Public service

A Los Angeles man gets into an online gaming dispute over a $1.50 wager and retaliates by sending a SWAT team to his opponent’s home. That address turns out to be fake and police end up at a Kansas residence, fatally shooting the homeowner at his doorstep.

The 350 graduates who participated in Arizona State University's College of Public Service and Community Solutions Convocation received more than recognition for their degrees Tuesday night at Comerica Theatre in downtown Phoenix. They got a reminder from their dean, Jonathan Koppell, of the power they will hold as public servants. 

Citing recent revelations regarding sexual harrassment in multiple industries, Koppell told graduates they can't ignore matters of this importance hoping they will go away. 

The dinner conversation at the Terrill-Pizarro household is often lively and robust, sometimes taking on the dynamic of good cop/bad cop. Sometimes literally.

William Terrill, who grew up in a working-class white suburban town in eastern Pennsylvania and was a member of the Military Police in the Air Force, saw the good side of police. Meanwhile, his wife Jesenia Pizarro, a self-proclaimed ‘Jersey girl’ who grew up in an inner city housing project, can share scenes of police brutality.

Together, they make an interesting couple.

The sixth annual ASU Prison Education Conference will bring together a broad coalition of experts and community members to discuss criminal justice and the transformative power of education. Organized by Arizona State University's Prison Education Awareness Club and sponsored by the Department of English and the School of Social Transformation, the conference is set for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10, in the Turquoise Room of the Memorial Union on ASU’s Tempe campus.

Students in the BASIS Phoenix National Honor Society got an in-depth lesson on prison and prison reform from ASU criminologist Kevin Wright. An associate professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Wright was invited to the northeast Phoenix charter school by Simran Sall, a sophomore who heard Wright speak as part of a summer program with ASU’s Barrett, the Honors College.

Emma Richburg never thought she’d be putting on an art show as a freshman criminology and criminal justice major. But she is helping put up drawings, paintings and other items for display at Unexpected Art Studio, a former warehouse on Polk Street located between Grand Ave and 7th Avenue. The works of art will be sold at the May 5 First Friday — the hip art, entertainment and food event that draws thousands of people to Roosevelt Row and Grand Ave in downtown Phoenix each month.

Becca McCarthy entered the Cyber 9/12 Student Challenge because she wanted to gain more experience with policy outside of her classes. She got that and more.

“It was an incredibly eye-opening experience,” said McCarthy, a public policy graduate student in Arizona State University's School of Public Affairs. “I hope to see the ASU competition continue to grow.”

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