If you feel that awards should be bestowed in recognition of excellence of some kind, consider this:
First, in Arizona, Jevin Hodge, an 18-year-old senior at McClintock High School in Tempe and co-chair of the Governor’s Youth Commission, had an idea to create an award for high school students who completed more than 200 hours of community service. According to The Wrangler: “Hodge says he created the bill to boost a student’s chance of college acceptance. ‘Colleges aren’t looking for just a high GPA anymore; they’re looking for student leaders,” he said. “This award would reassure colleges that a student has the qualities they are looking for.”
Sounds good, right? Not to Arizona’s Republican Governor Jan Brewer, who vetoed SB 1066, calling the bill unnecessary, redundant and a violation of constitutional separation of powers.
I’m sure the fact that the bill was co-sponsored by a Democrat, Senator David Schapira played no role in her decision, whatsoever. Senator Schapira called her reasoning “total baloney.”
Said a disappointed Jevin Hodge: “It’s disheartening to see that partisanship played a factor in nullifying an attempt to formally recognize students for their service and volunteerism in the community. Arizona would have been the first state to formally recognize youth for their community service…it could have possibly persuaded other states to follow suit.” “Other states” is where bright students like Jevin Hodge will be moving to if this remains the M.O. in Arizona. At any rate, Mr. Hodge should get an award for trying.
Second, move over Pulitzers, there’s a new journalism award in town. The Heritage Foundation and the Franklin Center will honor the late Andrew Breitbart’s legacy by bestowing the Breitbart Awards in three different categories: full-time professional journalism; the new media frontier; and bold citizen action by conservatives. According to their website: “Full-time Reporter: In a media environment that tells reporters to go along to get along, a few still consider it a sacred trust to keep the people informed. A few still recognize the awesome responsibility in belonging to the only profession to be enshrined in the Bill of Rights. We’ll present one Breitbart Award to a full-time news reporter to honor courage and honesty in telling the real stories that matter to people’s lives.” It’s true: when I think Breitbart, I immediately think “awesome responsibility.” So just to recap, awards to enterprising high schools students is an anti-constitutional scam of some sort, while Breitbart can and will give out awards for excellence in journalism. Enjoy your messy democracy.
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