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From the Editors: Thank you for reading our content. It was a fun and busy 10 days. Good luck to everybody and see you next summer. Photograph by John de Dios/DJNF Diversity Workshop director
 
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By Samantha Neville
Personal
En Español

A Franc Contreras,  el corresponsal independiente de Al Jazeera English, nunca le gustaba leer ni escribir cuando estaba en el escuela secundaria.

Contreras, que se crió en Tucson, Ariz., encontró tranquilidad tocando el bajo eléctrico y viendo películas. Después de graduarse de la escuela secundaria, se fue a la Universidad de Arizona donde empezó a interesarse en la radio.

“A medida que me educaba más y más a nivel universitario, fue conocí una cosa que se llamabaRadio National Pública,” Contreras dijo. “Empecé a escucharlo y eso cambió mi manera de pensar sobre la narración de historias. Me interesé mucho en escuchar historias humanas narradas con una voz humana.”

Después de reprobar la universidad, Contreras se mudó a Iowa y se inscribió en la Universidad de St. Ambrose para seguir una carrera relacionada con la radio. El primer trabajo que consiguió fue el de un DJ de jazz en KALA-FM. Entonces se dio cuenta de que la radio podía ser una profesión para él.

“No tenía nada que ver con periodismo. Después de un rato, empecé a pensar ‘Sí me gusta contar historias,’” dijo. “Empecé a leer periódicos más y más y me interesé en las noticias diarias.”

Contreras se fue a trabajar en Keokuk, Iowa como un periodista para el Daily Gate City, donde tuvo éxito. Su primera historia, sobre un concurso anual de buscar hongos, se publicó en la primera plana del periódico. Sin embargo, él no estaba satisfecho con su éxito.

Entonces obtuvo su maestría en la Universidad de Iowa en periodismo. Durante este tiempo, se convirtió en lo que describió como un “fanático” del programa de radio, All Things Considered en NPR.

«Yo escuchaba la hora y media completa todos los días. Grababa el programa en un cassette y yo quedaba despierto todo la noche para transcribir la cosa entera,” añadió. “Me enseñó cómo se construía el programa. Podía ver las palabras que usaban, y la forma básica en que se estructuraban las frases.”


 
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Counselor at Counseling and Psch Services
Debra Cox-Howard. Photo by Maria Urquidez
Maria Urquidez
Staff

Every semester thousands of students stress over midterms, finals, assignments and studying, making stress the No. 1 health problem at the University of Arizona, said Debra Cox-Howard, a licensed professional counselor at Counseling and Psych Services (CAPS).

Cox-Howard said every student shows stress at one point during the semester. Symptoms of stress include headaches, body aches and oversleeping. Students with these symptoms should seek help for their stress. 

“The stress is different for each person. For some of them it’s due to a sense of (being) overwhelm(ed),” Cox-Howard said. These students may stress in college because they are entering a new environment and leaving home for the first time.  

“Managing your time, that’s a big one,” Cox-Howard said. 

Some students take on a workload that’s too much for them to handle, which can lead to problems with time management. The best way to alleviate this type of stress is to organize schedules and engage in activities such as yoga and other types of exercise. 

Glenn Matchett-Morris, a psychologist at CAPS, said stress is different for everyone. For newer students, he said it’s “often related to adjustment,” like transitioning from high school to college, relationship problems or financial stress. He said older students stress over things like graduation finding a job after college.

According to Matchett-Morris, stress can create both physical and mental problems, such as depression and anxiety.  

Sequoia Fischer, 19, an incoming UA freshman, said she has had a lot on her mind lately. 

“I think there’s too much for me to handle right now, so I don’t really feel anything. I’m sure it’s just stress, though,” Fischer said. 


 
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Nibbler, a 3-year-old pug, enjoys his evening walk through
the University of Arizona. Photo by Noelle Haro-Gomez
por Jose Rivera
Personal
En Español

Cuando las temperaturas suben en Pima County, grupos afiliados con animales están en alerta.

Sobre toda la ciudad de Tucson, organizaciones afiliadas con animales dan consejos en directrices adecuadas para los dueños de mascotas. 

“Recibimos más llamadas durante esta época del ano (que durante cualquier otra). La mayoría de las llamadas son para animales de la calle,” dijo Jayne Cundy, representante de PACC. “Hemos recibido 423 llamadas durante el mes pasado (Mayo) que consisten de llamadas de bienestar.”

Llamadas de bienestar reportan animales que no tienen agua, que viven en la calle, y que están heridos. Hasta ahora en este ano, nos han llegado 3,399 llamadas al PACC,  y tienen que ver con el bienestar de los animales.

Mientras más tiempo pasan los animales afuera en el sol, más que se les sube el nivel de estrés. Cuando suben las temperaturas suben, los animales tienen que refrescarse. 

“Todos los animales se estresan en el calor -- gente, perros, gatos, etc.,” dijo Dr. Nobel Jackson, un profesor en ciencias veterinarias y microbiología en la Universidad de Arizona.“Las mascotas necesitan sombra tanto como los humanos para refrescarse, corre el riesgo de hypotermia quien sea que esté afuera por mucho tiempo. ”

Sin embargo, 100-grados de temperatura a principios del año, los dueños de mascota tienen sus propias ideas para combatir el calor.


 
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Jennifer Wade walks out of the College Station post office near
the University of Arizona campus. Photo by Samantha Neville
By Samantha Neville
Staff

A 40-year-old Tucson post office, mail processing and distribution center, is one of the 140 across the nation that will not be in service by next February, a money-saving decision causing community concern.

The Cherrybell Stravenue processing and distribution center serves 1.5 million people,  said Richard Fimbres, a Tucson City Council member. The center is in his council ward. 


The center handles three million pieces of mail per day, according to Robert Soler, customer relations coordinator for the Arizona District for USPS, and now all of that mail will go to Phoenix to be processed before being sent to its destination. The consolidation of this will affect more than 100 jobs in Tucson, Soler said, The consolidation of USPS is necessary because mail volume decreased by 25 percent in the past six years, he said. 

The nationwide trend of consolidation will reduce the U.S. Postal Service’s annual costs by $1.2 billion a year. The consolidation of the Tucson branch alone will save the Postal Service $14 million each year, Soler said.

“To your average customer, the change will be transparent," Soler said. "They won’t see a difference at all.” 

His reason is that all of the "customer facing" parts of the post office will not be closed. Others contend that there will in fact be an affect on the average customer.

One person that did not have the same opinion was Fimbres.

"There's other methods that they can consolidate," Fimbres said. 

Fimbres said that instead of being in service six days a week, the postal service could be in service five days a week, or they could raise postage rates. 


 
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Roxie Catts, director of the Advising Resource
Center at the University of Arizona, aids students in
academics and adjusting to life on campus.
Photo by Nicholas Trujillo
By Celene Arvizu
Staff

Transitioning from high school to college can bring new experiences and challenges to students, but the University of Arizona offers several resources to help students navigate through the changes. 

The day before freshman orientation at the UA, Stephanie Greller, 18, and her mother Linda walked around campus and talked about the transition to college. 

Although confident and excited about the new experience, Stephanie Greller said she is still unsure about what she wants to study.

“As of right now, I think I’m going to do undeclared and figure it out, see what I want to do,” Stephanie Greller said. 

Linda Greller is confident her daughter will overcome the uncertainty.

“She’s done a good job of carrying herself, working hard in school, and making good choices at the end of her senior year,” Greller said. 

However, they both agreed that the changes can be overwhelming. 

“It’s a big rush,” Greller said. “Nerve-racking and scary because it’s the unknown but very exciting.”

Academic advisers can help ease some of the anxieties new college students face.

“That’s one of the things that we advisers can help students with, putting the students on a path to do those explorations and utilize some of the other resources that we have here at the University,” said Judy Roman, an academic adviser. 


 
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Damodar Khatiwada, 23, a Bhutanese refugee.
Photo by Samantha Neville
By Samantha Neville
Staff

Bhutanese refugee Damodar Khatiwada, 23, experienced culture shock when he came face to face with the American value of consumerism.

“Back then (in Nepal) we didn’t know any brands,” Khatiwada said. “We only had one brand, that is whatever (donation) comes in.” 

Damodar’s experience is not unique among the refugee community. After living in camps around the world, coming to the United States was a rocky transition, said refugees who now live in Tucson, Ariz.. 

In 2011, 499 refugees resettled in Tucson, according to Georgia Eddy, a program and project specialist for the Refugee Resettlement Program in Tucson.

Of the 4,740 refugees that arrived in Arizona in 2009, nearly 20 percent were Bhutanese people of Nepali descent. After 2009, the percent of Bhutanese refugees began to decrease, parallel to the 46 percent decrease of refugee arrivals in Arizona, according to the Refugee Resettlement Program. 

Damodar and his 19-year-old sister were two of the refugees that came to the U.S. in 2009, after spending 16 years in a refugee camp in Nepal.

They form part of the 1,300-strong community of Bhutanese refugees in Tucson, said Natalie Brown, resource coordinator for Iskashitaa, a local organization dedicated to helping resettle refugees.

“It was in 2007 that the International Organization for Migration …  set out in Nepal and started accepting applications and was willing to bring refugees to a few different countries,” Damodar said.  

“The U.S. was willing to bring 60,000 (refugees) and we applied without knowing which country would accept us, and we were accepted by the U.S.,” Damodar said. “It took us about a year to finish all the paperwork. We didn’t get a chance to choose where to go, or which country. They decided for us.”

As crises shift around the world, the homeland of new refugees shifts accordingly.

The native countries of most of the refugees who arrived in Tucson this year are Bhutan, Burma, Congo, Iraq and Somalia, according to the Tucson branch of the Refugee Resettlement Program.

“There will be different waves [of refugees coming in],” said Marge Pellegrino, director of the Owl and Panther Project, a local refugee support group. “Right now there seems to be a lot of Nepalis coming.” 


 
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Una nota de licencia pendientes cuelga fuera de
Centennial Hall. Foto: Carolyn Corcoran
Por Carolyn Corcoran
Personal
En Español

La Universidad de Arizona va a vender alcohol en eventos especiales ubicado en algunos edificios, dependiendo de la aprobación de aplicaciones de licencias de alcohol.

Con las ventas de bebidas de alcohol siendo limitadas a siete edificios en la Universidad de Arizona, oficiales de la universidad no creen que las licencias tendrán repercusiones en el campus.

“Realmente no nos afecta para nada,” dijo Joel Hauff, el director interino para Arizona State Unions. “Al final del día, es sólo el cambio de procedimiento para nosotros.”

Los siete edificios incluyen el Student Union Memorial Center, Cenntenial Hall, Arizona State Museum, College of Fine Arts, Arizona Stadium, McClelland Hall y Biosphere 2. Todos han obtenido eventos con alcohol.

De Recaudación de Fondos, a Cuartos privados en el estadio, alcohol ha estado previamente disponible si el establecimiento había obtenido el permiso necesario para el evento especial.

“Solemos tener eventos con bastante frecuencia en los edificios,” dijo Hauff.

La licencia le dará a la Universidad de Arizona la habilidad de poder vender alcohol en los edificios para eventos especiales sin tener que aplicar para permisos individuales. Por tener una licencia, la aplicación, la espera, y la tarifa se eliminan. 

Aunque la platica de las licencias comenzó desde el ano pasado, algunos miembros de la comunidad aun no han sido informados. 


 
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A banded rock rattlesnake coils up on cool patio tiles
outside Cecil Schwalbe’s office while checking its
environment for threats. Photo by Hayleigh Daugherty
Rachael Worthington
Staff
 
Poaching exotic animals is a huge enterprise around the globe, and Arizona is a hot spot for rare reptiles. 

Animal poaching is the second largest illegal trade in the world, second only to the drug trade, said Dr. herpetologist Cecil Schwalbe, a herpetologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. 

Even though this market is so large, only limited statistics and information exist about poaching because it is difficult to tell what trafficking is legal and which is illegal.

“It’s probably more common than we know,” said Officer Diane Tilton, a wildlife manager for Arizona Game and Fish who tracks down poachers.
 
Many reptiles in Arizona , such as the Gila monster, the rosy boa and the twin-spotted rattlesnake, are protected by state law, but the problem of reptile poaching still continues.   Laws that are not consistent from state to state are the cracks that poachers exploit. It affects scientists out in the field of study.

“I won’t even do studies on rattlesnake dens anymore on public lands because of the hide hunters,” Schwalbe said. 

The people he refers to as “hide hunters” are poachers who search for reptiles in order to use or sell their skins. Schwalbe has stopped going to the snakes’ dens in order to keep from giving away their hiding places. 
 
Though Arizona reptiles bred in captivity from other states are available for purchase, poaching is still a common practice way to obtain rare snakes and lizards.

In order to capture and keep these reptiles, poachers have to find loopholes in the law. 

With a hunting license it is legal to take reptiles that are not protected by state law and federal law, but it is illegal to sell any Arizona wildlife. With this license, a hunter may only collect or possess a certain number of reptiles, with the exception of a select few species that are unlimited.  For example, if the limit is 10 of a species, and a hunter already owns six, he or she may only collect four more.


 
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A saguaro at Saguaro National Park.
Photo by Kenzie Hawley
By Kenzie Hawley
staff

The Saguaro National Park is trying to attract more visitors by renovating the visitor center, exhibits and appealing to families. 

Officials at Saguaro National Park East, which is named after the towering vibrant green cactus, are struggling to attract new visitors to explore the desert preserve. “The number of visitors (to the park) has plateaued in the past few years,” said Fisher.

Park rangers are trying to increase the number of visitors by creating family- friendly activities. Attendance drops when it gets into the hotter summer months Park rangers are trying to increase the number of visitors by creating family friendly activities.  Attendance decreases during summer and fall because of the heat. and increases during the cooler months of January through April. 

Andy Fisher, Branch Chief of Interpretation, says theThe park doesn’t have a marketing budgetadvertise  and relies on word of mouth recommendations and social media to attract new visitors, said Andy Fisher, the park’s branch chief of . interpretation. Between 600,000 and 700,000 people visit the park each year. 

The only tangible advertising used by the park is “the old-fashioned brown board,” Fisher said referring to the highway signs that direct visitors to the park. “Most of the visitors we get are of the older generation,” said Fisher.

Virginia and Wayne McRee, retirees from Georgia, said that Saguaro National Park was on their bucket list.