Bravo to ASU’s Student Advocates for Global Justice for bringing the journey of local African refugees to life. The group presented a panel discussion on “The African Diaspora enriching the American Southwest,” and many of the panelists were Lost Boys, young Sudanese refugees. The panel focused on the contributions African refugees have made in Arizona and the changes they plan to make in their home countries. Hearing their stories should be an inspiration to ASU students. “We’re trying to learn the culture here so we can go back to Africa and show them a little too, and make a little change,” said Gabriel Bul, a Sudanese refugee. “If people learn to work with their differences we can get along. That’s what I want to take back.”

Boo to barraging Crow with Colbert-related e-mails. The Facebook group “Stephen Colbert for Spring 2010 Commencement @ ASU” sent out a message to its members this week urging students to send President Michael Crow a pre-drafted letter about bringing the Comedy Central host to ASU. We, too, would love to hear Colbert address the student body at this spring’s commencement, but sending hundreds of copied-and-pasted messages — typos included — to Crow is a weird way to go about it, not to mention annoying. We’re also a little baffled about what causes move our fellow students. Yeah, Colbert is funny, but if activism is really your thing, shouldn’t it be done about something that matters? The Colbert Nation is a great one, but there are a lot of problems in the rest of the world that could use more attention.

Bravo to the Polytechnic campus for putting itself on the national radar. The Polytechnic chapter of Sigma Alpha Pi, an honors society focused on leadership and success, hosted a live nationwide broadcast this week on success. It reached more than 180,000 at 203 universities and featured a New York Times bestselling author and social psychologist, Robert Cialdini, who spoke on the powers of persuasion. At a Wednesday event, Crow said the Polytechnic campus isn’t going anywhere. For a campus that was uncertain if it would survive the economic crisis, Poly is showing the country, and the rest of ASU, what a vital part of our community it is.

Boo to the “Cereal Serial Stealers.” Six students from Barrett, the Honors College were let off the hook by Aramark after stealing $200 worth of cereal and drinks from a closed dining hall. Surveillance cameras caught the breakfast-food bandits on video over the Thanksgiving break. They were later arrested at Aramark’s request, but charges were dropped, according to the police. How much cereal would you have to eat to cause $200 worth of damages? Why not just go to a convenience store on campus? It’s a heck of a lot more convenient than being arrested, especially if you have loads of M&G dollars you’ve already paid to Aramark. But, on the other hand, this is really a crime of retribution. After all, Aramark steals from students every day.