The Arizona Daily Wildcat puts the issues to the test. Do they make the grade?

Kids need help identifying bullying

The UA Crossroads Collaborative and Nuestra Voz, a racial justice program for youth, teamed up to learn more about how to educate kids on bullying.

In a survey of 403 students from fifth to 11th grade at 11 Tucson schools, 39 percent reported they were bullied for skin color. About 66 percent were bullied due to sexual orientation. Students also said they were bullied for their weight.

The study is an important one, but particularly notable for its calling attention to the definition of bullying and the fact that many students don’t know what constitutes bullying.

Children will look to the adults around them for guidance, and that means adults need to be even more aware.

A pass goes to Crossroads Collaborative and Nuestra Voz for shedding light on a serious issue.

Maricopa’s mix-up

Minority advocacy group Campaign for Community Change distributed a book about exercising the right to vote. Getting out the vote is cool, right?

Unless you tell people the wrong date. But only on the Spanish version.

A spokeswoman for the Maricopa County Department of Elections told the Huffington Post that the Spanish-language notices were incorrect because they used an old election date.

But it’s not the first strike against Maricopa County, where Spanish versions of documents attached to updated voter registration cards listed Election Day as Nov. 8, even though the actual day is Nov. 6.
Maricopa County, as is often the case, seriously fails. Or at least could use a better proofreader.

Open mouth, insert foot

Indiana’s GOP candidate for Senate, Richard Mourdock, blundered in his party’s usual fashion on Tuesday night, during a debate with opponent Rep. Joe Donnelly.

During a discussion on abortion, Mourdock said he did not believe there should be exceptions for cases of rape or incest.

“I struggled with myself for a long time but I came to realize life is that gift from God, even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape,” Mourdock said. “It is something God intended to happen.”

Later, Mourdock said critics were twisting his words to suggest that he’d said God preordained rape. What he meant to say was that God creates life, he said.

Regardless of religious beliefs, Mourdock gets a fail just for putting his foot in his mouth while talking about women’s reproductive rights. That sure does happen a lot with politicians.

Small screen, big cost

Apple Inc. unveiled its new iPad mini, a 7.9-inch tablet that’s as thin as a pencil, on Tuesday.
By doing so, Apple has inserted itself into the market for smaller tablets. But the tablet’s smaller size doesn’t necessarily mean a smaller price tag.

The iPad mini is going for $329, so Apple can expect to have trouble competing with cheaper products like the Kindle Fire by Amazon. Analysts and consumers had expected a starting price of about $250, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Consumers and analysts get a fail, since we’re not sure why they were surprised. We are talking about an Apple product, after all.

— Editorials are determined by the Daily Wildcat’s editorial board and written by one of its members. They are Bethany Barnes, Kristina Bui, Jason Krell and Alex Williams. They can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu or on Twitter via @WildcatOpinions .