Meet twelve columnists who will raise your ire, warm your heart and make you alternately shake your fist and nod in recognition. From incisive commentary regarding on-campus issues to on-location dispatches from Nazareth, expect diverse and demanding writing from the Arizona Daily Wildcat Opinions Desk. But don’t let us do all the talking. This semester, join the debate through letters to the editor and the revamped online-comments feature at www.dailywildcat.com.
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Samuel Feldman is a political science junior minoring in Spanish, the language of foreign love. He lives a charmed life full of drinking, smoking and dancing. He has volunteered on political campaigns and fundraising campaigns for Democrats, but has voted for a few Republicans. He enjoys spirited debate, honesty, sarcasm and wit. He yearns for a simpler time when Bill Clinton was president and a stained dress, not all-out war, was the biggest news story. His columns will appear Mondays.
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Ryan Johnson is a senior studying economics and international studies. He returns for a victory-lap semester as a second-year senior before heading off in January for a year in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He has worked at the Wildcat since 2002, first as a news reporter and later as a columnist and opinions editor. His interests include basketball, sumo wrestling, transportation- and energy-policy issues and nonfiction. He considers Bloglines (
www.bloglines.com) to be his second home. His columns will appear Thursdays.
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Marian Lacy can Berber dance. She was once trampled by a donkey after rescuing a friend from a Moroccan sewer. Her only bad habits are nail-biting and not wearing a watch. She likes to take naps, travel, hike and iron (shirts, not pants). She is of Lebanese descent and will be working in a nonprofit hospital in Nazareth, Israel, this fall. She is a senior majoring in molecular and cellular biology, Near Eastern studies and English. Her dispatches from Israel will run every other Monday.
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Stan Molever is a senior studying philosophy, political science, Spanish and economics. Yearning to venture out into the wild world to see new, exotic places, Stan left his home in Phoenix to pursue his education in Tucson. He dreams of a future in the NBA but would feel lucky just making a YMCA team. Stan is excited to be joining the opinions desk the year the Cats win the NCAA Tournament. His column will run Wednesdays.
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Shurid Sen is a political science senior minoring in economics. Shurid is returning for his second semester at the Wildcat and hopes to rattle as many cages and pour scalding water on as many beehives as he possibly can, even in the face of his amplified reactions to insect bites. Shurid enjoys telling self-deprecating stories and praying for the admittedly high school-esque San Francisco 49ers. His columns will appear Wednesdays.
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Matt Stone is a senior majoring in international studies and economics who is returning for his fourth term at the opinions desk. A wanderer at heart, Stone spent the past year in central Siberia and the Russian Far East, followed by a jaunt to the Gulf kingdom of Bahrain, Europe and Washington, D.C., to research petroleum markets. He thinks sex offenders should be chemically castrated. Stone drives an ’87 Chevy Blazer and has crooked fingers. His column will appear Fridays.
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Lori Foley returns to the Wildcat as opinions editor. Fresh from a summer in Washington, D.C., where she was required to wear business suits daily, she plans to spend her final undergraduate semester wearing T-shirts and sandals. She once sat by David Bowie in the airport and will talk about the experience at length, despite the fact that it occurred when she was in fifth grade and he ignored her. Lori harbors unnaturally amorous feelings for her day planner, the font Garamond and limeade. A senior majoring in international studies and English, she will graduate in December.
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David Francis is a pre-business sophomore from the Dallas/Fort Worth area. He hopes to study business economics, provided he gets over his hatred of math. David’s columns will range in topic from those reflecting his conservative outlook on current events to those that have nothing to do with anything (but are interesting nonetheless). On an unrelated note, he is an avid college football fan and maintains hope that the duo of Mike Stoops and Willie Tuitama will return Arizona football to greatness. His columns will appear Tuesdays.
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Lillie Kilburn was born in London and moved to Pennsylvania when she was 14, after her father’s death. In high school, she took part in various activities pertaining to theater, and in her senior year she found herself in the play “”Moby-Dick Rehearsed,”” in which she played an American man named Ishmael. This was difficult for her. Presently a psychology sophomore, she hopes to go on to medical school and specialize in psychiatry. Her columns will appear Tuesdays.
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Damion LeeNatali is a senior majoring in political science and history from Denver. Damion, who has been mistaken for a visiting high school junior on more than one occasion, is best known for shattering a bowling ball at Lucky Strikes and for his entirely unreasonable fear of goldfish. Returning from a summer in Washington, D.C., he looks forward to a semester of writing that will not include the words “”do-nothing Congress,”” “”partisan politics”” or “”America can do better.”” His columns will appear Fridays.
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Jon Riches is a third-year law student who has returned to the Opinions Desk after his third consecutive summer in Washington, D.C., where he worked most recently as a legal intern at the White House. Jon is a Phoenix native, a reserve naval officer, a current events and politics junkie and a major Diamondbacks/Cardinals/Suns sports fan who also admits to watching “”Laguna Beach.”” He has traveled and lived abroad, was once an amateur boxer and will one day be a Navy JAG lawyer. His columns will run alternating Thursdays.
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Courtney Smith is a senior majoring in molecular and cellular biology and anthropology. In addition to the newspaper and karaoke, Mortarboard Senior Honorary, yoga and perfecting the art that is quesadilla-making consume most of her time. If a career in medical anthropology falls through, she plans on playing her steel drum on Fourth Avenue for generous tips. A returning summer columnist and the wire editor, Courtney’s columns will appear every other Monday.
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Vanessa Valenzuela is a junior majoring in economics and international studies who is trying to squeeze in way too much this fall before leaving for a semester abroad in Argentina. Despite the heavy load, Valenzuela fully intends to watch hours and hours of “”Project Runway”” and “”Grey’s Anatomy”” with her roommate. Valenzuela is a proud back-to-back three-on-three intramural volleyball champion and is hoping for a three-peat this fall. Valenzuela is excited to be a returning columnist, and her columns will appear Thursdays.
