There's quite a bit of debate on whether Tempe is best described as a college town or a town that happens to have a college in it.
Students complain that not enough attention is given to their wants and needs.
Residents complain that students typically are not in the labor force, do not pay property taxes and regularly create disturbances to peaceful evenings. For these reasons, they say, students' needs should be considered secondarily.
Tempe's mayoral race is around the corner, and it's looking pretty strange. Among the candidates are a high school senior and a 28-year-old construction worker.
Brad McCauley, a Tempe resident and ASU junior, is trying to give students a little more political leverage and is petitioning to enter the race.
His qualifications include his studies in political science, the fact that he owns a home and his ancestry (he's distantly related to two former U.S. presidents).
First off, these are not qualifications. Imagine trying to get a job as a software consultant by explaining that your father is a very good one. Imagine trying to get a job as a doctor by saying you've taken some biology classes. There are dues to be paid in all lines of work. You don't just start out at "mayor."
We've had a nontraditional mayor for 10 years (a gay Republican) and so the fact that McCauley is far from traditional isn't the part I have a problem with.
The problem lies in the notion that young students are as qualified as longtime residents, city council members and soccer parents to address Tempe's issues.
We do make up about half of the city's population; our voices are important, our complaints valid. I think, for example, that there ought to be a grocery store within walking distance of my house, rather than seven Circle Ks.
There ought to be affordable housing near campus. There ought to be shopping on Mill Avenue that isn't just for yuppies and tourists. Students should be allowed to have more than one party in a semester. Renting a six-bedroom house, but saying that no more than three unrelated people can live in it is wasteful and ridiculous. These issues affect us, and we need to press our representatives to pay attention to them.
But we aren't experts on anything at this point in our lives, and we shouldn't pretend we are capable of real leadership.
Most of us don't know how it feels to have our kids be woken up by a drunken student throwing bottles in the street on his way home from a party. We're just kids, really, and we'll know how those things feel someday. But we don't yet.
As much as I want to encourage my fellow students to stand up for their rights, if I were a 45-year-old mother and homeowner here, a kid who is still learning politics is not the person I'd want making decisions for me.
Even as a student, I don't want that person making decisions for me.
Emily Lyons is a journalism senior. Reach her at emily.lyons@asu.edu.
