Pass

Benefits for partnerships are recession-proof in AZ

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that Arizona may not deny insurance benefits for gay employees of the state or universities who are in domestic partnerships. Although the court stated that providing benefits is not required by the state, if it does choose to extend them it cannot arbitrarily divvy them out and avoid groups that are less than popular. The state tried to paint the measure as a means of cutting cost, but the court didn’t buy it. Although our elected officials seem to be illogical and discriminating oafs, the judges of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals seems to be conscious and see through the smoke and mirrors. For that they rightly earned a passing grade.

Pass

Higher grades needed if you want to go Greek

The Interfraternity Council raised grade point average requirements for all those rushing this year. While it disallowed some potential bro-mances from happening between new pledges and potential houses, it heightened the standards for being in a fraternity. Now, you’ll need at least a 3.0 high school GPA if you want to get into a frat and begin your journey to become Big Bro. IFC President Michael Colletti (yes, that Michael Colletti, former elections commissioner for the Associated Students of the University of Arizona) has made a good move on this one. At least now there’s a little bit more weight added to the often thrown-around term of “gentleman” we always here frats talk about when referring to their own. Big ups, Bromosapiens, you’ve passed, but that won’t boost your GPA.

Incomplete

Guidelines for president created, yet far-fetched

The Arizona Board of Regents has officially set up what they’re looking for in a long-term replacement for the position of UA president. Much like a list of traits of the perfect mate, the list has just about every warm and fuzzy characteristic one could want in a president. The president must have an understanding of the UA’s place as a premier research institution, be able to communicate effectively with Arizona legislators, have a prior background in managing an educational institution or premier business, overall leadership ability, and be able to market the UA and its brand.

Now already, there seems to be skepticism about whether or not this is attainable, and who doesn’t love skepticism? Regent Dennis DeConcini already admitted that if they found anyone who met each and every criterion, he or she would be “close to God,” expressing his disbelief in the existence of such a human being with all the desired qualifications. Not to be cynical or to poke fun, but God would probably be one of those candidates who’s overqualified, just saying. Nonetheless, the groundwork has been laid, now the search committee just needs to go out and find this mystery person, who may or may not exist exactly in the form we would like. Until some clear-cut candidates become apparent, it’s too soon to pass judgment on the criteria for a new president, and whether or not it’s realistic. Until then, we’ll dole out an incomplete on this one.

Fail

White House bails on jobs, says they won’t grow yet

The White House issued an assessment last week that basically stated that unemployment will either remain where it currently is or worsen throughout the rest of this year and throughout the duration of 2012. In other words, don’t say they didn’t prepare us with the cold, hard, blatant truth. The only problem with that is, we all probably don’t expect anything to suddenly get better, but American citizens do expect the government to fix it. Instead, citizens have been given what is arguably a complete cop-out. Next time, tell us what the problem is and how we’re going to fix it, don’t just tell us there’s a problem and leave us hanging. For dropping the ball and attempting to create a blameless situation, the White House gets an “F.”

— Editorials are determined by the Daily Wildcat opinions board and written by one of its members. They are Kristina Bui, Storm Byrd, Nicole Dimtsios and Steven Kwan. They can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.