University of Arizona in the News

Eastern Arizona Courier Feb. 12, 2021
A message from Arizona's public university presidents

University of Arizona President Robert C. Robbins, Arizona State University President Michael Crow and Northern Arizona University President Rita Cheng write that they are particularly concerned that students who are in rural areas are not applying to college at the rate of their urban counterparts, and that they are united in their objective of addressing this trend.
Arizona Public Media Feb. 11, 2021
No positive COVID-19 tests at the University of Arizona

On Feb. 10, the University of Arizona reported no positive COVID-19 tests out of the 1,791 tests it administered to students, faculty and staff that day.
The Wall Street Journal Feb. 10, 2021
Possible early COVID-19 cases in China emerge during WHO mission

About 90 people were hospitalized with COVID-19-like symptoms in central China in the two months before the disease was first identified in Wuhan in late 2019, according to World Health Organization investigators, who said they pressed Beijing to allow further testing to determine whether the new virus was spreading earlier than previously known. Many scientists already believed that COVZID-19 was circulating for some time before enough cases occurred at once in Wuhan to be detected. A modeling study last fall by researchers at the University of Arizona and the University of California San Diego suggested that the virus could have been present at low levels in Hubei as early as mid-October 2019.
The Associated Press Feb. 10, 2021
State vaccination site planned for University of Arizona

Gov. Doug Ducey and the Arizona Department of Health Services announced today that the University of Arizona will become a high-capacity state vaccination site serving southern Arizona.
Nature Feb. 9, 2021
Rapid coronavirus tests: a guide for the perplexed

The University of Arizona has been using the Sofia tests developed by Quidel since May to test its athletes every day. So far, the university has administered almost 150,000 tests, and it has not reported spikes in COVID-19 cases in the past two months. David Harris, a stem-cell researcher in charge of the University of Arizona's mass testing program, said the different types of test have different uses: rapid antigen tests shouldn't be used to assess the prevalence of a virus in a population, he notes. "If you use it like a PCR, you get a terrible sensitivity," he said. "But in terms of what we're trying to do – preventing the spread of infection – the antigen test, particularly when it's applied multiple times, seems to work great."
Salon Feb. 7, 2021
Why some scientists believe life may have started on Mars

Some prominent scientists in a variety of fields say that there are clues that life could have started on Mars. Erik Asphaug, a professor of planetary science at the University of Arizona, is also an outlier, said that what we know about the oldest rocks on Earth tell us that life started "started forming on Earth almost as soon as it was possible for it to happen." If that's the case, it makes for an interesting precedent. "Let's say you expect life to be flourishing whenever a planet cools down to the point where it can start to have liquid water," Asphaug said. "But just looking at our own solar system, what planet was likely to be habitable first? Almost certainly Mars."
The Washington Post Feb. 7, 2021
U.K. coronavirus variant spreading rapidly through United States, study finds

The coronavirus variant that shut down much of the United Kingdom is spreading rapidly across the United States, outcompeting other mutant strains and doubling its prevalence among confirmed infections every week and a half, according to new research made public Sunday. "It is here, it's got its hooks deep into this country, and it's on its way to very quickly becoming the dominant lineage," said Michael Worobey, head of the University of Arizona's Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and a co-author of the new paper.
Arizona Capitol Times Feb. 7, 2021
University of Arizona, Raytheon partner in hypersonic capabilities

University of Arizona President Robert C. Robbins and Wesley Kremer, president of Raytheon Missiles & Defense, write about the critical role hypersonic weapons and counter-hypersonic capabilities are going to play for our national defense and the importance of investing in our capabilities at the University of Arizona. "During the past 12 months, the Covid pandemic has changed the way we learn and interact with one another and reinforced the importance of investing in our research institutions. While Covid certainly has had an impact on our daily lives, it has not eliminated the challenges we face from foreign governments and adversaries who see an opportunity to challenge American exceptionalism," they write.
USA Today Feb. 7, 2021
'Our ancestors' dreams come true': Deb Haaland could become the nation's most powerful Native American leader

If Deb Haaland is confirmed next month as President Joe Biden's next Interior Secretary, the Democrat New Mexico congresswoman, who took office in 2019, will become not just the most powerful Native American politician in the nation, but also the first one to run a department whose centuries of broken promises and benign neglect has contributed to the slow erosion of Indigenous culture. While running for lieutenant governor, Haaland received an email from a college student who was inspired by seeing a Native American woman aiming for high office. The student, Paulene Abeyta, asked how she could help. Haaland replied immediately. "She told me, 'You can run for office, too,' So I did," said Abeyta, who went on to win a school board seat. She is now a third-year law student at the University of Arizona and president of the National Native American Law School Students Association.
The Associated Press Feb. 5, 2021
Arizona universities team up to detect COVID-19 mutations

Scientists from Arizona's three public universities are joining forces to analyze test samples to detect dangerous COVID-19 mutations. "The concern, of course, is you get one of these mutations that take hold and there's no vaccine that can protect you," said University of Arizona President Robert C. Robbins.