Boo to the stabbing that took place near Sun Devil Stadium on Monday night. Though the incident, which police believe was gang-related, seems to have been resolved quickly by the Tempe Police Department — the victim was hospitalized with a non-life-threatening wound to his side and police apprehended two suspects linked to the stabbing — it still brings a certain level of uncertainty to campus, especially to the many students who trek to the far reaches of campus after dark. We hope they get their feeling of security back soon; for goodness sake, people come to college to get screwed, not shanked.
Bravo to the 81st annual Academy Awards, set to take place at Hollywood’s Kodak Theatre on Sunday night. The Hugh Jackman-hosted show, to be televised on ABC, marks the grand return of an awards show that was supremely toned-down last year in the wake of the Writers Guild of America strike that ripped Hollywood apart for 100 days between late 2007 and early 2008. More importantly for the American people, it offers them something they currently crave the most: an avenue for escapism.
Boo to the weekly tradition of Metro light-rail trains winding up in crashes. This week, we found our Sol Train in a non-injury collision at the intersection of 51st and Van Buren streets in Phoenix. Last week, a train collided with a Tempe Orbit bus just east of ASU’s Tempe campus. With the system’s having already reached double-digits in car-related collisions — a Metro spokeswoman said the magic number is at 11 — since it began service in late December, it’s only a matter of time until the next rogue vehicle runs another light-rail train off the road. Until then, we’ll be left wondering how it’s possible that our perpetually broken computers crash less than the light rail.
Bravo to President Barack Obama for bringing his stimulus road show to town on Wednesday. While a consensus is hard to find on whether the $787 billion economic stimulus bill the president signed into law on Tuesday will wind up doing our country harm or good, it is hard to argue with the little positive jolt of energy the state gets every time a commander in chief flies Air Force One into Sky Harbor International Airport. Being part of the youngest state in the continental U.S., it doesn’t pain us to come off sounding a little juvenile: Sometimes, we just like to know that somebody is thinking about us.
Boo to UA, for no other reason than it being rivalry week — oh, and then there’s that whole thing where Tucson is a general waste of space. As the Wildcat men’s basketball team makes its annual trip up into civilization this weekend to take on the No. 14 Sun Devils at Wells Fargo Arena, we’re once again reminded how good we have it up here — especially in the realm of sports. So, Sun Devils, do your thing: Wear gold, turn out in masses, get loud and send the kitties packing.
