Here in Arizona, we have a national reputation for being ahead of the curve in many areas. If you're interested in optics, golf or great college basketball, then this is the place for you. Yet there is one area where we Arizonans stand out more than any other: our ability to stick it to those noble enough to work in our public schools.

This week the Pima County attorney finally dropped the last of the charges against four educators from DeGrazia Elementary School in the Marana Unified School District. Principal Julia Barwell, counselor Jennifer de la Montana, and kindergarten teachers Connie Jensen and Dorlis Menendez were all charged with a class 6 felony for failure to report alleged child abuse. The Sheriff's Office claims that a DeGrazia student told her teacher that she had been abused on Sept. 7 or 8, and that school officials reported the information with authorities on Sept. 10. [Read article]

The best editorials from college campuses around the nation

There's another death toll in Iraq

(U-WIRE) MINNEAPOLIS - A recently released study is estimating civilian deaths in Iraq to have reached 100,000. The horrifying number of civilian casualties shows more have been killed since the coalition invasion than would have died during prior sanctions in Iraq.

Though U.S. military officials aren't keeping track of civilian deaths, they say they are fighting the war with precise action to avoid as many civilian casualties as possible. But based on the study, they aren't avoiding as many civilian casualties as they thought they were. [Read article]

EDITOR'S NOTE: Friday's Wildcat contained a fake news story saying the university would save funds by not turning on air conditioning. The opinions pages also had a point/counterpoint debating the merits of a fictitious ban on maids. Some got the joke ... others didn't.

Bicyclists create a hazard

Your article gives me hope. I daily use the Olive pedestrian underpass and have had two near misses in the last week with bicycles zooming past me when bicycle riding is prohibited in the passageway. We need more UAPD down there in from 7:30 a.m. until 8:10 a.m. [Read article]