Boo to Allison DeVane, Undergraduate Student Government senator for Barrett, the Honors College. DeVane was impeached for failing to attend meetings of the Barrett Honors College Council. Although 59 percent voted for her to be convicted, USG requires a three-fourths vote to remove an officer from office. Ironically, she is currently running for USG vice president of services on the same ticket as Brendan Corrigan. Is it weird that a senator accused of blatantly disregarding her duties would run for a more prestigious position? Yeah, it is. Call us crazy, but going to meetings you’re supposed to go to seems like a pretty significant part of the job — especially when it’s the majority of what you get paid to do. We’re just a little shocked at the audacity to run for higher office in the face of impeachment, especially when the majority voted for conviction. We’re also a little ticked that USG spent so much time on this issue while the proposed on-campus smoking ban was sent back to the committee. Priorities?
Bravo to the week ending. Coming back to school after a leisurely week of no classes is not easy. When that week contains tests, quizzes and projects for many, it becomes even more of a headache. So that’s why we’re glad it’s over. Now that we’ve gotten back in the swing of things (or at least are used to getting up for class again), we can build momentum leading up to the end of the year. We’re past the middle of the semester, and it certainly feels like it will be downhill from here. We’re already ready for May.
Bravo to Lake Havasu. The Lake Havasu City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved plans to look into creating a new Colleges@ASU location in the city. There are a lot of kids in Arizona who don’t have a chance to obtain higher education far away from home, so expanding college access to rural areas, which are generally hit harder by financial woes, is an excellent way to reach out. In tough economic times it is even more important to expand education opportunities, so we applaud ASU and Lake Havasu City for moving forward on these plans.
Bravo to the ASU baseball team. The Sun Devils are the No. 1 team in the nation with a record of 20-0. That perfect record is the second-longest winning streak in ASU history after the 1961 team’s 21-game winning streak. The Sun Devils will have a chance to break the school record for most consecutive wins this weekend against Cal at home. With men’s and women’s basketball over after NIT losses, now the baseball team gets our full attention. As it should. At least ASU has one sports team it can be proud of this year.
Boo to proposed cuts to an Arizona children’s program. Some state legislators are asking Arizonans to vote to remove funding from First Things First, a state agency for early childhood development. Voters chose to allocate funding from an 80-cent tax increase on cigarettes to the program in 2006. The money for the program has never been part of the general state fund, according to Rhian Evans Allvin, First Things First executive director. We understand the efforts to shore up the budget crisis, but taking money from children’s development is akin to taking candy from babies — and that’s just not right. Also it’s pretty stupid from a political standpoint. A stump speech including “reallocating” children’s money? We don’t think so.
