The winners and the losers

Loser: Once again, a state lawmaker has introduced a bill that would remove in-state tuition benefits for illegal immigrants, requiring them to pay out-of-state rates to attend Utah's colleges and universities. This seems to come up at least once a year since the Legislature wisely passed the in-state tuition law in 2002. The primary beneficiaries of this law are the children of illegal immigrants, who are here through no fault of their own, have qualified themselves for higher education and deserve a chance to succeed. The choice is between allowing that chance, which could benefit everyone, or making it even tougher for them to get ahead, possibly wasting great potential and relegating promising students to a permanent under-class. That really isn't much choice at all, which is why HB191 should not be allowed to advance.

Winner: A Senate committee has approved a bill that would put Utah Transit Authority officials under the same ethics and conflict-of-interests rules that apply to other public officers or employees. Given the recent controversy over trustee Terry Diehl, who made an undisclosed amount of money from a land deal at a rail stop, the need for tougher rules seems as apparent as a fast-moving FrontRunner train on a sunny day.

Winner: About 95 percent of Americans have access to a wireless broadband service that provides speeds of at least 768 kbps. That's one of the facts to emerge from the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration database, unveiled this week. The database is being used by some to argue for greater federal spending to close a "digital divide" in America between those who have the Internet and those who don't. It's clear, however, that the private sector already is doing a good job of closing that gap, as it did in previous generations with television and radio.

Loser: We join with many around the world who watch the unfolding unrest in the Arab world with admiration and interest. However, the merciless massacre of protesters in Bahrain this week was a horrible indication of how far some despots will go to desperately hang onto power. Soldiers opened fire with bullets and teargas canisters, injuring at least 50 people and killing at least five. Of course, such actions serve only to increase public anger. They also underscore the horrible price at which freedom must be won.