A reflection

This blog was conceived in a online journalism course at the University of Arizona in conjunction with our class' semester-long project, Borderbeat.net.

In the past few months, our class has written stories of artists, political leaders, caring do-gooders, and even immigrants themselves. From those stories, I have learned the intricacies of the border and how its influence spreads indiscriminately across culture lines.

For instance, the assignment was to create a Web site dealing with the U.S.-Mexico border, but many times over the Border Beat staff would mistakingly write a story about Tucson, or a Tucsonan. As editor, this caused me much ire, but interestingly enough, with minimal tweaking those stories could easily become "border stories."

The reason is that as a border town, Tucson IS a border story.

The culture south of our city limits plays a part in the architecture of the city, flavors the celebrations of masses, and plays on the compassion of the people. Most importantly our proximity to the border morphs our feelings towards the immigration debate. To us, it is not some hypothetical situation that can be solved by men spitting cold logic at a round-table discussion. The long term affects of immigration have enhanced our culture in many ways. It has become an economic strain to the working people, and--as more and more men, women, and children die in the desert each year--it has also dangerously tested our limits of humanity and compassion.

For those who are not fortunate to experience this first-hand, our online magazine is now available to the entire world. I encourage anyone who feels strongly that this country should do something, or anything, about immigration to earn their opinion first--as we are all stake holders here.

The Web site is re-invented each semester and there is new content added every few weeks or less. Next semester, I hope that the staff becomes as passionate about the issue at hand as the staff had this semester.

Additionally, I hope that the class will continue to explore and exploit multimedia offerings of the journalism department. I hope to see more videos and narrated stories, so that the important people we find as journalists are able to tell their own stories too. Their faces should be seen and their stories heard by the world.

...you're on a bike.

This weekend in Tucson held the 25th Annual El Tour de Tucson, a 109-mile biking race that unites the wellness-loving community each year. The race also includes an 80, 66, 35-mile options and a Kids & Family Fun Ride of 4-miles or 1/4-mile.

This year racers competed hard amongst neighbors with a record number of bikers--over 9,000.

Traffic was terrible driving to work Saturday morning.

Three-time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond attended the events of the weekend, (LeMond was the first American to win the famous race), and Tucsonans were excited to race alongside the celebrity, but he didn't end up competing.

Carlos Hernandez of Hermisillo, Ariz. was the champion of the 109-mile race, finishing in a record-setting 4 hours, 10 minutes, and 51 seconds. Just one second behind Hernandez was Michael Grabinger, the winner of last year's race who has since turned pro.

Brent Barber of Tucson, Ariz. and Jim Hays of St. Augustine, Fl., led the pack for the 80-mile event, both finishing in 3 hours, 17 minutes, and 37 seconds.

Geoff Ernst and Gregory Patchen tied for the win in the 67-mile event, both finishing in 2 hours, 33 minutes, and 54 seconds.

And, David Murray of Phoenix won the 33-mile event with one second to spare finishing in 1 hour, 31 minutes and 18 seconds.

Below is a peek at the events of the weekend.

Courtesy of You Tube user rjfonty

...the skyline is more outdated than mullets.

For years the City of Tucson has been contemplating a new addition to its downtown skyline. As a large city that lacks in downtown pizazz, voters approved proposition 400 in 1999 that funded the Rio Nuevo project with the purpose of revitalizing Downtown Tucson. Seven years later there’s little tangible evidence of progress, but developers now have a few things in the works.

For one, big name developers have been competing for a bid to build a 700-room luxury hotel. Tomorrow, the city council will decide who wins.

The selection committee has already made its recommendation.

Garfield-Traub developers have won the big bid with their Sheraton hotel. The Sheraton plan by Garfield-Traub Development is closest to the Tucson Convention Center. This plan has 707 rooms and will cost about $200 million. The main difference in this plan compared to the other competitors is the close proximity to TCC and the spacious built-in convention room.

The construction costs will be paid by the developers, but if the council agrees with the recommendation, Garfield-Traub will will low-interest financing from the city. So, in essence the Sheraton will manage the hotel, but the city will own it. In return, the city will have a new cash cow downtown, supposedly.

Jaret Barr, manager of the project, admits that after so long, the public seems to would be happy to see any change, and that the hotel selection process has taken many years. “There are a lot of moving parts to this project,” he said.

While the hotel developers compete for what they believe to be a good investment, the public is skeptical that the hotel will help or even survive.

The hotel is meant to support visitors to Tucson who visit the convention center and the new arena which construction is already in the works. Rio Nuevo funded an extensive market analysis of Tucson, determining that the city can in fact feasibly support a new, large arena, and in turn a hotel.

Although there are no other convention arenas within Tucson, it will still have to compete with casinos like AVA Amphitheater. Venues like AVA have an advantage, as they have room to cut ticket prices and make up the profits in casino revenue.

However, the new arena will be much bigger with 11,000 seats for ice hockey and up to 12,500 seats for other events compared to AVA with just under 5000.

The amount of money residents can spend on entertainment will affect the success of the arena. Tucson’s median income sits about $2,000 below the national average at $40,817.

The study mentions that the income characteristics of Tucson may indicate the city’s lack of ability to use disposable income on entertainment, although still conceding that the arena is financially feasible.

The hotel will not be as directly affected by Tucson residents’ spending habits, as most patrons will be from out of town. However, if the arena goes under, the hotel goes with it.

“It’s a chicken-and-the-egg thing for us,” Barr said, explaining that the hotel will be built to support the new arena, which will bring business to the hotel, and how both are meant bring revenue to Tucson.

...the dead are alive.

The blocking power of the Arizona-Mexico border is no match for ancient tradition. El Dia de los Muertos or The Day of the Dead, a Mexican tradition dating back to before the Spanish Conquistadors arrived, is celebrated with fervor across Arizona.

The celebration is now a hybrid of pagan, indigenous culture and Catholicism, honoring those who have died.

Below is a great video of this year celebration.






Visit http://www.azcentral.com/ent/dead/ to learn about the celebration and Tucson's adaptation of the celebration, and stay tuned to http://www.borderbeat.net/ for a special report on Dia de los Muertos and All Souls Day.

...you're not in Phoenix.

Earlier this week I stumbled onto an online forum that asked: Where is the better place to live, Tucson or Phoenix?

Although a seemingly simple question, to residents of both cities the legend of this perplexity lies amongst the best of the great two-sided debates, somewhere above "Pepsi or Coke" and just below "to be or not to be."

As an ex-Phoenician turned Tucsonan, I have grown a strong opinion on this matter backed by over four years of deep, open-minded contemplation. While I'm not originally from Phoenix (a Faux-nician?), I've spent enough time in both cities to understand the differences.

If you're wondering which city fits you, your age is probably the determining factor. Here's an abbreviated overview of the two cities in those terms:

Kids
Kids go to school, kids play video games, kids ask too many question, and kids like to run around in the park. While both cities cover the first three characteristics of children equally, each has something different to offer in terms of city parks. Tucson Parks are numerous, 127 in total. That's a big number for a relatively small area.

Phoenix parks are much more spread out and crowded. The city boasts about 200 in a much larger area, and are more crowded and industrialized in comparison to Tucson's more secluded and shaded parks that are great for families and running/walking. (Most Phoenicians walk in air-conditioned malls, not parks.)

In a related category, kids are like pets, pets run in the park too, dogs are pets, and Men's Health Magazine named Tucson the 4th best city for dogs.

20-somethings
As a college student, I couldn't ask for a better place to learn. Since Tucson is not a metropolis area, its not as easy to get lost in the crowd. We are supported by a town that pours into campus and a campus that is deeply invested in the community. The result is a sense of belonging that comes with your education. Bear Down Fridays bring the campus and the surrounding community together to cheer on the University of Arizona football team.

The Arizona State campus in Tempe, Ariz. lies in the middle of fast-paced urban living, and the surrounding Phoenix area doesn't pay nearly enough attention. Not necessarily out of negligence, but because is busy with the hustle and bustle. The plus? An actual nightlife.

The bar scene includes areas-- like Tempe, Old Scottsdale, Downtown Phoenix, etc... The Tucson nightlife includes a street(Fourth Avenue), one or two good places downtown, and a few scattered venues throughout the city. In fact, Tucson is small enough that it's nearly impossible to run into an acquaintance while out-and-about on the weekends, and the three degrees of separation is the norm compared to the standard seven.

If you're a young professional--move to Phoenix. There's not much more to say about that. Tucson's First Magnus, the one reputable employer of the newly graduated, recently collapsed, filing for bankruptcy and laying off nearly all of its employees.

Families
Both Tucson and Phoenix have a relatively low cost of living and an affordable housing market, despite rapid growth. Phoenix statistics vs. Tucson statistics show that Tucson has consistently had a higher crime rate in both property and violent crime, although slight. And while all public schools in the state of Arizona have been struggling, Tucson is known for it's many charter schools (some very highly ranked). Phoenix, however offers more choices in the realm of private elementary and middle schools.

Retirees
The warm weather of Arizona brings the retired and snow birds from all around the county, and there are many retirement communities all around the state. Outside the gated "50+ only"housing developments, Tucson offers a slower-paced lifestyle and community orientated atmosphere--not to mention a really slow average speed limit. Although, both cities have an equal distribution of old folks; percentage-wise, both cities have a median age of about 31.

And whether it be Tucson or Rphoenix, you'll still be in Arizona. You're chapstick will still melt in the car, you'll drive with oven mitts, Christmas lights are for cacti, and you'll never have the need to save daylight like the 49 other states.

...feces is an art form.

A four foot concrete pipe sits perpendicular to the ground with large splashes of a hard, brown substance bursting from the pipe's mouth in an animated explosion. Close by, another pipe protrudes from the underground. Broken in the middle, the pipes brown-colored contents gush outward, spilling into the surrounding dirt.

Not a broken sewage pipe, and not the remnants of a vicious monsoon, it could only be one thing: a $140,000 piece of crap--uh, I mean--art.

The final product of artist Paul Edwards design, part of the Mountain Avenue expansion project of 1995, caused a huge uproar in in 2003 after its completion.

The two sculptures on Glenn and Fort Lowell, although resembling a broken sewage pipe, are actually symbolic of desert water flowing through a wash.

(picture1) (picture2)

After spending thousands of dollars on the project, the city spent much more taking neighborhood polls and conducting several city council meetings to decide the next course of action. Should the "water" be painted blue, should it be moved, should it be destroyed?

I read this article last week written by Jim Nintzel of the Tucson Weekly in the hight of the controversy.

The emphasis and resources spent on this project are indicative of Tucson's highly community oriented atmosphere, among other things, (many other things.)

The City of Tucson, for instance, sent of survey to residents of the surrounding neighborhoods that got a lot of responses from the community. Some of my favorite are:

The results at Glenn and Fort Lowell appear to be the effects of an enema introduced to the storm drain at Grant Road.

Please let my kids paint the stupid thing with color. Just buy me the paint at Ace Hardware and I'll do it for free on weekends.

Use money for street potholes

This is the most disturbing (so-called art) I have ever seen. It looks like (crap) coming out of a broken sewer line and a troll buried in the ground with its feet sticking up.

Not everyone responded negatively:

Keep it. I kinda like the barf art.

So, it's been a few years now--what happened to the beloved sculptures? In a classic re-gifting effort, the city decided to dish out some more money and move them to the South Side at the park on Kino Parkway and 22nd Street. South Tucson unwrapped the gift, (which still bore the another's name scribbled out in magic marker), smiled kindly, gave a sarcastic "thanks, always-think-you're-better-than-me-central-Tucson," and put it in the waaaay back corner of the park. One rests half-hidden under an overgrown weed, and I sometimes see teenage love birds kissing on top of the one with a big burst of poop.

Really though, only in Tucson.

...the desert scene includes an elephant, tiger, polar bear and a giraff.

The Tucson Zoological Society has been supporting Reid Park Zoo since 1976. Located near Tucson's city center, the Reid Park Zoo offers a quick escape from desert life.

While Reid Park Zoo is operated by the city, the TZS works to "enhance the value of Reid Park Zoo to the community" through financial support, education, and a focus on conservation and the protection of the natural environments of the animals.

Their efforts have created a neat little park with over 400 animals, an aquarium, and my favorite--a aviary packed with birds of many feathers.

See the slide show from my last trip below.




There are many other places in Tucson to visit and support nature, wildlife, and conservation.
Visit:
The International Wildlife Museum
Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum
Tohono Chul Park
Tucson Botanical Gardens
Sabino Canyon
Wildflowers of Tucson