According to a release from the Education Department, Arizona is showing steady improvement - and once again it is most likely due to the annual 'tweaking' of the formula used to attain such achievements.  Arizona is now #1, when comparing itself to the State of Arizona!....Rules governing Title IX and same-sex segregated classes are changing!  The federal Department of Education will now allow schools to voluntarily assign students into classes according to gender, after studies continue to show that girls perform much better when separated from boys.  Always on the 'cutting edge,' and mindful of the consequences should women become educated, Arizona has opted to mandate education for boys, and will only attempt to educate girls if parental consent is received!....Proposition 203 calls for an 80 cent tax increase on each pack of cigarettes - on this point, both opponents and proponents agree.  The tax is to be used for early childhood intervention and education.   However, a 'typo' in the actual language has indicated that the increase is actually to be .80 cents, or 1/100 of the intended amount.  Typo? - more likely, it is the result of a well-intended, poorly-educated Arizonan - and some smoker will sue the State to follow the 'letter-of-the-law.'  Too bad they don't protest by refusing to buy cigarettes!....Teenagers' auto fatalities are influenced by factors such as cell-phones, the number of passengers, seatbelt use, inexperience, alcohol/drug use, and now, it seems, the time of day!  Teens rushing from school to go to home/work/social or sporting activities have virtually the same accident fatality rates as on Friday and Saturday evenings.  Parents are so eager to allow their children to drive - for their own convenience, and because the law allows it - that they deny their parental responsibilities, allowing children to operate a one-ton vehicle, among thousands of others, when they would otherwise never allow such activity.  And the State of Arizona should be ashamed of itself - if the law said that youths could not drive until age 18, or 17 with Driver Education completion(as in other states), then it would be accepted!  Instead, the Legislature lowered the permit age to 15-years & 6 months, from 15 & 7months, claiming the extra month experience to be invaluable!(Big-time lobbyists from the bodybag and coffin industries!)....Arizona businesses lag far behind in trade balance with Mexico.  Arizona sent $4.75B in goods, to Mexico, for the previous fiscal year - a 25% increase - while Mexico continues to export its citizens at an alarming rate, in an effort to reclaim the land they once owned - with the only 'shots' fired coming from Sheriff Joe!....Wealthy Mexican tourists are now tending to travel to places other than Arizona, avoiding Scottsdale, Sedona and other previously esteemed destinations, citing the need to experience other cultures than their own!