Hooligan Javelinas

We moved to Tucson about 8 years ago and live on the far northeast side of town. We get to see lots of wildlife here. There are quail, roadrunners, snakes, gila monsters, coyotes and even deer.

For the benefit of readers who aren't familiar with javelinas, here's the run down. Javelina is pronounced (pay attention, Martha Stewart) HA-velina, not JA-velina. While these animals look like wild boar, they are peccaries and not swine. Apparently they are good eating, but I can't say from personal experience. They are wild animals and like coyotes, you don't really want to tangle with them, raise them as pets, etc. But, when people live in their habitat, there are going to be clashes. Our friends, the Knapps, live on the West side of town. They have had trouble with javelinas trying to get into their trash cans. The javelinas run into them trying to tip them over for a snack. What the animals can't figure out is that the humans have fixed a place to put their trash cans so that they are tip proof. Still, the determined javelinas boldly bash in the wee hours of the night trying to get that elusive trash nosh. One night, Dave armed himself with a pistol, a sword and a flashlight (do optical engineers have more than 2 arms?), then went outside to do battle with the hooligans. He hollared and that scared them off. However, I can't help but think what would've happened if he had discharged his firearm. The police would have been called and if it was a slow news day, the incident could have made the paper. "Raytheon engineer, Dr. David Knapp, was arrested following an incident involving a small herd of unarmed javelinas......."

We lived here for 4 years before I saw any javelinas outside the Desert Museum. Recently, I went out to get the morning paper and found the contents of our big bin strewn across the driveway. About a week later there was a ring of the doorbell one evening. It was the night before trash day and I had put out our stuff. One of our neighbors had been pursuing a gang of javelina up the street and wanted to let me know that they had knocked over the trash bin. Thankfully, the neighbor had discouraged them from making an inventory of the contents, so I didn't have a mess to clean up. However, just up the street, was a big javelina running off to catch up with the others. Right on my street! A few days later Zoe reported having to walk past a javelina relaxing by our garage door. We can always tell when they've been there because the gravel has been strewn across the cement where they've wallored.

I think I can live with the javelinas. Snakes are another story.

Raza Studies Summer Institute

I kept out of trouble this past week by attending the Raza Studies Institute. Tucson Unified Schools is the only school district in the US that has Raza Studies for K-12. This is the 10th year. While concentrating in schools with a high Mexican American enrollment, all students are welcome to participate in the classes. One of the best aspects of the class is the emphasis on critical thinking. Instead of just learning names and dates, students explore the why. They are encouraged to use their learning skils to make changes in their community.

This change scares a lot of people. Notably, the Arizona Superintendent of Education, Tom Horne. He is so frightened by it that he won't visit the classes to talk to the students, despite repeated invitations. On his last visit to Tucson to attack, he held a press conference on the sidewalk OUTSIDE the building where the ethnic studies are headquartered. Need I say more?