Here are some short items about TUSD, some of the positive things happening in the district which deserve to be spotlighted. The district gets plenty of bad press (I sometimes participate in the piling on) while the good stuff is too often ignored. Some of the items below were in the Star. Others are from Superintendent H.T. Sanchez’s regular Team Member Updates. Clearly Sanchez is putting the items in the best possible light, but they look good to me as well. TUSD has a right to crow when good things happen, and the rest of us benefit from hearing about positive developments.
• The Star’s Alexis Huicochea has a good piece about C.E. Rose, a K-8 school with 93% of its students on free or reduced lunch. Its students score far higher on state tests than most students from low income families. TUSD plans to turn the school into a district-run charter — that brings about $1,000 more per student to the school — and to try and replicate its success at two schools that were closed, Wakefield and Richey. They will reopen as charters.
• Another story covered by Huicochea is TUSD’s pledge to support all students no matter their immigration status, which received unanimous support from the board. According to Sanchez, “The designation is the first of its kind in the nation for a school district. It means we pledge to help all students pursue a higher education regardless of immigration status and it supports the April 9 National Educators' Coming Out Day led by the Dream Educational Empowerment Program of United We Dream and Scholarships A-Z, an organization that helps undocumented immigrants attend college.”
Tags: TUSD , C.E. Rose , National Educators' Coming Out Day
On Saturday morning, same sex marriage became legal in England, which is great news for anyone who loves love and probably also for the guy who wrote the smash hit comedies Notting Hill and Love Actually. More material! One particularly moving story was captured by the folks at the Sunday Sport, which seems to have purchased the font library of the National Enquirer at some point. Get your non-brand-name facial tissue ready for the touching tale of the man who married his mugger:
Tags: gay marriage , same sex marriage england , the sunday sport , i married my mugger , the tucson weekly loves love
It's the 19th anniversary of the death of Tejano music superstar Selena. The Latina pop star was murdered by her fired fan club president and clothing boutiques manager Yolanda Saldivar. According to 15 Facts You May Not Know About Selena on the Anniversary of Her Death from TheLatinoPost.com, her favorite TV show during her teen years was Moonlighting. So, in her honor, why not spend some time with Booger, Bruce and the gang.
Here's our favorite Selena hits:
Como La Flor
Bidi Bidi Bum Bum
Tags: Tejano music , Selena , Yolanda Saldivar , 19th anniversary of her death , Moonlighting , dance dance dance , Video
Can't grow a ginger beard? The fine folks at El Guero Canelo Restaurante Mexicano have cleverly crafted a printable beard modeled after the restaurant owner Daniel Contreras. The best part is that there's a Sonoran dog port of entry carefully placed over the mouth hole. All you need is a string to tie it around your mug, and you're officially a member of the El Guero Canelo Beard Bib Club.
Tags: El Guero Canelo , Sonoran Hot Dog Hole , #GueroCanelo , Video
The sequel to the critically acclaimed and box office success Rise of the Planet of the Apes teaser debuted Sunday night. Fans watching AMC's Walking Dead season finale caught the first glimpse of the The Dawn of the Planet Apes Sunday night. The 44 second clip features the Apes riding horses and looking scary. But did I mention Gary Oldman is in it because he is. So, I'm automatically sold based on this one casting decision.
The Dawn of the Planet Apes will hit theaters on Friday, July 11.
Tags: Planet of the Apes , Space Monkeys , Video
Tired of going to job fairs with no alcohol? Start Up Tucson is hosting a Job Crawl from 4 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 1 at Gentle Ben's, 865 East University Boulevard. "This event is designed to connect the best of the UA talent with the best local employers," said founder and President of Startup Tucson Justin Williams.
It invites in top companies & opportunities in Tucson that may not historically have been a part of why talented graduates can stay in town. Its is designed to make it easier for those innovative Tucson companies that want to recruit student talent, but they may only be hiring one person. And they may only hire that person every two years.
The best part is the dress code or lack there of. "No need for three piece suits and ties but do look presentable. From a t-shirt and jeans to a blazer and khakis, anything in that range is appropriate," according to the event page. So, bring your resume, business cards and winning personality.
Tags: Start Up Tucson , Tucson Job Crawl , Gentle Ben's
For all of you out there who missed the UA 'riot' that took place this past Saturday, here's a video that covered the event from start to finish. My analysis of the event: Wildcat fans really know how to throw a party.
Last week's premiere of the Cesar Chavez biopic was celebrated by Chicanos and non-Chicanos alike, but another Filipino-American activists felt that the film falls short of accurately depicting their peoples' fight in the struggle and creation of the farmworker movement.
The National Board of the Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS) issued a statement that it "celebrates the appearance of United Farm Workers (UFW) co-founder Larry Itliong in the Hollywood biopic Cesar Chavez. However, FANHS argues that the film misses an opportunity to offer a nuanced and accurate history of the farmworkers movement that was born of the Filipinos’ 1965 Grape Strike because it does not emphasize the importance of the historic multi-ethnic alliance between Mexicans and Filipinos in the UFW."
FANHS hopes that moviegoers inspired by the film continue to learn about the movement and are spurred towards dialogue and action towards today’s movements for worker justice and such issues as immigration reform.
“We respect Diego Luna’s vision of a film about the heroic rise of Cesar Chavez, but as a history of the farmworkers struggle, the film falls short by downplaying, erasing and silencing the significant role that Filipinos and others played in the heroic struggle for farmworkers justice in California,” says Dr. Dawn B. Mabalon, National Scholar and board member of FANHS, and associate professor of history at San Francisco State University. “We understand that this is Hollywood and not a documentary, but the filmmakers still have a responsibility to ensure that the history they present is accurate.”
Tags: Cesar Chavez , Dolores Huerta , National Board of the Filipino American National Historical Society , Larry Itliong , Filipino-Americans , correcting history , Video
In a recent state budget deal, the Arizona state House added $900,000 earmarked for the private prison corporation GEO Group, and the American Friends Service Committee in Arizona is asking citizens and such to call Senate Appropriations Chair Sen. Don Shooter (602-926-4139; dshooter@azleg.gov)and Senate President Andy Biggs (602-926-4371; abiggs@azleg.gov) and ask that this special deal not move forward. The Senate hears the bill today, Monday, March 31.
How did this deal get crafted? Well according to a March 28 Arizona Republic story, the Arizona Department of Corrections didn't ask for it, but House Appropriations Chair John Kavanagh placed it into the budget:
The eleventh-hour funding was placed into the budget by House Appropriations Chairman John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, who said GEO Group Inc. lobbyists informed him the company wasn't making enough money from the emergency beds it provides Arizona at prisons in Phoenix and Florence.The request came even though GEO bid for its contracts and had agreed to previously negotiated rates with the Corrections Department, which guarantees the company nearly 100 percent occupancy at its prisons.
From AFSC:
Tell Senate Appropriations Chair to pull $900,000 appropriation for GEO Group in state budget!The budget deal negotiated Thursday in the state House included an EXTRA $900,000 specifically earmarked for facilities run by one private prison corporation: GEO Group.
This money was not requested by the Department of Corrections. The Arizona Republic reported that a lobbyist for GEO Group went directly to Rep. John Kavanagh, Chair of the House Appropriations Committee to make the request.
The corporation essentially circumvented both the contract negotiation process AND the state agency budgeting process.
Despite a contentious process in which a group of holdout Republicans were fighting to secure needed funds for the states broken child welfare system, Kavanagh handed this corporation $1 million that the Department of Corrections says it doesn’t need.
How many needy Arizona families will go without child care? How many CPS cases will go un-investigated because John Kavanagh cares more about the interests of GEO Group than about the people of Arizona?
Tags: American Friends Service Committee , John Kavanagh , GEO Group , private prisons , Arizona Department of Corrections , Don Shooter , Andy Biggs
Multiple readers have sent us this Youtube video of a Tucson Police Officer shoving a woman near Park Avenue and University Boulevard during the unlawful assembly on Saturday, March 29. The woman appeared to be on her phone when a officer used a baton to knock her on a metal bench. We are awaiting for an official response from TPD.
Bisbee comedian Doug Stanhope is eager to find out the officer responsible for this:
Tags: Tucson Police Department , Tucson Police Shoving Woman , Unlawful Assembly March 29 , Wildcat Riot , Video