University of Arizona

Chinese Health Day on April 4th at University of AZ

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Carolyn’s note: Although I am not of Chinese ethnicity, I am a member of the Tucson Chinese Cultural Center since I am a passionate (and fairly good and somewhat lucky) mah jong player. Check out this healthy festival tomorrow on UA Mall, for free.

University of Arizona

National Adjunct Walkout Day: UA Adjuncts Represent

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University of ArizonaFebruary 25 was National Adjunct Walkout Day across the country and right here in Tucson, Arizona on the University of Arizona campus.

What is an adjunct, and why should I care?

If you’re a college student or if you’re paying for your children’s college education, you should care.

Adjunct faculty are non-voting, non-tenure-track instructors, lecturers, and other lower-level teaching staff. As state legislatures have cut higher education budgets nationwide, universities and community colleges have shifted to employing more adjunct faculty to teach because they’re cheap contract labor it’s more cost effective. To put it simply: As budgets have been slashed and as tuition has gone up, universities and community colleges have replaced full-time tenure-track professors with part-time piece-workers adjunct or contingent non-tenure-track faculty.

Over the past 30 years, there has been a dramatic shift from 75% of teaching faculty being tenure-track professors to 75% being non-tenure-track. A full professor can make between $72,000 – $160,000 per year (more on the medical campus), while adjuncts make $22,000 – $27,000 per year, according to NPR. Part-time adjuncts make far less than that because they often teach only one or two classes for as little as $2000-3000/class… and live on the edge of poverty.

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Occupy Tucson

Tucson: It’s Time to Stop Ignoring the Homeless & Help Them (video)

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Occupy Tucson
Public Lands protest on the sidewalk in downtown Tucson during Occupy Tucson. (There is a person in that pile.)

For decades, Tucson has waffled between ignoring the homeless living on our streets and under bridges to over-policing them.

When I moved here in 1981, the politically correct term for Tucson’s homeless was “transient”.

The attitude was: They’re not ‘homeless’, and they’re not ‘bums’. They’re just passing through… transient. Ignore them, and they’ll go away.

Transients were seen by the populace and the local government as another inconvenient byproduct of warm winter weather. They’re like snowbirds and college students but without money, but our capitalistic society has no use for people without money.

By labeling the homeless “transients”, Tucson was able to turn a blind eye toward them. Over the years, Tucson tried to make itself more inhospitable by passing laws prohibiting aggressive panhandling and ending street corner sales of newspapers. Really… we just wanted them to go away, so we wouldn’t have to feel guilty about inaction. With the rise of Safe Park homeless encampment downtown, I fear another round of over-policing is coming, since the city is appealing a court order protecting Safe Park as a free speech protest. For the back story and ideas for the future, keep reading.

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University of AZ to offer Bachelor’s degree in law

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Since there’s a bunch of lawyers blogging online here at Blog for Arizona (and a bunch of lawyers reading us online), I thought I’d better announce the news that the University of AZ will be offering the nation’s first B.A. in Law.   Read about it more in UA News:

http://uanews.org/story/university-of-arizona-to-offer-nation-s-first-bachelor-of-arts-in-law

The new degree – the product of a partnership between the College of Law and the School of Government and Public Policy in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences – is very different from existing legal studies or paralegal programs. Those programs focus on obtaining legal skills for supporting lawyers. This new degree, however, will offer a rigorous foundational education in critical thinking, analysis and complex problem resolution, as well as a deep understanding of law and the inner workings of the legal system.

After completing core courses at the UA School of Government and Public Policy, students in the interdisciplinary program will be required to take core law courses. These courses will provide an understanding of subjects such as property, contracts and torts, constitutional law, administrative law, and civil and criminal procedure. They will be taught by full-time faculty at the law school and designed to train students to “think like a lawyer.”

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World of Beer Brings More Beer to Downtown Tucson. A Perfect Storm?

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Cadence31-sig-sm72by Pamela Powers Hannley

A World of Beer franchise will be opening on the ground floor of The Cadence, that giant, six-story, white student housing complex rising from the old dirt lot next to the Rialto Theater downtown.

What could be more perfect than a 3000-square-foot bar located under a maxi-dorm with 465 apartments? This sounds like a capitalist's dream and a parent's nightmare.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I am not a beer drinker, so I don't see the point of opening another beer joint downtown– especially a franchise (owned by some guy from Tempe). World of Beer will be in direct competition with local beer joints already in the immediate vicinity of The Cadence, namely The Shanty, Thunder Canyon Brewery, Gentle Ben's, Barrio Brewing, and Borderlands Brewery. More about beer after the jump.