Bravo to the headline “Gulf leak stopped, but where’s the oil?” USA Today almost seemed disappointed that more oil wasn’t washing ashore. After all, President Barack Obama did call it “the worst environmental disaster America has ever faced.” So what gives? Where’s that unrefined monster? We journalists can’t expect the American people to buy the disaster story unless we see the disaster. An ABC News report said skimmers are having difficulty finding oil to pick up since BP capped the flow about two weeks ago. “It’s mother nature doing her job,” Louisiana State University professor Ed Overton told ABC News. “…We’re losing most of it to microbial degradation in the open ocean.” But we can’t celebrate just yet. According to the Associated Press, scientists believe much of the oil has been trapped below the surface after chemical dispersant was used to break the oil a mile beneath the ocean's top. Large amounts of oil trapped between the surface and the ocean's bottom could contaminate the food chain and deplete oxygen, according to the AP report. Way to silence our Bravo, AP. Hopefully Mother Nature looks after her human children by cleaning up the mess we've made.
Boo to the United States government for not being able to keep secrets secret. In what has been called the biggest leak since the Vietnam War's Pentagon Papers, the whistle-blower website WikiLeaks published thousands of military reports on the Afghanistan War. Adm. Mike Mullen, chairmen of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a CNN report that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and his source might already have blood on their hands - either of a soldier or an Afghan family. At first glance, exposing the truth about America's longest war looks pretty cool. But then again, when intelligence leaks could harm our men and women abroad, the "cool" factor quickly slips away - especially when this intelligence could fall into the hands of the enemy. Our thoughts go out to the families who must endure the long weeks and months apart from their loved ones serving this great country. We hope no one is harmed by this leak.
Bravo to Tempe Town Lake races not being canceled. When the majority of the lake's water rushed away on July 20 after a section of the west dam broke, we thought all those fall triathlons gushed away with it. It turns out the events will still be going on, but competitors will just have to leave their swimsuits at home. An official of the sporting events business Red Rock Company told The State Press that Red Rock is changing its scheduled triathlons to duathlons. The swimming portion of the triathlons will be cut out, and the event will switch to a run-bike-run format. We know this upsets some of you triathletes. All those hours of doing laps in the pool seem wasted. Please don't let this get you down. Come to the Tempe Town Ditch on race day and support the Tempe community as it works to rebuild the one of the city's iconic symbols.
Boo to summer ending. We've endured some hot weeks together, faithful readers. From Tempe Town Lake draining to Senate Bill 1070 protesters marching down Phoenix streets, our issues were full of some hot topics. But now, sadly, it comes to an end. The summer State Press must bid you farewell. But don't fret too much - The State Press will be back in print Aug. 19, the first day of classes. Even if you decide to skip that first day, make sure you pick up a copy anyway. We might not be able to fill you in on what happened in class, but we'll fill you in on what's happening around ASU and its surrounding community. This is the summer State Press editorial board…signing off.
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