Boo to the Phoenix New Times article declaring that Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash was going to leave basketball in pursuit of a political career. Spoofs are great. Spoofs are funny. It’s why we love The Onion so much. But there are a couple parts of the Valley that you don’t mess with, and one of them is Steve Nash. The man won over the hearts of local residents years ago. After Suns fans watched Amare Stoudemire move to another team over the summer, losing a second star would be heartbreaking. Could Steve attempt politics? Sure, but he will still be spending his time lobbying in the paint, not in office. Don’t kick Suns fans while they’re down, Phoenix New Times.
Bravo to the crazy politicians and political parties that came out of the woodwork this election season. From New York’s very own Jimmy McMillan, whose “The Rent Is Too Damn High” Party stood no real chance at the governor’s seat, to Christine O’Donnell’s auto-tuned “I’m Not a Witch” ad, to Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz, who “kicks children in the face.” Even if these people take themselves seriously, it’s nice to have a little obvious insanity that we can make fun of without the fear of it being virally propelled into office. (This doesn’t mean we haven’t coveted a few tempting thoughts about starting an Undergraduate Student Government party called “The Tuition is Too Damn High” for next semester’s elections.)
Boo to the Arizona Senate. Republicans, who now dominate the upper chamber 21-9, elected immigration hardliner Sen. Russell Pearce as Senate President on Wednesday. Pearce launched Arizona into the national spotlight with his immigration bill last session, and will now have considerable control over which bills reach the Senate floor (and which ones don’t). As part of the deal to win the presidency, he apparently said he won’t draft any immigration legislation next session, though last month, he announced plans to challenge automatic citizenship to babies born to illegal immigrants in the United States. Don’t get too excited, though. It’s likely that any of Pearce’s proposals could pop up from just about any one of his Republican allies in the Legislature. With the party’s huge majority, he won’t face a strong challenge.
Bravo to the ASU grads and undergrads heading to Salt Lake City this weekend to compete in the National Chem-E-Car Competition. The team of chemical engineers built a chemically powered shoebox-sized car that won a regional competition last April, and are now moving on to compete against 30 national teams. We also applaud these students putting up their own airfare to the competition, with the only promise of reimbursement coming with the first place cash prize. Not only does the students’ project and contribution to fuel research reflect well on our school’s innovation points, but we hope for their sake that they get those bragging rights that they deserve. So, roll on, little heat-gradient car. Roll, on.
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