Take it easy, AZ

As we invoke the spirit of The Eagles (kindly referencing Winslow, Arizona) in their 1972 single, "Take it Easy" I'm having a hard time understanding just what Jan Brewer and Co. are attempting to enact less than 200 miles from Albuquerque. When did it become okay to bully people of different origins? The United States obviously has a history of racism and hatred of foreigners, but you'd think we'd be past that.

In case you haven't heard, Arizona has had quite a few items checked off on their bucket list to rid themselves of immigrants. SB1070, arguably the most publicized on the list, will allow law enforcement officers to question a citizen and turn them over to the INS if they suspect they're illegal. Granted, they can't be stopped just because they look illegal. There has to be another reason. Like speeding or littering or drug trafficking. It can be beneficial in some cases (as per the traffickers) or extremely harmful depending on the racism of the police officer in question. Essentially, you have regular cops doing the work of La Migra.

Arizona has also decided ethnic studies programs are not good for students, because they possibly promote differences in ethnicity rather than unification of all students. Different types of history aren't important, I guess.

Finally, our friends to the West have deemed that the only people capable of teaching English are native English speakers, regardless of the perspective non-native speakers bring when teaching a language. My most effective Spanish teachers have been native English speakers that are fluent in both. They understand the challenges that go into learning a specific language, when they first identify with the language the student is fluent in.


Cypress Hill has already canceled their summertime show in Tucson in a "show of resistance to the criminalization of immigrant communities." As your typical college student(a.k.a. liberal), I give serious props to Cypress Hill for their boldness. We were founded on the idea of opening our doors to the tired and poor. Mexico is still a developing country. What we should all realize is there's a serious difference between a migrant working in a restaurant to send money to his family down south and someone smuggling in Colombian coke.

When is Arizona gonna get with the times?

Greatest Cover Ever

Thou shalt not use an ellipsis.

Although UNM is changing course requirements so there will no longer be print or broadcast concentrations, I feel like there are some valuable lessons to be learned for all students entering the Journalism major. And so, I present some Commandments of C&J.

• Invest in an AP Stylebook: You're going to be using it a lot. 48% of students that fail 171 didn't take the Stylebook seriously. It's that big of a deal. Okay, I made that statistic up, but really, if you want to do well in these courses, worship the AP Stylebook.
  
  
• Work hard, play hard: Just because we have such big gaps between deadlines for class, as a student, I can safely say it's okay to party when you have the time. But don't push interviews, events and the actual writing to the last minute. That causes huge headaches when it comes time to actually type up that 1000 word profile.
  
  
• Become multifaceted: Take Desktop Publishing. Take photography. Take as many different courses that C&J has to offer as your schedule permits. These will give you a broader perspective and make you a better student in your required courses.
  
  
• Start thinking like an editor: When something happens in your life, or in your community/workplace/little sister's high school, ask yourself, "Would this make a good story?" If not, what needs changing? Does it need a different angle? Even if you don't expand on it, you begin to recognize newsworthy material.
  

• Continue thinking like a consumer: It's easy to fall into boring-easy (borseeeyyy) story ideas for class, because you have a ton of stuff on your plate. But when you do something, ask yourself, "If I came across this in a newspaper/magazine/blog/YouTube clip, would I read/watch it?" If your answer is no, change your ways. Make it interesting.

• Think like a copy editor, too: Okay, I know these are a lot of hats to wear just for writing a story, but they'll make your stories come out so much better. Here's a question for you, to see how well you've been paying attention.

  Once upon a time there was a girl taking an intro print class. She was thinking like a consumer and an editor. She had a great story idea for a ride-along with a police officer. That will be interesting to read, right? Lots of action, adventure, when coupled with a profile, you've got a high interest piece right? So why did I, I mean the girl, get a C on it?

  AP style errors baby. It wasn't organized well. I just went in, full speed and didn't care.

It would have been great if it would have been for a publication I owned, edited and wrote for. But it wasn't. It was for class. And in class you play by their rules. Actually, anywhere you get a job, you play by their rules

• Be nice to the staff and faculty: This includes front desk people, TA's, anyone working in the building. Being nice to Mary Bibeau & Co. gets your messages to you faster, your schedule organized a little more sweetly and who knows, you may even get that closed class opened up to accommodate you for you graduation. You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

Do you have any commandments to add to the list?