Law student charged with five felonies
Second-year law student and former beauty queen Kumari Fulbright was indicted in Pima County Superior Court on Dec. 18 on charges that she and accomplices held, tortured and robbed her ex-boyfriend over a period of 10 hours.
Fulbright, 25, allegedly joined two men in tying up the ex-boyfriend with plastic cable and duct tape Dec. 8 and keeping him captive at two Tucson residences.
During his captivity, the three individuals threatened to kill him and stole items including a wallet, cell phone, briefcase and up to $600 in cash.
Fulbright’s felony charges consist of armed robbery, aggravated robbery, kidnapping and two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Fulbright was named Miss Pima County in 2005 and Miss Desert Sun in 2006.
UA Hopi language maven dies
Emory Sekaquaptewa, a UA anthropology professor and the author of the first Hopi American Indian dictionary, died last month. He was 78.
In addition to penning “”HopǪikwa LavÇÿytutuveni,”” published in 1998, Sekaquaptewa created a scholarship program for Hopi youth to attend the UA and served on the Hopi Appellate Court, which he also founded, for 30 years.
In October, Sekaquaptewa won the Spirit of the Heard award, a national honor given out for excellence in preserving Hopi culture.
Regents pass annual journalism fee
The Arizona Board of Regents approved a $300 annual program fee for journalism students, effective this fall, at its Dec. 6 meeting in Tempe.
Only juniors must pay the fee the first year, and juniors and seniors in years thereafter.
Seventy-five percent of monies from the fee will go toward improvements such as improved instructional technology, additional technical support and additional funding for students to attend conferences, according to a department release.
Fifteen percent will go toward financial aid for journalism students, and the remaining 10 percent will go to the provost’s office, as per university rules.
The department has also reinstated its graduate program after an 11-year hiatus. More information on the program can be found at http://journalism.arizona.edu/news/gradprogram.pdf.
Cancer Center receives $6.5M to test anticancer drugs
The National Cancer Institute renewed the UA Cancer Center’s Therapeutic Development Program drug-development grant with a five-year, $6.5 million award Jan. 8.
The grant has been used to develop anticancer drugs PX-12 and Imexon. The drugs, which target cancer-causing proteins, are now in early phase clinical trials.
PX-12 specifically targets a protein found in abundance with colon, pancreatic, gastric and lung cancers. It was developed by Garth Powis, formerly of the Cancer Center and now with Houston’s MD Anderson Cancer Center, which will collaborate with the UA as part of the grant extension.
Imexon has been used against multiple myeloma and is being tested on patients with melanoma, lung, breast and prostate cancers. It was developed by Robert Dorr, co-director of the Therapeutic Development Program; Evan Hersh, a professor of immunology and microbiology; and the late Sydney Salmon, the founding director of the Cancer Center.
A new project incorporating the new funding will combine Imexon with another drug, Gemcitabine, in a clinical trial to test effectiveness against pancreatic cancer, and also develop new drugs.
Frat gathers 1,300 toys for S. Ariz. youth
Lambda Theta Phi’s Gamma Beta chapter collected 1,300 new toys during its second annual 24-Hour Toy Drive on Dec. 14-15, greatly surpassing its total of 300 toys from last year.
The chapter combined with the Organization of Women Looking for Sisterhood in Chi Upsilon Sigma sorority and received a donation from local children’s art company Lisa Frank Inc. The drive was held at Wal-Mart on West Valencia Road.
