Bravo to ASU student Lauren Meiss, who won a $19,000 scholarship to go research cystic fibrosis in Sweden. Doctors diagnosed Meiss with this disease when she was three months old. Cystic fibrosis, which causes mucus to clog up the lungs, is currently an incurable disease and has an average life expectancy of 35 years. It is her life goal to find a cure. “I have been given this gift to realize how precious life is,” Meiss told The State Press. Let us all remember this — someone in the face of so something so difficult is achieving exceptional things.
Boo to the cutting of Pell Grants. The grants have not seen the chopping block yet, but there is reason to believe they might. Part of the 11th-hour debt ceiling deal reached in August created a 12-member deficit reduction panel, which Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., is a member of. The panel was charged with finding at least $1.2 trillion in savings. Everything from defense spending to education spending is being looked at. We can only hope that they won’t cut Pell Grants. College is getting increasingly expensive, and students are having a harder time paying for it. These grants allow countless numbers of students to go to college. A college degree is becoming more and more essential, thus we want to make the opportunity more and more accessible.
Bravo to the nomination of adjunct law professor Andrew Hurwitz to the federal bench. President Barack Obama nominated Hurwitz to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. This is just another example of leaders tapping this school’s talent. The 9th Circuit meets in Seattle, San Francisco, Honolulu, Portland, Ore., and Pasadena, Calif. Hurwitz currently serves as vice chief justice to the Arizona Supreme Court. Hurwitz will face confirmation by Congress, but we have faith that he will make it through.
Boo to the memory loss linked to a hormone in a birth control. A graduate student-led study showed that the Depo-Provera birth control shot has medroxyprogesterone acetate — the name of a hormone that no one in the newsroom could pronounce — which impairs a person’s memory. Depo-Provera is administered every third month and is considered almost as foolproof as a contraceptive. These results are startling. Hopefully they will become common knowledge and researchers will search for a safer alternative.
Bravo to former ASU football coach Frank Kush for receiving the Lott IMPACT Trophy, the only award in college football that takes character into account rather than just relying on sheer talent. Kush was honored Friday at a luncheon and at the Colorado game on Saturday. Former players and colleagues turned out to support Kush. “He did a great job of showing us what life was going to be about,” said Brent McClanahan, a former running back for ASU and the Minnesota Vikings. He compiled an impressive record of 176-54-1 during his 22 years at ASU. No other coach at ASU has had similar results.
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