Month: May 2020

A Letter to the Class of 2020
Opinion

A Letter to the Class of 2020

By MARTHA McSALLY To the class of 2020: whether you are a preschool, middle school, high school, or college graduate, congratulations on your achievements. This may not be the graduation you imagined. It is certainly not the graduation that your family, your teachers, or your friends wanted either. But the hardships of this year can never diminish what you have accomplished. I hope that you will look back on this time and realize that in many ways, you have accomplished more. Those of you finishing high school and college have gone without the rites of passage that the rest of us took for granted—no extended family gatherings, large ceremonies, or memorable photos in your caps and gowns. Instead, many of you may be worried for your family members or friends on the frontlines of COVID-19 ...
Pima County Recorder Election Takes Shape
News

Pima County Recorder Election Takes Shape

By JOE GIDDENS Photo courtesy Arizona Center for Empowerment Campaigns for the 2020 election have shifted to an online focus in the era of social distancing.  The Arizona Center for Empowerment helded a Facebook Live forum on May 14 for Democrat candidates Kim Challender and Gabriella Cázares-Kelly for Pima County Recorder.  The third Democratic candidate, Consuelo Hernandez Hernandez, has suspended her campaign for recorder and filed paperwork at the end of March with the Pima County Elections Department to run for the Pima County Supervisors District 5 seat. Kim Challender is the assistant chief deputy at the Pima County Recorder’s office where she has been for five years. Citing her role of working on county cyber security issues and hiring and training employees in her pitch to vo...
Check out ‘Clone Wars’ – you won’t regret it
Arts & Entertainment, Opinion

Check out ‘Clone Wars’ – you won’t regret it

  The title card for the “Siege of Mandalor“ arc photo courtesy of Wikimedia By DALTON GRIJALVA   “Star Wars” in recent years has been the child of two divorced parents. The dad absolutely hates the kid and the mom absolutely loves it. It’s decisive, to say the least.  The “Clone Wars” is the one thing the fandom seems to absolutely love. The final season currently is airing on Disney+.  This is not only great “Star Wars” - it’s some of the best TV has to offer. What might turn off some people is the fact that it’s animated.  You’d be right for some lighter episodes until they start decapitating, impaling, torturing and brutally killing people.  It is important to note this is a show about war (a very unwanted war), so expect heavy-handed subject matter and themes. If you...
Letter from the editor: join the Aztec Press!
Features, News, Opinion

Letter from the editor: join the Aztec Press!

By ELLIANA KOPUT   Since 1970, the Aztec Press has kept readers of Pima Community College informed on all grounds. With PCC-focused content, the goal has remained to provide a variety of insights and information regarding a diverse range of topics, from academics and sports to entertainment and local news.    Now, 50 years later, the publication has seen its first-ever global pandemic, revoking the chance for print issues until students and staff are permitted to return to the newsroom. Still, the team has worked diligently (and remotely) to deliver relevant online content.    Journalism is potentially the most experiential out of all writing-centric courses offered. Students on the Aztec Press have worked around the clock to attend events, interview members of the PC...
President Visit to Arizona Signals Reopening
Features, News, Opinion

President Visit to Arizona Signals Reopening

Photo courtesy of Shealah Craighead member of the White House staff. President Trump holding a roundtable on May 5 at the Honeywell International, Inc. plant in Phoenix. Pictured from left are Secretary Scalia, Governor Ducey, Vice President Lizer, President Trump, 2 nd Lady Lizer, Governor Lewis and Senator McSally. By KEVIN HARTUNG Air Force One touched down at 12:04 p.m. May 5 in Phoenix.  President Donald Trump’s entourage included newly appointed U.S. Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia, Republican Sen. Martha McSally, and Republican representatives Paul Gosar and Debbie Lesko. This is Trump’s first long-distance trip in over a month and is a symbolic gesture to show the nation that America is reopening. Trump exited the aircraft at about 12:30 p.m. and was met on the tarmac by Gov....
Does Online Learning Make the Grade?
Features, News, Opinion

Does Online Learning Make the Grade?

Photo-illustration of a student frustrated with online learning. By KEVIN HARTUNG There are two sides to every story and the fast switch to online learning during the spring semester is no exception. The switch was problematic for students, faculty and college administrators. Students battled connectivity problems. The faculty struggled to learn the online environment and incorporate their lesson plans. Administrators scrambled to train faculty and move classes online, even those requiring ingenuity to meet course requirements. Eliud Chuffe, a Spanish instructor, was concerned about the difficulties his students faced. Students who had not signed up for an online class experienced connectivity issues due to unreliable internet service or computer models with slow connectivity. Some stu...
Women’s basketball highlights shortened 2020 season
Sports

Women’s basketball highlights shortened 2020 season

By COREY MCMULLEN The world is in a place that none of us is used to, with the cancellation of all sporting events and types of social gatherings across the globe.  This includes the Pima Community College women’s basketball team’s 2020 season. The Aztecs were supposed to play in the NJCAA regional tournament in March. The original plan was for the tournament to just be postponed to the end of April, but with no signs of the COVID-19 pandemic slowing down, the tournament and the Aztecs’ season officially was canceled. With the season being over, the end-of-season honors were announced. Aztec head coach Todd Holthaus was honored with Region I West District Coach of the Year. This is the sixth time coach Holthaus was honored with the award (2009, 2010, 2011, 2016, 2019). “This season wil...
Star Wars is Dead and Disney Killed It: A Postmortem
Arts & Entertainment, Opinion

Star Wars is Dead and Disney Killed It: A Postmortem

By KYLE KERSEY “The dead speak!” it says. Translation: “fuck you, audience!” The best thing I can say about the Star Wars Prequel trilogy is at least George Lucas was trying something different.  Damning with faint praise, yes, but dammit, faint praise is praise nonetheless. It’s important to remember that, at his core, Lucas is an ideas-based filmmaker dedicated to thematic storytelling and technological advancement. You can see it in his first feature film, THX 1138, a dystopian sci-fi film with a relatively simple story but captivating visuals and world building. These are the very foundations that made the original trilogy a success: movies with stunning special effects and a universal but sometimes surprising story. Where he does not excel, however, is grounded storytelling and wri...
Biden’s Allegations Spark Controversy
Uncategorized

Biden’s Allegations Spark Controversy

Tara Reade (1993) Photo courtesy of wikimedia. By Dalton Grijalva Our presidential candidates have been subject to controversy. Being President in general comes with controversy, just think Benghazi, Iran Contra affair or anything our current president says.    The #MeToo was a movement that came to light in 2017 to hold those accountable for the attrositities of sexual harassment and sexual assault against individuals who have felt that they have been silencenced. The problem we face now is that the left seems to be so overly obsessed with beating Trump they’ll go against their own morals to elect Joe Biden. Whether it be his questionable cognitive skills or his presidential policies. The one that caused #DropoutBiden to trend on Twitter is the subject of his #MeToo controversy...
Stomping Grounds, Uncategorized

Tucson Businesses with specials and big hearts

Eegees is the perfect cool down for this coming summer (pink passion is the flavor of the month). With our current situation, everything is truly different. Local businesses are especially affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, what's truly amazing is when communities come together, and everyone helps each other out. The Aztec Press would like to highlight some businesses offering specials, so you can support your local business without breaking the bank. We are also highlighting those that are giving back to our community.   Mama's Famous Pizza and Heroes is a perfect New York style pizza restaurant. While I highly recommend their family size pizza, their current deal is a family meal deal with a large Neapolitan one-topping pizza, four garlic sticks and two cannoli for $30...