University President: Arizona will suffer if it continues to act the fool

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Michael Crow’s take on Arizona’s problems, published earlier this month, should be required reading for the state’s public officials.

The Arizona State University president said the state’s greatest economic-development challenge is “our inability to project positively.”

Crow believes Arizona’s image is ruled not by its emergence as a leader in technology but by the negative publicity generated at the fringes of political dialogue.

“If you took nothing but the newspaper and the political rhetoric spoken now … you would think Arizona is a backwater, cornpone hangout.

“If we do not work on projecting the image of what this place is, we are fools.”

And yet, “The falsehood that we project is Arizona is screwed up.” That’s why the image the state projects must be changed “at all costs,” Crow said.

Instead, “(we should) project the true identity of Arizona as the leading center for innovation and entrepreneurship.”

People in positions of influence should take note.

Every time lawmakers vote for a bill suggesting President Barack Obama is a non-American, they may as well fund a billion-dollar ad campaign promoting the idea that Arizona is the Grand Looney State.

Every time they vote for a bill requiring guns to be allowed on campus, the same message is sent.

Every time they push any other kook issue, they are conspiring to derail Arizona’s economy.

Here are some facts that people should know about Arizona, according to Crow:

“Chandler is going to be the world’s most sophisticated high-tech factory town.”

Mesa has “the No. 1 big-city, public-school system” in the United States. Statistically, it’s not even close, he said.

ASU is the leading supplier of graduates to Intel and is a world leader in space exploration.

“But you would think none of this is true,” Crow said.

“We can’t get that noise level above the noise level about things like, “Well, we’d really like all of your faculty to wear guns in the classroom.”

Some people on the fringes obviously find great fun in advancing their theories.

Once they do, their handiwork can be read about in China and India and everywhere else, thanks to today’s instant global communications.

Arizona’s leaders should keep all of this in mind every time they have a chance to do great things and when they stumble into the opportunity to make fools of themselves.

http://www.azcentral.com/opinions/articles/20120922crow-right-arizona-will-suffer-continues-act-fool.html