School of Planning essential for Tucson's Îsmart growth'

On Jan. 14, in accordance with the so-called "Focused Excellence" plan, the UA released a list of programs to eliminate and simultaneously revealed its short-sightedness and lack of care for the Tucson community. I was alarmed to see that the School of Planning was on the top of this list.

The School of Planning actively promotes smart city growth, diverse communities, and mass transportation in Tucson through its curriculum. Cutting this department would leave Tucson as one of the few metropolitan areas in the United States without this educational tool for promoting balanced urban development. [Read article]

The little gremlins from that bastion of pro-developer sentiment to the north are at it again. This time, they'd like you to add a half-cent to your sales tax in order to pay the costs of unchecked urban sprawl in Phoenix. How nice of them to include Tucson taxpayers, many of whom do not share Phoenician attitudes toward growth.

A new proposal, already dubbed the "Phoenix plan" in Friday's Arizona Daily Star, would increase the statewide sales tax by a half-cent to pay for transportation improvements. This plan is very similar to a Tucson proposal last May that was overwhelmingly defeated by voters. [Read article]

This past weekend, thousands of protesters lined streets around the world to protest the pending war in Iraq. While it is every citizen's right to voice his or her opposition of the U.S. government, the reality is that their voices will not change the Bush administration's approach to a regime change in Iraq.

Like it or not, war has come to the United States and it will likely continue for generations to come. Some battles will take place covertly, while others, like the one soon to take place in Iraq, will be on stage for the whole world to see. Accompanying the latter will be throngs of people coming out of the woodwork, using the war movement to create their own anti-war movement. [Read article]