The Arizona Daily Wildcat puts the issues to the test. Do they make the grade?
Check back soon for a fully functioning ASUA
In its usual fashion, the Associated Students of the University of Arizona is lagging, this time in maximizing accessibility to information on the special election to fill the seat of former Sen. Claire Theobald.
As of Tuesday, the same night of the candidate Q & A, no candidate platforms had been released on the special elections website. Instead, at the bottom of the page, a note read, “Check back soon for the candidates’ pictures and platforms!”
To ASUA’s credit, the candidates’ names have been posted, at least, so if you’re one of the few voters we expect to participate, you can make a selection based on who has the coolest name. Senatorial candidate Jake Broido has a lot of potential for nicknames, probably.
But we’d rather you be able to vote based on candidates’ platforms.
We’re not really interested in why the platforms aren’t on the special election website or when they finally will be, although we do hope they appear before voting actually starts. In much the same way professors don’t really care if you fell asleep or had other commitments, no excuse will stop ASUA from getting a fail for not being timely with special election information.
The fact is that, five days after candidates were named, no one knows what those names stand for. Your vote should be about who you believe will represent you best and keep your interests at heart. But it sure is hard to tell who that person is if all you have to go by are some names.
PTS keeps heavy traffic, road rage under control
Construction on the Sun Link Tucson Modern Streetcar has made walking, biking or driving to and from class a little hectic, especially in high-traffic areas of campus like Second Street, east of Second Street Parking Garage.
Pedestrians never look both ways, the bikes never stop and the cars are just too aggressive. And, while people are always going when they shouldn’t, the rest of traffic is always backed up.
Getting around the construction is stressful enough without also feeling like everyone is blocking your way.
That’s why we’re delighted to know Parking and Transportation Services personnel or University of Arizona Police Department officers will be out on Second Street in the afternoon during heavy-traffic times, reminding everyone to look both ways and yield to stop signs.
A pass goes to efforts that will make the journey to class a little easier on all of us. It’s nice to know someone is out there, helping us take turns and get to class in one piece.
SAT tests patience, not college preparedness
Average SAT scores fell two points this year — one point in critical reading and one in writing. The drop in scores is smaller than last year’s six-point decrease, but the College Board’s annual report says the drop can be attributed to American students not taking high school classes that properly prepare them for college.
The board also finds that a substantial achievement gap persists between different racial and ethnic groups, in addition to those from different socioeconomic backgrounds.
In perhaps the most serious finding of the report, released Monday by the College Board, which owns the SAT, only 43 percent of 2012 high school graduates are prepared for success in college.
Still, an incomplete goes to this finding. To be deemed ready for college, students have to meet a benchmark score set by the board. But other factors contribute to predicting student success, such as stability at home and accessibility to better high school courses. The SAT is just one factor that indicates college readiness, as the board itself noted, and the reliability of standardized testing in general is questionable.
— 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.
