Bravo to student activism in the face of crisis. After a 7.0 magnitude earthquake shook Haiti last week, ASU students and staff wasted little time in helping relief efforts. The ASU chapter of the Sigma Pi fraternity is hosting a penny drive by the Memorial Union on the Tempe campus, ASU Bookstores organized a simple way for students to donate to the Red Cross while buying books and a law student has organized a fundraiser at La Bocca Urban Pizzeria and Wine Bar. Even thousands of miles away, it is heartening to see the outpouring of support in the ASU and surrounding communities.
Boo to the rain and the soggy shoes and wet clothes that come with it. If you’re from the Pacific Northwest or somewhere else that’s a shade of green the whole year round, forgive us — we’re wimps. We realize this liquid falling from the sky is normal in some parts of the world, but in Arizona we sell sunscreen, not umbrellas. Beyond the general discomfort and difficulty, the mass outpouring of rain shows us just how ill-equipped the Valley is to deal with it. When flooding is so high that you can’t tell the difference between the street and the sidewalk, you know there’s an issue. At this rate, we’d just like the rain, rain to go away.
Bravo to reaching for the stars. A new club on the Tempe campus plans to focus on the stuff all astronauts’ dreams are made of: space. I mean, c’mon, who didn’t want to be a space explorer when they were little? And the club even plans to be involved with other organizations like the International Space University, which is so cool it sounds made up. As one founder said, “In the future, everyone’s going to be involved in space, whether they expect to or not.” So let’s lift our eyes to the skies and make it sooner rather than later.
Boo to yet another potential tuition hike. We feel like a broken record, covering spike after spike — it would be really nice if tuition could stay stable for a few years so we wouldn’t have to. We appreciate the value of a good education, but that’s where ASU should excel — at value. We realize there is no such thing as a free lunch, but the rich student may be even more of a rarity.
Bravo to the ASU men’s basketball team for climbing into first place in the Pac-10 just in time for the first rivalry showdown with UA. Of course, we always look down on that city geographically, but it’s quite fun to look down on those Wildcats from the standings as well. Kudos to Herb Sendek and his staff for preaching defense first — the Sun Devils lead the nation in scoring defense — and we expect that style of play will stifle the ’Cats and lead to ASU’s sixth win in a row over UA. Who’s the basketball school now?
