WHAT WILL THE NEXT CENTURY'S FIVE CS BE?

posted by Michael Chihak

Every Arizona school kid ought to be able to name the state's Five Cs, the hallmarks of economics and culture that shaped Arizona's first century as a state.

Copper, cattle, cotton, climate and citrus.

Now come preparations for the centennial celebration, culminating in the Feb. 14, 2012 recounting of President William Taft signing the law making Arizona the 48th state.

Festivities galore are in the planning stages, and we will hear about some of them on Friday's Arizona Week. At the same time, the state's Centennial Commission director sees the celebration as an opportunity to look forward.

"Who do we want to be in the future, not just from a culture and a people, but how do we want to take care of our land and what industries are really going to be the Five Cs, if you will, of the next 100 years?" Centennial Commission Director Karen Churchard asks in an interview.

Watch Friday at 8:30 p.m. MST and Sunday at 10:30 a.m. MST, PBS-HD-6, or on this Website for more discussion of the state's legacy and its future.

UA AUTHOR UPDATES ARIZONA HISTORY

posted by Michael Chihak

History looks backward with the notion of preparing us to look forward. In the case of University of Arizona anthropologist Thomas E. Sheridan, that backward look in Arizona: A History includes some potentially frightening scenarios for the future.

Sheridan's history was published in 1995, and now with the statehood centennial approaching, he has updated the book, adding chapters on the state's most recent history -- its population boom and desert land consumption and economic development.

The forward look that he gives should cause the reader to pause and reflect on where our state is headed. Sheridan will discuss the state's prehistory, history and his view of its future on Arizona Week Friday at 8:30 p.m. on PBS-HD-6.

The new edition of Arizona: A History will be published by University of Arizona Press in time for Arizona's statehood centennial next February.