Bravo for a big weekend of football for the state of Arizona. We will finally get an inkling of just what this ASU football team is made of on Saturday when it clashes with No. 21 Georgia in Athens. Two wins against Idaho State and Lousiana-Monroe are nice, but it will be interesting to see how the Sun Devils handle a big-boy team from the SEC in one of the most hostile environments in the country. The next day, the nation will be watching in prime time when the Cardinals host Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday Night Football.
Boo to wasted energy and resources. We’ve been seeing “Life’s amazing without hazing” signs around campus, and while we certainly don’t support hazing at all, we don’t think Greek Life should be spending time telling us what awful things they aren’t doing. Hazing is prohibited, so it should be a given that sororities aren’t hazing, right? Why waste time telling the campus what you aren’t doing to people? Hey, think you’re life’s good now, just wait until we don’t haze you! It would matter if hazing was going on, but is it worth promoting that they aren’t breaking the law? It’s kind of like saying: Look at us, we don’t steal from small children. And is life actually amazing without hazing or is life the same, only better than it would be if you were in a highly dangerous and embarrassing setting? Perhaps the energy spent on a self-promoting, obvious issue should be used to support actual philanthropy that Greek Life is supposed to be dedicated to.
Bravo to Restaurant Week. Customers dining at participating eateries in Tempe and Phoenix have been able to get some delicious deals this week. Food is good. Good food is better. Good food for great prices is the best. Not only is the promotion — which lasts until Saturday — good for our tummies, it will hopefully boost the economy too. Because so many jobs are reliant on the food service industry, Restaurant Week is focused on minimizing the impact of the recession by encouraging people to resume spending money on dining out. With snazzy restaurants like House of Tricks participating, it’s an excellent chance to snap up some upscale food at a reduced price — always a yummy option.
Boo to another possible budget battle for the University. Because of a projected $1 billion shortfall for the 2010 fiscal year, Gov. Jan Brewer’s office is asking all state agencies — including universities — to examine the impact of a 15 to 20 percent cut to their budgets. Now the Arizona Board of Regents is set to request an additional $460 million from the Legislature for the 2011 fiscal year. It’s a valiant effort, but at this point it’s like asking the homeless guy on Mill Avenue to spot you a $100 bill. We would appreciate it if the state could think twice about slashing the University’s budget. But at the same time, the universities need to realize you can’t get milk from a dead cow.
Bravo to the resilience of the Memorial Union on the Tempe campus. A fire sprinkler went off Wednesday evening, causing flooding in the MU and evacuating the building for 45 minutes. Less than an hour? That’s pretty impressive, considering the months students had to go without Pitchforks or Einstein’s after the “Great MU fire of 2008.” We’re pretty proud of our student union for making such a quick comeback this time around — we don’t think we could handle being separated from it again.
