The Wildcat comments on the (long) weekend’s news
Fiscal fun from the Legislature!
The state of Arizona may be projecting a $600 million budget deficit, but fortunately our state legislators are diligently dreaming up ways to stop the red ink from bleeding any further. Friday, the Arizona Joint Legislative Budget Committee released a list of possible spending cuts to balance the budget by the end of the fiscal year, a task required under the Arizona state constitution. Among the highlights? Making cuts to Kids Care, a children’s health insurance program, lowering funding for public schools and, most interesting for UA students, eliminating $30 million earmarked for Arizona’s public universities. State Senate President Tim Bee wryly noted that most of the proposals “”are not politically realistic,”” and it’s true that many of them may never be discussed – the list is a preliminary measure, merely listing budget items that can be legally cut. But it’s disheartening to see higher education on the hypothetical chopping block.
Tucson unplugs municipal Wi-Fi
If you live in Tucson, you may have to hold off on your constantly connected wireless techno-future. According to the Arizona Daily Star, the City of Tucson is putting off its plans for a citywide municipal Wi-Fi service. Although cities like Philadelphia and Tempe have experimented with citywide wireless networks, it’s not the right solution for an already connected city like Tucson, and providing Internet access for public use can be done more easily and effectively without a public wireless network. Plus, with wireless technology still rapidly developing, a citywide system could quickly become obsolete and expensive. Unlike with water or power, competitive private companies will do a better job when innovation is involved.
All quiet on the Eastern front?
After years of less-than-optimistic news about American conflict in Iraq, it’s understandably surprising to see glimmers of hope among clouds of cynicism pouring out of Baghdad. But more and more evidence is showing that Iraq is growing safer. Sunday, Nouri al-Maliki, Iraq’s prime minister, said that terrorist acts like car bombings and suicide attacks in Baghdad have fallen 77 percent from last year. Meanwhile, the U.S. military announced that rocket and mortar attacks are at the lowest level in Iraq since February 2006. Both announcements echo recent assertions by U.S. officials that the security situation in Iraq is beginning to improve. But good news is relative – according to the New York Times, more than a million Iraqis have left their homes in the past year and a half, and few of them are returning. Iraq may be getting safer, but calm in Baghdad only makes the difficulties of recovery clearer.
Downloading disaster
Rely on financial aid to help pay for college? Time to cut out the Bittorrent and hit the books. A bill introduced in the House of Representatives late Friday could cut off federal financial aid to U.S. universities unless they agree to police their computer networks and catch music-sharing students. The bill, introduced by Rep. George Miller, chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, and Ruben Hinojosa, chairman of the higher-education subcommittee, would cut federal aid like Pell grants and student loans if colleges failed to implement “”technology-based deterrents”” to illegal file sharing – even for students without computers. The entertainment industry has the right to fight a Pyrrhic battle against file-swapping students, but they shouldn’t be doing it by hijacking student aid. We hope the latest awful idea from the Recording Industry Association of America is killed in committee later this week.
OPINIONS BOARD: Editorials are determined by the Wildcat Opinions Board and written by one of its members. They are Justyn Dillingham, Allison Hornick, Sarah Keeler and Connor Mendenhall.
