Arizona Daily Wildcat

05/14/2026

As the school year wraps up, check out the Daily Wildcat’s final print edition for the spring semester, the “Arizona Ever After” edition!

Inside, you will discover farewells from our seniors on the editorial board, our writers describing their experiences abroad and a couple of Wildcats looking ahead to the 2026 NBA Draft.

Pickup a copy at a newsstand near year or read online at the link in our bio! 🎓

05/10/2026

Name, image and likeness (NIL) has been a polarizing topic across college sports in recent years. Since the “NIL” era officially began in 2021, controversy has surrounded the lack of regulation and protections for athletes, as well as the uneven opportunities available between men’s and women’s sports.

Entrepreneur Meaghan Franks launched an app called Sport Sitters in June 2024 with the goal of helping female athletes close the NIL revenue gap while also supporting families within their local communities. Franks explains that Sport Sitters grew quickly by intentionally matching the right families with Division I athletes who could serve as leaders and role models.

“We built momentum by aligning with the right families early by sharing our invite-only platform with people who valued the energy, discipline, and inspiration a Division I athlete brings,” Franks said. “When both sides experienced the upside of safely gaining access to each other, growth happened naturally and fast, mostly through word of mouth.”

Sport Sitters is currently used by families in the communities surrounding NAU, ASU, GCU and the University of Arizona. The platform is set to expand to San Diego State University and the University of California, San Diego, in May.

➡️ Read more at the link in our bio.

📝: Will Shenot, Assistant Sports Editor
📸: Charlie Ramirez

Read more at the Daily Wildcat website. ⬇️

Instead of booster-driven deals, a new model shows how women athletes can earn through childcare and community sponsored events while building their personal brands.

05/10/2026

Insurance is an industry that is not only cutthroat, but also so remarkably boring. With that in mind, it is no surprise that companies that deal in it would feel an obligation to lighten their image with a spot of family-friendly humor.

Roughly since 2020, I’ve seen a decline in the quality of the insurance industry’s advertising. GEICO has in recent times elected to rely more on their significantly less funny British gecko instead of their previous creative variation in stories and humor. Progressive is nearing two decades of trying and failing to convince us that the adventures of Flo and her gang are in fact funny.

Most tragically, State Farm passed up their khakis-donning working class Jake in favor of an incredibly generically handsome younger package in order to milk the nostalgia that said khakis-donning working class everyman gave us all those years ago. If that is not a perfect allegory for the modern western class struggle, I don’t know what is.

And don’t even get me started on LiMu Emu.

➡️ Read more at the link in our bio.

📝: Ian Stash
📸: Emily Smith

Read more at the Daily Wildcat website. ⬇️

Insurance advertising has accustomed us to a high-caliber of humor over the course of many years. Yet insurance ads these days make Ian Stash want to throw his TV out the window. It is about time that we brought to the attention of the advertisers of the big insurance world the benefits that their c...

05/09/2026

The University of Arizona announced that this year’s spring commencement speaker would be former Google CEO and Chairman Eric Schmidt.

He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Princeton University and with a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer sciences. He will be earning an honorary Doctorate of Science degree from the UA College of Science during commencement.

Since the announcement of Schmidt as the commencement speaker, posts began to be shared connecting Schmidt with s*x trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. A post made by Students for Socialism at UA posted an infographic titled “Eric Schmidt is an abuser,” stating that Schmidt is an Epstein affiliate.

However, according to the Epstein files themselves, released by the Department of Justice, it is unclear what level of connection there is between Schmidt and Epstein. While the two had exchanged emails and Schmidt was invited to many cocktail parties and dinners, it is unclear how many he attended.

➡️ Read more at the link in our bio.

📝: Emma LaPointe, Editor-in-Chief
📸: University of Arizona’s Student’s for Socialism

Read more at the Daily Wildcat website. ⬇️

The University of Arizona announced that former Google CEO Eric Schmidt will be this year’s spring commencement speaker. He leads innovation in AI, and his foundation, Schmidt Sciences, has partnered with UA to create the first fully privately funded telescope using adaptive optics. However, stude...

04/30/2026

As the 2026 NFL draft unfolded, four Arizona Wildcats heard their names called, led by defensive back Treydan Stukes, highlighting the program’s growing footprint in the NFL. Although it’s the first time in three years that a Wildcat wasn’t selected in the first round, the program’s professional pipeline isn’t slowing down as more players chase the opportunity to hear their name called on draft night.

Genesis Smith, Dalton Johnson and Michael Dansby joined fellow defensive back Stukes among Arizona players selected in this year’s draft. The University of Arizona tied an NFL Draft record in 2026 by having four defensive backs selected in a single draft. Arizona joined a rare group of schools to achieve this, those including LSU in 2020 and Ohio State in 2017.

The Wildcats were led by their defense, specifically the secondary, in the 2025 season, one of the top units in the nation that ranked 7th nationally in passing yards allowed per game (165.3) and 21st in scoring defense, allowing only 19.3 points per game. They boasted 28 total turnovers and held opponents to 308.5 total yards per game.

➡️ Read more at the link in our bio.

📝: Andres Valenzuela
📸: Kohichiro Yamada

Read more at the Daily Wildcat website. ⬇️

Four Wildcats heard their names called on draft weekend, reinforcing Arizona’s growing NFL presence.

04/29/2026

Across the Tucson area, sightings of a masked man are being posted to social media. He has been seen clinging to walls, perching on ledges and walking around Target all while wearing the costume of a familiar copyrighted character.

These photos follow the artistic techniques of the “Patterson-Gimlin Film,” except the man in them is not a cryptid, but a costumed street performer following in the long line of “real-life superheroes.” While other real life superheroes use original creations, Tucson Spider-Man uses the creations of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.

Tucson Spider-Man began patrolling the Dirty-T in January. His adventures have taken him across downtown, Vail, Rita Ranch and the University of Arizona. The desert heat has proven to be his arch enemy. He has recently ditched his original costume, spending $280 on the materials to craft a superior more heat friendly version.

➡️ Read more at the link in our bio.

📝: Aiden Williams
📸: Griffin Salkowski

Read more at the Daily Wildcat website. ⬇️

Tucson is now the province of costumed do-gooders. Dressed in Spider-Man cosplay and armed with a charitable attitude he hopes to inspire the citizens of Arizona in a world stricken with conflict. But webslinging isn’t easy, as Comic-book fantasy often clashes with the hot and grimey streets of Tu...

04/24/2026

In her latest piece, opinion writer Isabel Vidrio writes about the pressure to stay busy as a college student.

“College is meant to be a place of exploration and learning. Leaving time for spontaneity, whether it is self-care, socializing or exploring a new place or new routine — these can make all the difference when it comes to managing endless stress. The version of yourself that does all of these activities is not a less productive student; you are sustainable,” Vidrio writes. “We do not have to earn the right to enjoy our lives after we have checked every box. The busyness was never the point. You are.”

📝: Isabel Vidrio
📸: Abby Darland

Read more at the Daily Wildcat website. ⬇️

So, what have you been up to lately? It’s a question that leads with nothing to say. However, the only acceptable answer would be classes, internships, club leadership and volunteer hours. The longer the list, the better. Being busy isn’t just a state of being in college. It’s a personality tr...

04/23/2026

The University of Arizona and Tucson are known for yearlong warm weather, but when is it too much? At the third annual Southern Arizona Heat Summit, stakeholders from across the city of Tucson and experts from the UA gathered to speak about possible solutions and policies to address rising temperatures and extreme heat.

One particular project, led by UA professor Ladd Keith at Southwest Urban Corridor Integrated Field Laboratory, works to analyze extreme heat in the Southwest and rural areas, and how communities deal with heat by conducting interviews. The team has also prescribed policy to Pima County and the City of Tucson regarding more effective strategies to combat rising temperatures, such as green stormwater infrastructure.

“I think the most interesting thing about being based in Tucson is that because the heat has been here for a long time, it’s like a laboratory in itself,” Anne-Lise Boyer, a researcher with SW-IFL, said. “We have all this research and all this collaboration happening with local actors because it’s a pressing issue in Arizona.

📝: Malia Hirasa
📸: Josie Shivers

Read more at the Daily Wildcat website. ⬇️

As Tucson and Southern Arizona experience rising temperatures, local forums and research teams at University of Arizona are working to address these adverse effects of extreme heat. At the forefront of these movements are voices throughout the community. These teams are adamant about making sure loc...

04/22/2026

As students move away from midterms and towards finals, the University of Arizona Police Department’s reports from mid-March to early April showed a slight decrease in public ma********on but a sharp uptick in attacks on Subaru Foresters.

📝: Griffin Salkowski
📸: Courtesy UAPD

Read the full edition of the Police Beat at the Daily Wildcat website. ⬇️

As students move towards the end of the semester, the University of Arizona Police Department faces terror on the Sun Link Tucson Modern Streetcar, another wily wa**er and much more.

04/12/2026

Amidst an atmosphere of shifting immigration policies, the safety of U.S. born Latinx citizens is in peril, Isabel Vidrio writes in her latest opinion piece.

“We must demand a shift in how we speak about and legislate our neighbors. Move away from the dehumanizing language of immigrants and towards speaking up against those who defy us. We need our identities to be celebrated rather than vilified,” Vidrio writes. “It is time for this country to decide: will we continue to govern through the shadow of fear? Or will we finally honor the promise of the American dream? My safety, and the safety of others like me, depends on that choice.”

📝: Isabel Vidrio
📸: Josie Shivers

Read the full piece at the Daily Wildcat website. ⬇️

In an atmosphere of dehumanizing rhetoric and shifting policies, opinions writer Isabel Vidrio emphasizes the crisis of safety for U.S. born Latinx citizens.