Pass: Providing closure
In Arizona, the debate over illegal immigration usually centers on those living in the United States. However, each year, hundreds of migrants die in the attempt to cross the border. Their stories are often forgotten, and more often than not their bodies remain unidentified.
But one man, Engel Indo, a technology liaison for the Office of the Medical Examiner and the Mexican Consulate, is working to identify each of the John Does.
According to the Arizona Daily Star, Indo has helped to identify five bodies so far. He has put identifying information, such as tattoos, on a Facebook page created to help people find out the fates of their loved ones.
“It’s just sad that we have all these bodies, and we don’t know who to give them to,” Indo told the Daily Star.
Regardless of your feelings on the illegal immigration issue, the loss of life is never something to sneer at. And, as a nation that was founded on immigration spurred by a desire to escape the troubles of a homeland, we should be more sympathetic to those who would readily risk life and limb to obtain a fraction of the freedoms and opportunities we all take for granted. Helping bring closure to families worrying over the fate of their loved ones is both admirable and laudable.
For looking past politics and helping grieving families find peace, Indo and his coworkers get a pass.
Pass: Tuition freeze a hot idea
For the first time in 20 years, tuition for resident undergraduates will not increase thanks to a unanimous vote by the Arizona Board of Regents on Thursday.
Some out of state students are clamoring because their tuition will still increase, but everyone should stop to celebrate this victory. Only around 10,000 students are from out of state, so that means more than 29,000 students will benefit from this tuition freeze. And after three straight years of tuition increasing by at least 20 percent, it is a welcome reprieve in the otherwise inexorable march upward.
The UA has seen tuition for resident undergraduates more than triple in the last decade. It’s probably safe to say that a UA education hasn’t gotten three times better over that same period. What was once a “bang for your buck” institution is fast becoming a cash grab. Even as Arizona’s Legislature continues a fast-paced race to the bottom in terms of education funding, it’s nice to see the regents take at least a one-year reprieve from racing to price Arizona students out of the market at their own universities.
For giving students a much-needed break from tuition hikes, however temporarily, the regents get a pass.
Incomplete: BYU’s “It Gets Better”
More than 20 students at Brigham Young University made an “It Gets Better” video specifically about the BYU campus. They talk about praying for God to take away their homosexuality and how uncomfortable they felt with their fellow classmates.
While the video itself is a great testament to progress and will hopefully help some of the non-heterosexual students at the campus, it speaks to a larger problem.
These students, members of Understanding Same-Gender Attraction, a campus group that is not officially recognized by the Mormon university, risk being excommunicated for kicking open the closet doors and reaching out to struggling classmates.
BYU allows gay students as long as they adhere to the school’s honor code, which prohibits premarital sex. However, Utah doesn’t allow same sex marriage, so if you’re gay, you’re just out of luck. According to the Princeton Review, BYU is one of the worst campuses for gay students, so the students who made the video should be commended.
For ignoring the video and refusing to release a statement, BYU officials get an incomplete.
— Editorials are determined by the Daily Wildcat editorial board and written by one of its members. They are Bethany Barnes, Kristina Bui, Steven Kwan, Luke Money and Michelle A. Monroe. They can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu or on Twitter via @WildcatOpinions .
