Fail
Guns for everyone!
Yesterday, the Arizona Republic reported on a new plan sure to calm down the ongoing lively debate over weapons on campus: arming police officers at Arizona’s public universities with “”military-style assault rifles.”” Eight UAPD officers will undergo a 40-hour training session before being issued the new rifles, which University of Arizona
Police Department’s Sgt. Eugene Mejia, the public information officer, commended for their ability to “”take a longer, more accurate shot.”” Campus police need the right tools to keep UA safe, but this is hardly a smart time to escalate the conflict over guns in schools. Until more details can show that bigger, better guns are absolutely necessary, this new idea gets a Fail.
Incomplete
Primary dullards
Primary elections are usually scheduled to narrow the field of potential candidates for elected office. Not so, however, in the bizarro-world of the UA student government: Every single candidate in this week’s ASUA primary advanced to next week’s general election ballot, since there were too few students to make any race competitive. Potential candidates got the benefits of a free opinion poll, but the university got stuck with the bill. In a reflection of the poll’s pointlessness, voter turnout was dismal – 1,358 students – about half of last year’s turnout. Hopefully more students will turn out to next week’s general elections, but this week’s droll poll merits gets an Incomplete.
Pass
BjÇôrk goes bonkers in China
At the end of a concert this week in Shanghai, elfin Icelander BjÇôrk yelled “”Tibet! Tibet!”” as she bounced across stage covered in tribal facepaint singing “”Declare Independence.”” The incident is a poke in the eye for the Chinese government, which has occupied the Roof of the World for 58 years after military invasion in 1950. BjÇôrk’s exuberant exclamation is the latest in a series of celebrity China-snubbings: last month, filmmaker Steven Spielberg pulled out of his role as adviser to the Beijing Olympics in protest over China’s role in Darfur. For Shanghai-ing her audience into uncomfortable thoughts about their authoritarian government, BjÇôrk earns a Pass.
Pass
HiRISE catches a spectacular slide
UA’s Martian HiRISE camera made a groundbreaking discovery this week: the first photos of what appears to be an active landslide on the surface of Mars. The camera, mounted on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, is operated by scientists in the UA’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. The dramatic image – which is still being evaluated – shows dust clouds puffing away from what looks like rock and ice cascading down a slope. But whether it’s a never-before-seen landslide or just an interesting image, it’s an awesome reminder of the UA’s prowess in space exploration. This space snapshot, and the scientists who discovered it, deserve a Pass.
Fail
I’m not dead yet!
After widespread predictions that the primaries in Ohio and Texas would end Senator Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, cable news, print media and talking heads across the nation are being forced to eat their words, as Clinton’s victories in both states ensured that the Democratic nomination battle is far from over. Although predicting election outcomes is part of their job, the news media has continually and prematurely predicted the death of Clinton’s campaign, only to be surprised and embarrassed when the senator bounces back from the brink of defeat. Their eagerness to crown a winner indicates a desire to get the nomination over with, rather than cover the election objectively. The media needs to back off and enjoy the race – until they do, we’re sticking ’em with a collective Fail.
Editorials are determined by the Wildcat opinions board and written by one of its members. They are Sarah Devlin, Allison Hornick, Christina Jelly, Evan Lisull, Melissa Krueger and Connor Mendenhall.
