The University of Arizona (UArizona) has gone back to the basics — way back, in fact: one course fulfilling the university’s mandatory diversity & equity (D&E) curriculum requires students to play pretend as bugs.
The Goldwater Institute, a libertarian public policy think tank in Phoenix, discovered that a UArizona course fulfilling the diversity and equity requirement directs students to experiment with “living like a bug” by wearing tissue paper “wings” as they walk around, an exercise meant to provide symbolic understanding of the experience of others from different races, social classes, or physical or intellectual abilities.
Additionally, students engaging in this play pretend of bug life must submit a written reflection on the “assumptions that inform popular attitudes toward insects” and then identify “ways that attitudes of othering interfere with self-identity and foster systems of privilege or oppression/marginalization.”
The course, Entomology 106D1, is marketed as assessing the impact of insects on human history, including human inequities, cultural diversity, and new ways of understanding sexuality.
“Bugs have built and destroyed human empires, aided our advances, propelled our catastrophes, and exacerbated our inequities. We learn how arthropods have shaped human history and cultural diversity, improved our health, wealth, and art, and continue to teach us new ways to understand human nature, sexuality, intelligence, and even how to approach \”alien\” ideas,” reads the course description.
The course is part of a track to earning an undergraduate certificate in entomology and insect science.
Insect play pretend isn’t the only option for UArizona students to fulfill their required D&E credits. As Goldwater Institute noted in their vast report, other courses offer different learning opportunities to fulfill diversity and equity requirements.
An anthropology course on race, ethnicity, and the American Dream instructs students to learn how the U.S. is deeply embedded with racism — systemic — through its history, society, and institutions. The course declares that only white people can attain the American Dream because they “hold unearned privilege,” unlike people of color.
In order to remedy the proposed inequities, the course then directs students to learn about different reparations plans.
Another course, “Constructions of Gender,” offered students extra credit to undergo training at an LGBTQ center on campus, or to attend an allyship development training.
UArizona quantified valid D&E courses as those which center on one or more marginalized populations in the course content, such as racial or ethnic minorities, women, LGBTQIA+ people, economically marginalized communities, and disabled people; explore historical developments, causes, and consequences of structured inequality; and examine how power, privilege, and positionality shape systems related to the discipline of the course and how knowledge is constructed.
Valid D&E courses, according to the university, shape the student to understand which historical and contemporary populations have experienced inequality — specifically, racial and ethnic minorities, women, LGBTQIA+ people, disabled people, the marginalized, the socioeconomically disadvantaged, and those from colonized societies — and how various communities experience privilege and/or oppression or marginalization.
At the end of their D&E courses, students must be able to theorize the means to creating a more equitable society.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
Low-income Arizona families can get some relief this summer on their grocery bill, thanks to a federal program organized by the state.
The Arizona Department of Education (ADE) and Department of Economic Security (DES) are offering a federal summer grocery benefits program, “SUN Bucks,” to provide grocery money to low-income households.
These households may receive $120 per eligible child to purchase groceries.
DES began distributing funds earlier this week to nearly 288,000 children according to a press release. These children were receiving Nutrition and/or Cash Assistance benefits.
The agencies estimate about 600,000 children will benefit from SUN Bucks this summer. Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne said that the department wanted to ensure continued health and development of students over the summer.
“We are working with the USDA and DES to bring this federal grocery benefits program to Arizona, which is projected to provide additional assistance to over 600,000 students who might not otherwise have the meals they need this summer,” said Horne.
SUN Bucks may be used at an in-person or online store that accepts Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. These funds must be used within 122 days from the day the benefits are added to the account. Lost or stolen benefits can’t be replaced.
SUN Bucks may be used for fruits and vegetables; meat, poultry, and fish; dairy products; breads and cereals; snack foods and non-alcoholic drinks. They may not be used for hot foods, pet foods, cleaning or household supplies, personal hygiene items, or medicine.
Eligible families include those participating in the National School Lunch, Breakfast, or Head Start Programs; those who are eligible to receive free or reduced lunches; and those who have received Nutrition, Cash and/or Medical Assistance from July 1, 2023 to July 1, 2024, may receive SUN Bucks assistance. Medical Assistance recipients must be below 185 percent of the federal poverty level.
Those children not enrolled in a National School Lunch Program participating school must be 6 to 16 years of age between last July and the end of this June, and have participated in one of the following: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Medicaid assistance with a reported household income at or below 185 percent of the federal poverty level, Migrant Education Program, and foster child.
SUN Bucks go onto the same Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards where families normally receive their other benefits. Those families without an EBT card will receive a new one next month.
ADE also plans to launch a new application for families to submit a free or reduced-price meal application or alternative income form with their child’s eligible school, which must be on the National School Lunch Program roster.
For further questions, the SUN Bucks hotline is 833-648-4406.
SUN Bucks, through the USDA’s Summer Nutrition Programs for Kids, are also offered in conjunction with SUN Meals from local meal sites or SUN Meals To-Go. SUN Meals are available to children aged 18 and under with no application or other information needed.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
Governor Katie Hobbs hired a new press secretary of a migrant background, disrupting her hiring cap in the process.
Hobbs hired Liliana Soto, who immigrated from Sonora, Mexico, to Lompoc, California, at the age of 17, pregnant, and with her then-boyfriend, her child’s father.
Soto said she ran away to the U.S. out of the fear of shame she felt her teenage pregnancy posed, according to a 2021 interview with Palabra.
Soto’s father was also of a migrant background: he was an illegal Guatemalan immigrant living in Mexico, according to Soto’s 2021 “TEDxScottsdaleWomen” talk.
Soto came to Arizona after the birth of her daughter, where she would attend Arizona State University’s journalism school.
Hobbs announced a hiring cap, referenced by some as a freeze, in April after reporting broke in February that she expanded her office staff by 40 percent, or 40 employees. These hires came at an additional cost of about $4 million, though the state faces a $1.7 billion deficit.
As part of the hiring cap, the governor ordered department heads to strategize a $1.2 billion spending cut for the current and future budgets.
“Please note that these cuts will need to be realistic, feasible, and agencies should expect that most items on your list will be reasonably proposed as part of this year’s budget negotiation,” read the letter.
Hobbs denied the hiring restriction was a “freeze,” telling reporters that it was more of a “cap” since agencies were allowed to fill open positions already funded within the budget. Hobbs also clarified later that certain agencies such as the Department of Public Safety would be exempt.
Did @KatieHobbs's office not get their own memo about the hiring freeze?
February: An investigation reveals that Hobbs grew her personal staff by 40% at a $4M cost to taxpayers
Prior to breaking the governor’s hiring freeze, Soto was a University of Arizona assistant journalism professor working as a public affairs specialist for the Mayo Clinic and a freelance journalist.
For several years, Soto was also an ABC15 reporter implementing DEI initiatives like bilingual reporting and fostering inclusive environments, the former of which was considered an unprecedented effort and earned the station an Emmy. Soto’s employment with ABC15 also overlapped with the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, during which time she was tasked with combating COVID-19 misinformation.
Last August, Soto had her border reporting class shoot and produce the documentary series “Beyond the Wall” focusing on the illegal immigrants who died crossing the desert in their attempt to get to the U.S. The focus of the series hinged around the questions: “Does the American Dream exist, if it ever did at all? How can we honor the identity of those who so often go forgotten?”
Soto’s hire comes amid public condemnation from Hobbs and top Democrats regarding a bill that would enable law enforcement to arrest illegal immigrants, HCR 2060.
As I’ve said time and time again: HCR2060 will hurt Arizona businesses, send jobs out of state, make it more difficult for law enforcement to do their jobs, and bust the state’s budget. It will not secure our border.
— Governor Katie Hobbs (@GovernorHobbs) June 4, 2024
Hobbs’ last press secretary, Josselyn Berry, resigned last year at Hobbs’ request after advocating for shooting “transphobes” hours after the Covenant School Shooting in Nashville, Tennessee.
Several months after resigning, Berry returned to her former employer, the dark money nonprofit Progress Now.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
With House Speaker Ben Toma, a congressional candidate, leading the expedition, House Republicans visited the border to assess the crisis for which they say Democrat leaders are to blame.
Toma questioned why, three years into an ever-worsening problem, President Joe Biden and even Governor Katie Hobbs had focused their efforts on derailing solutions. According to Toma and the other Republicans, his bill, HCR 2060, is one of those latest solutions opposed by the likes of Hobbs and Biden.
“Arizonans need to ask Democrats like President Joe Biden and Governor Katie Hobbs why they are fighting to keep America’s border wide open,” said Toma. “It’s unsafe, it’s unsecure, it’s un-American, and it’s indefensible.”
House Republicans visited the U.S. border near Yuma early Monday to observe illegal human traffic and its federal facilitation. Speaker @RepBenToma issued the following statement afterward:
“Arizonans need to ask Democrats like President Joe Biden and Governor Katie Hobbs why… pic.twitter.com/JBZxW1l3E5
— Arizona House Republicans (@AZHouseGOP) June 3, 2024
The Senate passed HCR 2060 last month; it now needs final House consideration before it can appear on the ballot. The bill would make it statutorily unlawful for all border crossings outside lawful ports of entry. Law enforcement would only have probable cause for arrest of an illegal immigrant should a law enforcement officer witness the illegal crossing, technology records the illegal crossing, or any such other constitutionally sufficient indicator of probable cause exist.
The bill would mean more power to the state to handle its borders. Currently, the courts only recognize the federal government as having the authority to detain illegal immigrants.
Governor Hobbs called the bill a “stunt” for “cheap political points,” a job killer that would “demonize” communities and make the job of law enforcement more difficult.
The Senate’s vote to pass HCR2060 is a stunt to score cheap political points. This ballot referral will kill jobs, demonize our communities, and make it harder for law enforcement to keep us safe. I urge the House to do the right thing and oppose this measure.
— Governor Katie Hobbs (@GovernorHobbs) May 23, 2024
The statute would only apply proactively, not retroactively. The nearly 7.9 million illegal immigrants encountered along the southern border since Biden took office (not counting the “gotaways,” or the witnessed but not encountered) would be safe from arrest under the law.
The statute would also define unlawful presence in the country as applying to those who were paroled pursuant to a programmatic grant of parole, such as those created under notice-and-comment rulemaking, and those who were required to be detained under the federal Immigration and Nationality Act but were instead paroled into the country.
Those guilty of illegal entry would earn a class one misdemeanor, elevated to a class six felony should that illegal immigrant have been previously convicted of illegal entry.
Rather than convict or adjudicate an illegal immigrant for illegal entry, HCR 2060 would allow a court to dismiss the charge and instead issue an order to the immigrant to return to the foreign nation from which they entered or attempted to enter the U.S., or the immigrant’s nation of origin. This would only be an option for the court should the illegal immigrant agree to the order, have no prior convictions of illegal entry, have no prior charges of another class one misdemeanor or felony, and have no criminal database hits indicating that they’re a threat to national security.
Early this morning, I went to the southern border with my Republican colleagues to see for ourselves what was happening. At 3am, we came across 35 illegal immigrants from Columbia and Paraguay that were being processed by border patrol.
If the illegal immigrant refuses to comply with their order to return to a foreign nation, they are guilty of a class four felony.
HCR 2060 also branches out into other threats posed by the open border: fentanyl sales. The statute would establish a new crime: “sale of lethal fentanyl,” applying to adults who knowingly transport a narcotic drug for sale containing fentanyl that causes the death of another. The penalty for lethal fentanyl sale would be a class two felony, with all sentencing increased by five years. A presumptive sentence would be 10 years instead of five, a minimum sentence would be nine years instead of four, and a maximum sentence would be 15 years instead of 10.
Even if the Arizona legislature passes HCR 2060 and voters approve it as well, the statute pertaining to illegal immigration wouldn’t go into effect until similar laws — namely that which was passed last year by Texas (SB 4) — have gone into effect for at least 60 days.
The bill is scheduled to go before the House Caucus on Tuesday.
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
Peoria Unified School District (PUSD) has approved an application for expansion of federally-funded mental health clinics to seven schools. Board member Heather Rooks was the sole “no” vote on the measure.
The funds are part of a five-year award with the Mental Health Service Professionals (MHSP) Demonstration Grant through the Department of Education (ED).
PUSD was one of 27 school districts nationwide to receive MHSP grant funding originally in 2019. Through that grant, expiring at the end of September, PUSD has maintained three social work field instructors. This new round of funding will maintain and expand the mental health services to those schools without them.
The 2019 MHSP grant funded partnerships with the internship pipelines in Northern Arizona University, Grand Canyon University, and Arizona State University; social work intern field instructors; training for school social workers and school mental health counselors; conference attendance; training school social worker interns (totalling 83); training for teachers, staff, and administrators; purchasing of skill building materials and resources; and parental resources. All of these would be funded through the 2024 grant to a greater degree to include those schools without MHSP resources.
The district’s seven schools, which represent 24 percent of the student population, that don’t have direct mental health services are: Cactus High School, Liberty High School, Oakwood Elementary School, Sunset Heights Elementary School, Frontier Elementary School, and Vistancia Elementary School.
Across these schools, the district reported in its grant narrative draft elementary students exhibiting greater instances of self-harming behaviors, suicidal ideation, anxiety, depression, aggression, bullying, cyberbullying, poor relationship skills, and poor conflict resolution skills. High school students were reportedly exhibiting similar behaviors, including a handful of suicides and attempted suicides in the last school year.
In that school year, the district reported just over 1,200 “crises events” that required intervention: suicide risks, child abuse or neglect, or severe emotional distress.
The district has about 34,700 students across 43 schools, with about 47 percent qualifying for free or reduced lunch. PUSD is the fourth-largest district in the state.
Public comment against the measure expressed concerns about student safety, such as data mining and “lab rat” handling of the students. Some wondered why the district would offer such a private service that they considered to be a parental responsibility.
A supporter of the measure, Vanessa Goolsby with the Peoria Education Association, said that it was the social workers that prevented the “bad things” from happening to children.
The board defended the expansion of social workers as a much-needed resource.
Melissa Ewing said that concerned community members were confusing the mental health services provided by schools and the medical community. Ewing said the former isn’t comprehensive, in that the district doesn’t staff doctors, provide diagnoses, or prescribe medications.
Ewing stressed that social work intervention doesn’t occur without parental consent, and that the data supports social work intervention as effective in improving academic performance.
David Sandoval said the expansion of services was needed due to the rise in mental health issues.
Board member Bill Sorensen said that the social workers have done good work for children in need beyond mental health services.
Rooks expressed concern that the district was taking on mental health cases instead of referring families to outside providers, and contested that some diagnoses must be happening for the district to be able to report identifying certain behavioral problems.
Rooks said that State Representative Beverly Pingerelli, a former board member, described the initial MHSP grant from 2019 as part of a much smaller initiative that, she says, has grown way out of proportion. She also contested the claim that the social workers operate under parental permission, noting that one parent’s son had been pulled numerous times from classes to discuss his mental health with a social worker — without parental consent — despite undergoing outside treatment arranged by his parents.
President Becky Proudfit said that she trusted the district social workers to provide healthy and safe services to students, and that her own children have benefited from them.
Watch the PUSD discussion of the MHSP grant here:
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
