Students remember Pope John Paul II as 'best pope we've had'

For most UA students, Pope John Paul II was the only one they knew.

A spiritual leader who in his 26-year papacy helped defeat communism in Europe, visited 129 countries, and was the first Pontiff to preach in a synagogue, he was also known for his deep involvement in the lives of Catholic youth.

"He was the best pope we've ever had," said Antonio Almada, a regional development junior who attended the 5 p.m. Mass at the St. Thomas More Catholic Newman Center at the University of Arizona yesterday. "He taught us how to achieve peace without using weapons and stopped three wars without violence. I prayed to him when he was alive and I'll pray to him even more now." [Read article]

In its first conference road trip of the season, No. 10 Arizona battered UCLA on the way to its first conference road sweep since 1999.

Junior first baseman Jordan Brown's grand slam in the Wildcats' 8-4 win Friday, junior Kevin Guyette's one-hitter in Saturday's 11-0 shutout, and freshman Eric Berger's 5 2/3 hitless innings of relief in yesterday's 12-2 win led to the sweep at Jackie Robinson Stadium in Los Angeles.

Arizona (21-10, 5-1 Pacific 10 Conference) had not swept a Pac-10 road series since besting Washington State April 17-18, 1999, and had not swept any conference series since May 18-20, 2001, against Washington, both before head coach Andy Lopez led the team. [Read article]

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]