As the semester comes to a close, it’s important to look back on everything that has shaped our community in these last few short months. If it seems like an uneventful few months, just take a look at some of the biggest stories we’ve seen this fall:
Tempe Town Lake’s death and rebirth fascinated the Valley. The dam burst in July, draining the lake of most of its water, killing millions of fish and threatening to turn the Arizona Ironman into a duathlon if not repaired in a timely manner. Hundreds of millions of gallons flooded the dry riverbed and ASU students and Tempe residents had to not only deal with a few months of staring at a giant hole that reflected the state of Arizona’s economic well-being, but also losing the only symbol of relief during those hot summer days.
It’s hard to side with either the optimists or the pessimists in regards to the 2010 ASU football season. The team missed the postseason for the third straight year, but five of its six losses came by a combined total of 20 points, including two one-point defeats. The Sun Devils’ final two wins were impressive, and the one-point victory over UA in Tucson was, by far, the most thrilling game of the season. Next season will again be full of promise, with another possibility of a let down.
The nail-biter of this election season was the 10-day wait for mail-in ballots to determine the passage of the only citizens’ initiative — Proposition 203. The hairpin passage of the Arizona Medical Marijuana Initiative made Arizona the 15th state to allow people with chronic pain and debilitating diseases to seek alternative forms of relief. This giant step forward for the voices of the people is the most progression we’ve seen in a while.
The Tempe Police reported a 10-year high in the city’s murder rate, and the annual crime report released by the ASU Police showed a three-year high in aggravated assaults. So it’s no surprise that crime and murder has become a recurring topic near the Tempe campus, the most recent of which was the untimely and unnecessary death of ASU student Zachary Marco. These homicide and assault numbers have cast a sinister cloud over the hub of the majority of ASU’s student body and makes what should be a thriving environment one for fear and grief.
SB 1070 has divided Arizona since Gov. Jan Brewer signed it in April. From protesters chaining themselves to the Capitol Building to rallies in the streets and a nationwide boycott by famous artists and musicians against the bill, America and Arizonans have demonstrated the moral disturbance of this bill. The bad press and our leader’s poor press management has knocked the wind out of Arizona, making the heat of it all just that much more uncomfortable. Now, the future of this law has rightfully found itself on the scales.
