University Of Arizona

Most people consider New York and Los Angeles to be the centers of hip-hop culture, but it's Tucson where students will find the first university to offer a minor dedicated to the movement. The University of Arizona has recently added the concentration to its Africana Studies minor program. The decision is part of a trend to give serious academic study to the subject. The curriculum is bound to be a hit with students, said Alain-Philippe Durand, interim director of the Africana Studies program.

Tony Clark, disenchanted by a lack of playing time at the University of Arizona, is enrolling at San Diego State. The 6-8 forward, who also was the second choice overall in baseball's amateur draft last June, will enroll for the spring semester, Aztec Coach Jim Brandenburg said.

Go ahead. Break the chains. Stop paying on your mortgage if you owe more than the house is worth. And most important: Don't feel guilty about it. Don't think you're doing something morally wrong. That's the incendiary core message of a new academic paper by Brent T. White, a University of Arizona law school professor, titled "Underwater and Not Walking Away: Shame, Fear and the Social Management of the Housing Crisis." White contends that far more of the estimated 15 million U.S. homeowners who are underwater on their mortgages should stiff their lenders and take a hike.

A small object discovered last month hurtling through space turned out to be a tiny asteroid, astronomers at the University of Arizona at Tucson said. The rock--30-feet in diameter--is one of the smallest asteroids ever detected, planetary scientist Tom Gehrels said. The object was discovered Nov. 6 with the university's 36-inch Spacewatch Telescope.

The Pacific 10 Conference has reprimanded the University of Arizona for NCAA rules violations that occurred earlier this year in the school's book-loan program for athletes. The university declared 40 student-athletes ineligible in April because they had allegedly sold or given away books they had obtained free from the school. Eligibility was restored by the NCAA to 31 of the athletes when they repaid the school for the books.

Last year, Tim Floyd told anyone who would listen he was a USC Trojan for life. "This is my last job," he insisted. What Floyd never said was "this is my last job interview." This week, Floyd told players at the season-ending basketball banquet that he was in for the long haul. And Floyd meant it, at the time he said it. Before he knew it, though, he was on a private jet headed to Tucson and interviewing for the Arizona job. Reaction: Attach yourselves to dogs, folks, not coaches.

The NCAA is investigating Arizona's basketball program for alleged recruiting violations, according to a notice of inquiry sent to the school's president. The Arizona Daily Star reported on its website that the allegations stem from initially self-reported violations involving a recruiting event at the McKale Center, where the Wildcats play.

Lute Olson will return to the Arizona bench next season, the university announced Monday, but that doesn't begin to resolve the questions surrounding the program and its Hall of Fame coach. Olson missed the entire season for what he announced for the first time was "a medical condition that was not life-threatening, but serious enough to require time away from my coaching responsibilities." He later attributed his leave to "personal issues within my family."

A University of Arizona student whose roommate had recently accused her of stealing is suspected of killing the woman during a fight in their dorm room, authorities said in Tucson. Galareka Harrison, 18, will be booked on a charge of first-degree murder in the death of Mia Henderson, also 18, university spokesman Johnny Cruz said. Cruz said he did not have any details on the fight between Harrison and Henderson, of the Navajo Nation. He did not say how Henderson died, but university police Sgt.

When Arizona has struggled this season, the finger-pointing started with its defense -- or lack thereof. Here's evidence that these 'Cats may be just plain passive: Arizona averages 13.4 fouls per game, the fewest of any major-college team. The Wildcats had a 536-244 scoring edge at the free-throw line this season, but opponents still averaged 72.5 points a game.

Merlin K. DuVal, 84, founding dean of the University of Arizona College of Medicine, died of a heart attack Tuesday, the Tucson Citizen reported. "I would argue that he is the most important individual in the College of Medicine's history," Keith Joiner, dean of the Tucson college, told the Citizen.

Shawntinice Polk, center on the University of Arizona's women's basketball team, died Monday after collapsing on the court of the school's arena. Richard Paige, associate media relations director, said Polk, 22 and a senior, was not working out or practicing in McKale Center when she collapsed. Polk was taken to the University Medical Center, where she was later pronounced dead. The cause of death was not immediately known and an autopsy will be performed.

Nobody can stop Salim Stoudamire when he doesn't stop himself, it seems. His driving 17-footer with 2.8 seconds left against Oklahoma State gave Arizona a 79-78 victory in a Chicago Regional semifinal Thursday, and now only once-beaten Illinois stands between the Wildcats and the Final Four. "I think they've got a great shot to beat Illinois," Oklahoma State Coach Eddie Sutton said. Put the ball in Stoudamire's hands with the game on the line, and not many people will doubt him.