A new campaign is urging students, employees and campus visitors to forgo the plastic straw the next time they order a drink on campus. Organizers hope to cut the use of nonrecyclable plastic straws on campus in half by the end of the school year. If they are successful, and demand for straws significantly decreases, Arizona Student Unions may be able to afford to make the switch to compostable straws.

Do your New Year's resolutions include being more secure in the IT sense? They should. Just in time for Data Privacy Day, the UA's Information Security Office offers five tips for keeping your computers, tablets and smartphones safe.

Congratulations to these recent honorees: Marla Franco, Office of the Provost and Student Affairs and Enrollment Management; the College of Medicine – Phoenix student and career advising team; Sheri Carson, College of Nursing; and Thomas Koch and Harrison Barrett, College of Optical Sciences.

Sunrise Fit, a Campus Recreation fitness program designed for UA employees, aims to help participants get moving and offset the adverse effects that sitting at a desk can have on the body. "By going through this and actually training proper movement patterns, you're going to get stronger," says Jake Minnis, fitness and wellness coordinator at Campus Recreation.

This week, meet a dean who holds 37 patents, many of which are related to waveguides – microscopic structures that help power the internet. College of Optical Sciences Dean Thomas Koch talks about why the UA is a worldwide leader in optics, the key partnerships the college has fostered with industry, and his first word as a child.

While well-recognized as the place "where science lives," Biosphere 2 is not as well-known for its one-of-a-kind conference and event center. "I've never seen anything like it," says Nirav Merchant, who directs the UA Data Science Institute and has conducted dozens of workshops at the Biosphere 2 Conference and Retreat Center. "I travel to many conferences across the country, and each time a hosting university shows off their conference center, I think to myself, 'You guys should see the one we have at the UA.'"

Parents at Work brings together UA employees who want to talk about parenting with colleagues who know what raising a child is really like. "It's about the opportunity to share experiences, tips, well-researched information on children and families, and creating the opportunity for networking," said Lourdes Rodríguez, senior coordinator for child care and family resources at Life & Work Connections.

New research out of the Eller College of Management finds that if you're lying, your computer mouse-cursor movements might call you out. The study instructed participants to commit a mock theft and then to lie about it while answering a computer questionnaire. Their mouse movements were compared with those of participants who had not been asked to steal and lie.

January is an introspective time of year for many, but campus events offer plenty of chances to wind down. Next month, you'll have opportunities to celebrate the holiday season with lights and lasers, hear a performance by UA music faculty, and explore the creative ways artists have used books to present their work.

During the president's office hours, some students ask for Robbins' professional advice while others share their suggestions for improving campus. "I encourage everybody to tell me exactly what's on their mind; don't hold back," Robbins says. "I also hope they realize they can come back. It's not a one-time thing; it's the beginning of a relationship, and my hope is I can be helpful to them."