state rival ASU 49-7. Arizona had won the Territorial Cup 2 years straight but relinquished it after the loss. This was the lowest scoring outing by the Wildcats since the 70-7 blowout by the Sun Devils in 2020.
Despite struggles throughout the season, there were many high and low
points for the Wildcats on both sides of the ball.
Starting with the passing game, Fifita began his season with a bang with a massive 422 yard and 4 touchdown game against New Mexico. However, this would be his best game of the season.
Fifita posted eight games with over 200 passing yards, which was less from the 2023 season in which he threw over 200 in his nine games as starter.
Fifita also recorded 12 interceptions on the year, seven more than the five he
threw last season. The offensive line also allowed Fifita to be sacked a total of 26 times this year, compared to 14 the year prior. Despite a rougher time passing the ball, Fifita became more mobile, averaging more than double the amount of carries he had in 2023 with 66 in 2024 and 31 in 2023.
McMillan was one of the core pieces remaining on the shaken Wildcats roster, and certainly one of the bright spots headed into the season. McMillan had five games this season recording 100 plus receiving yards.
McMillan’s best game of the season also came against New Mexico, where he had 304 receiving yards and 4 touchdown receptions. This game broke the record for single game total receiving yards in program history. McMillan also surpassed Bobby Wade later in the season against TCU for the most receiving yards in Arizona history, finishing with a total of 3,423 yards to Wade’s 3,351.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 19
Arizona suffered a loss in their running back core over the previous offseason, losing Jonah Coleman to Fisch’s move to the University of Washington. Arizona would find their replacement in Quali Conley, who received most of the team’s rushing touches. Conley was a transfer that followed Brennan from San Jose State. Conley had a 1,000 plus yard season for the Spartans in 2022.
Conley had both stellar games and games he would like to forget this season. Going from a 112 yard game against NAU to a -2 yard game against the University of Cental Florida, Conley ended the season with 745 yards and 8 touchdowns.
Defensive:
The defensive side of the ball also saw some holes after the offseason
shifts, especially in losing cornerback Ephesians Prysock to Washington. However, a core group stayed in defensive backs Tacario Davis, Dalton Johnson, Genesis Smith and linebacker Manu.
The Wildcats also found some studs in defensive back Jack Luttrell, linebacker Taye Brown and transfer defensive lineman Tre Smith. Despite a core group of players returning from a stellar defense the year prior, Arizona’s defense would have five games over the season where opponents scored 5 or more touchdowns. The Wildcats also had four games in which opponents scored over 40 points.
Despite this, the real standout on defense was the rise of Luttrell and Smith to cemented roles on defense. Both Luttrell and Smith grabbed three interceptions this year. Smith would also have six pass break ups in the season.
Another standout was Colgate Uni-
versity transfer Owen Goss. Goss had two fumble recoveries and three forced fumbles. He also recorded 52 total tackles on the year. Smith would also lead the team in sacks with 4.5. These new faces certainly made some games exciting and brought some of the key moments that occurred throughout the season.
Special teams:
Tyler Loop has been the consistent kicker for the Wildcats, and this season proved no different. Loop, however, would miss his first extra point of his collegiate career against West Virginia University and another against the University of Central Florida. Despite these errors, Loop would set a program record for longest field goal at 62 yards against the University of Houston.
Loop also made 6-8 field goals from 50 plus yards out, the most of his career. Despite the small errors made in the
extra points, Loop continued to show his consistency and strong leg for the Wildcats.
Looking ahead:
Arizona football has an unsteady future ahead of them with several possible draft picks potentially departing the program, the highest being McMillan. McMillan is a projected top-10 pick in the upcoming NFL draft. It will be interesting to see an Arizona offense without the McMillan-Fifita duo on offense.
Coaching wise, Brennan has an interesting offseason that may see shake ups throughout the program’s assistant coaches. With the struggle the offense has seen this year, there is certainly a possibility Brennan will look away from Dino Babers. This was already seen when play calling was shifted to pass game coordinator and tight ends coach Matt Adkins.
Recruiting will be another interesting field; after a season with lofty hopes, will Arizona capitalize on recruits and transfers to hopefully build back a team that will suffer some possible offseason losses? It will be interesting to see how Brennan and his staff are able to turn this team around and hopefully back into the possibility of reaching a bowl game next season.
BY GABRIEL PAZ
Three graduating classes were never able to see Arizona win a national championship in any sport. The women’s triathlon team changed that when they were crowned national champions in early November.
The College Triathlon Coaches Association’s preseason polls had the Wildcats at No. 2, right behind ASU. The Wildcats knew they could compete in the championship race, yet there was no consensus among the team on what exactly they could do.
Head coach Wes Johnson was inspired by a quote from Olympic gold medalist Noah Lyles that read, “Why not you?”
Johnson gave it to the team and they turned it into “Why not us?” The team then ran, biked and swam with this quote in mind for the entire season.
The Wildcats’ first event was held Aug. 31 at the Southern Hills Collegiate Cup in Hot Springs, San Diego. This competition was a slow start to Arizona’s otherwise great season as the Wildcats placed fifth. However, All-American Kelly Wetteland finished first at the competition.
Some members of the team were unavailable for the Southern Hills Collegiate Cup, competing in a cross country event in New Mexico on the same day, including All-American Molly Lakustiak.
Many of the triathletes are members of the cross country team as well and competed in events for both programs throughout the season. The Southern Hills Collegiate Cup was the only event affected by conflicting schedules.
Next in the Wildcats’ schedule came the Red-Blue Intrasquad meet, which took place at the University of Arizona on Sept. 14. This event divided the team between one USA team and one
not us?’
international team, in a style similar to the men’s basketball Red and Blue showcase. The teams competed to show off their skill for the school and for fun.
According to Wetteland and Margareta Vrablova, the team felt more confident with everyone racing and had no doubt they could improve from their first event.
The Wildcats headed to Fort Worth, Texas for Battle in the Fort on Sept. 29.
The team took first place, beating ASU along with having their first victory over five top-20 CTCA ranked teams.
After the race, the Wildcats were ranked No. 1 by the CTCA for the first time since the program’s inception.
This status would be challenged in Springfield, Mississippi at the NCAA West National Qualifier on Oct. 12. All the team needed to do was finish top 3 as a team and they would be guaranteed a spot in the National Championship.
Arizona tied with No. 2 ASU in points. ASU was declared the winner because they had a faster sixth place racer. Regardless, Arizona punched its ticket to the National Championship.
Arizona’s final stop was the US Triathlon National Championship in Clermont, Florida on Nov. 9.
An all-out effort was made by the entire team to stay in the front of the crowd.
Vrablova said her teammate Dana Prikrylová supported her in the bicycle portion and was partially responsible in getting her ahead in that part of the race.
Wetteland said she couldn’t help but look back to see if everyone was following behind her even if it meant she slowed down for a second.
In the end, the Wildcats held strong with Wetteland and Vrablova placing at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, while four other Wildcats finished in the top 25.
The team totaled 22 points more than second place ASU to win the National Championship.
Wetteland, Vrablova and Lakustiak were named All-Americans. Vrablova also snagged the CTCA Freshman of the Year award.
A couple of important factors to the season’s outcome were the dynamic teamwork strategies along with minor setbacks from injuries affecting events. The team agreed that Johnson’s vision for them was a bright source of energy. According to Johnson, the team’s ability to rely on themselves rather than him showed leadership from the racers. An example of this teamwork was the wearing of wildcat symbols below their right eye as a sign of uniformed pride. The triathletes took charge of the culture which was unique from a coach’s perspective.
BY GABRIEL PAZ
Although temperatures decided to drop a little later than expected this year, there is one place in Tucson that has been ice cold on the hottest days since 1978.
Arizona hockey, formerly known as the IceCats, has existed for the last 46 years, yet it never seems to find itself in conversation among the masses of students. Regardless, the team has built a large legacy considering it is an off-campus event.
Arizona hockey plays in the West Collegiate Hockey League, similar to other Arizona teams playing in the Big 12. The overall league is the American Collegiate Hockey Association; this association hosts the National Hockey Championship. The
difference between Arizona hockey and other Arizona sports is that hockey is in a lower league of play and not a sanctioned team under the NCAA, meaning that Arizona plays at a lower level than the biggest collegiate teams.
Arizona sports have many fun and creative traditions, including a dance done to Darude’s “Sandstorm.” To any Arizona fan, this would seem like a staple to do during a game.
While the Sandstorm dance has been a staple at most Arizona sporting events, it has also integrated itself into Arizona hockey games. Head coach Chad Berman and super fan Joe Paglia both said the dance became routine amongst the fans as if the chant simply manifested based on the energy brought by fans.
The most brassy of the chants used by the crowd is after an Arizona goal; the crowd
chants “Goalie you suck!” several times. A common chant used in hockey involves the crowd yelling the last name of the opposing team’s goalie whenever a goal is scored to shake the spirits of competitors.
Although this chant is popular, Berman said he dislikes it because it lacks the sportsmanship that he strives for in the program.
Paglia, however, said the chant is only fun and simple banter from the crowd to the opposing team.
The Arizona hockey legacy is on full display in the banners highlighting previous conference championships and retired numbers that hang in Tucson Arena. The two West Collegiate Hockey League banners represent the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 seasons in which Arizona took home the Champions Cup.
The two retired jerseys belong to #16 Kelly Walker and #21 Jeremy Goltz and serve as
commemorations of their achievements. Walker holds the record for most points of any UA player with 114 total. Goltz was a former player who returned as an assistant coach in 1995 and stayed with the UA for 10 years.
It wouldn’t be a UA sport without a burning desire to beat “the school up north.” Both Arizona and ASU have a rivalry series called The Cactus Cup. The teams play in a series of seven games throughout the season, and the winner is determined by who can win four of the seven games and take home the Cactus Cup. Arizona has a win streak of 7 years and is up 2-1 in the current series.
Beyond the rink, Arizona hockey has a history of being a generous program.
The most notable among all of the program’s achievements is their consistent earning of the ACHA’s Division 1 Community Service Award. The Wildcats continuously receive the award for their hard work in helping the Tucson community.
In the 2023-2024 season the team was highlighted for raising $2,000 for the Marana School District, $6,000 on their Pink in the Rink night for Arizona Cancer Centers and $1,000 for a local youth hockey program’s expenses.
Arizona hockey also allows free entry for service members on military night and will pack two SUVs with stuffed animals from their Teddy Bear Toss for Aviva Children Services.
BY VALERIA NALANI The Daily Wildcat
La Encantada Enchanted Snowfall
There’s something extra magical about the holidays at La Encantada Shopping Center. Picture this: you’re holding a warm cup of complimentary hot chocolate from Blanco, the air is crisp and twinkling lights set the perfect holiday mood. Visit La Encantada to enjoy this sweet treat and soak up the festive vibes. But that’s not all, Santa himself is coming to La Encantada! Whether you want to snap a picture, share your holiday wishes or just enjoy the nostalgia of seeing the big man in red, this is a perfect family outing or cute date idea. For details and more events at La Encantada, visit the center’s official site.
Enchanted Snowfall runs from 6-7:30 p.m. on the following dates: Friday, Nov. 29-Saturday, Nov. 30 Thursday, Dec. 5-Saturday, Dec. 7 Thursday, Dec. 12-Saturday, Dec. 14 Thursday, Dec. 19-Sunday, Dec. 22 Downtown Parade of Lights
Get ready for Tucson’s Downtown Parade of Lights, happening on Saturday, Dec. 14. This community favorite brings everyone together for a night of twinkling floats, music and holiday cheer. The streets of downtown Tucson transform into a festive wonderland, making it a can’t-miss event. All ages are encouraged to attend, whether you’re bringing kids to marvel at the lights or meeting friends to kick off the season with some sparkle. It’s recommended to arrive early to snag a good viewing spot, and don’t forget to bring a blanket or chairs for extra comfort. Learn more about this free holiday event at the official Parade of Lights website.
Tucson Holiday Ice
Yes, you can ice skate in the desert. Head to Tucson Holiday Ice outside the Tucson Convention Center for a
TUCSON
festive experience. The rink is open for 90-minute sessions, giving you plenty of time to show off your moves or hold onto the railings while giggling with friends.
Skating under Tucson’s cool winter sky is an unforgettable way to celebrate the season. Make sure to grab your tickets in advance, as sessions can fill up quickly during the holidays. For pricing and hours, visit Tucson Holiday Ice’s website.
The ice rink will run from Nov. 24January 5, 2025.
Boys Chorus Christmas Tree Sale at The Monica
Looking for the perfect Christmas tree?
The Boys Chorus Christmas Tree Sale at
The Monica is more than just a tree lot, it’s a holiday tradition. Every tree purchased supports the talented singers of the Tucson Boys Chorus. How’s that for holiday spirit?
The Monica’s cozy atmosphere makes the tree-buying experience feel even more special. Stop by, grab a drink or a bite and leave with a tree that will fill your home with festive cheer. You’ll be giving back to the community while making your space extra magical.
The event runs from noon to 6 p.m. on Dec. 4.
ZooLights: Holiday Magic at Reid Park Zoo
Step into a holiday wonderland at
ZooLights: Holiday Magic at Reid Park Zoo. This Tucson tradition brings together stunning light displays, cheerful music and delicious holiday treats for an unforgettable evening. It’s the perfect way to add a little extra sparkle to your season.
Stroll through the zoo as it transforms into a nighttime spectacle, with animalshaped light displays and fun surprises around every corner. Whether you’re taking kids, a date or just enjoying the magic solo, ZooLights is a feel-good event that will leave you glowing. The event runs from Dec. 5 - January 5, 2025.
