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TEMPE, Ariz. – The mystery heading into the 2025-26 season for the Arizona State men’s basketball team was the wave of transfers it received from the portal. One of the acquisitions who has emerged as a top scorer for the Sun Devils throughout the early part of the season is senior guard Moe Odum.
(Photo/ Blaze Radio ASU)
(Photo/Sierra Watson)
Decadence Arizona, fresh off celebrating its 10th anniversary last winter, makes a return to Phoenix Raceway to cap off 2025 with “The Portal of I11usions” theme. Last year’s lineup featured acts like Excision, John Summit, ISOxo and the tandem of Crankdat b2b Riot Ten with 50,000 ravers in attendance over the two night long celebration. As temperatures begin to dip across the desert, the excitement is only heating up for Arizona’s largest EDM festival to once again ring in the new year.
“Shucked,” a Tony Award-winning musical about discovery and corn, opened at ASU Gammage on Dec. 2 with phenomenal singing and hysterical jokes. The show will run in Tempe until Dec. 7 before heading to its next location.
PHOENIX – Having not played since the Maui Invitational championship game 10 days ago, Arizona State men’s basketball entered Saturday’s Jerry Colangelo Classic behind the eight ball.
(Photo/ Blaze Radio ASU)
(Photo/Blaze Radio ASU)
(Photo/Sun Devil Athletics)
Singer-songwriters Jeremy Zucker and Chelsea Cutler are more than just a dynamic partnership or a revolutionary collaboration; they're best friends.
(Photo / San Francisco Athletics)
TEMPE, Ariz. — The Sun Devils swept the Eagles on Thursday night, powered by strong defense and offense, advancing to the next round of the NCAA Tournament.
PHOENIX--Artificial intelligence has taken the world by storm, and Arizona State University students are discovering where they fit in amid the age of AI.In September, ASU announced an expanded collaboration with OpenAI, a company specializing in developing artificial intelligence, like their main AI chatbot, ChatGPT.The collaboration between the two would allow all students and faculty to access ChatGPT-5, an advanced version of OpenAI’s signature chatbot, designed for businesses and educational institutions.Students said they have elected to embrace the changes at their university, finding the chatbot’s convenience and straightforwardness useful.One junior, Sebastian Melker-Cisneros, said he tends to use AI as a personal tutor because it helps him at times when no one else can.“I find it very helpful as a private tutor of sorts when you're dealing with concepts that are completely unfamiliar to you, and it's like 10 p.m. or 12 a.m., just super late, can't contact a professor or get in touch with other students,” Melker-Cisneros said.Melker-Cisneros said he started studying architecture at ASU, but later switched to Artificial Intelligence in Business, a move he said would give him a leg up on his peers.“One thing that a lot of my professors are saying is that AI isn't going to replace your job, you don't have to worry about that,” Melker-Cisneros said. “You have to worry about your co-worker who can work with AI; he's gonna take your job.” ASU was the first university that OpenAI had partnered with, and with its support, the collaboration is set to be one of the clear points of the corporation’s success.As one of the industry’s leading faces, OpenAI has seen a jump from 100 million ChatGPT users in November 2023 to over 700 million users in November 2025, according to Semrush, a website that tracks web traffic and online performance.As support for AI continues to grow with other universities following in ASU’s footsteps, both students and professors said they look for different ways to incorporate the technology into their classrooms.While AI’s problem solving capabilities can be useful for some majors like in Melker-Cisneros’ case, but for professors within other majors, such as those in the arts, said they find the technology difficult.Brent Webster, an English professor at ASU, said that many of his colleagues use artificial intelligence in their courses, but he finds students misusing AI-generated content at least twice a week in his classes. “In years prior, students wrote their papers, you know, now they don't so much, so I have to kind of navigate that sterile prose,” Webster said.Webster has found that one of his biggest weapons against AI is simply a conversation, and said he tries to talk to the students to find a balance between convenience and autonomy.“Once I steer somebody in the right direction, it's usually not a problem,” Webster said. “It's tempting, I guess, to forfeit part of your instinct to something else.” Webster’s solution seems to work for students across campus, even those not in his class.Max Allen, a sophomore studying mass communications and media studies, said his experiences with AI have always been challenging, but he still values it as a tool for the future.“I think it can get really distracting when it’s everywhere,” Allen said. ”But I do appreciate what ASU’s done to establish it as a tool to help us, instead of allowing us to be lost in this new world.”
(Photo/Casteel High School)
PHOENIX – Many Muslim women at Arizona State University say they feel safe showing their faith on campus, yet still choose to keep certain practices private to avoid stares or questions. Muslim women say they rarely face direct discrimination, but many describe subtle assumptions, visible minority status and growing anxiety fueled by national rhetoric targeting Middle Eastern and Muslim communities.Diana Usmanova, a sophomore at ASU’s West Valley Campus, said she has never faced negative behavior tied to her “religion, clothing, or the language [she] speaks,” adding that the West campus’ diversity “enhances [her] sense of belonging.”She said she feels comfortable around friends who wear hijabs, noting the campus “feels like a sisterhood.”Still, Usmanova said comments around campus questioning Muslim individuals based on harmful stereotypes send a message that “being Muslim or being an immigrant somehow makes you less qualified to serve or to belong.”“Most often I encounter assumptions on my ethnicity from other students or faculty and it shapes how I am perceived before I get to know them,” Usmanova said. Some students on the Tempe campus say they see many Muslim peers yet still feel out of place in some academic spaces.“Sometimes I do feel excluded in a way, mainly because in my college, WPC, it is typically a majority of white people, and turns me into a visible minority,” said Beneen Alomrani, a junior at ASU Tempe.She said she has worn her hijab her entire life and is “used to the stares,” adding that "even though [she] feels out of place sometimes, [she] has never gotten discriminated against or looked down.”Alomrani said prayer is the one area where she does not feel fully comfortable at West campus.“At West campus I avoid praying, just because I do not feel like I have a safe sanctuary to go to,” Alomrani said.On the other hand, she said Tempe “does a really good job at providing safe resources” that allow students to pray without feeling watched.”“Praying is a really sacred experience," Alomrani said, adding that the physical nature of Muslim prayer means they “cannot just stop and drop wherever and pray.” At the West campus, students often rely on a meditation room not designed specifically for spiritual use to pray in.“At least at the West campus, there is a meditation room called Zen Den in which I go to pray, but people who are not usually there to pray, more to chill, so sometimes it is a little bit awkward being around them,” said Fatima Muhsen, a sophomore at ASU West.Muhsen said she has never faced discrimination at ASU and believes most stares are “more out of curiosity, rather than judgment." Still, she said misinformation continues to shape public attitudes. “There is a lot of ignorance out there, and I think it stems from fake news and a misperception,” Muhsen said.Muhsen said the West campus needs “some type of spiritual room” like those offered at Tempe, to support Muslim students’ needs.Students across campuses say ASU could improve inclusion by offering private prayer spaces, updating curriculum to include Muslim voices and creating mentorship or social groups for Muslim women.Many students say ASU’s diversity helps them feel welcome, but believe more intentional support, whether through rooms dedicated to prayer or expanding theological knowledge around campus, would show Muslim women that they fully belong.Alomrani said she remains optimistic, adding that “our generation is growing up with an open mind and we are finally past that judgment phase.”For now, Muslim women at ASU continue balancing safety, identity and community in a climate where campus acceptance is steady but outside hostility is hard to ignore.
PHOENIX— Fewer high school students across Arizona are graduating on time, raising concerns among administrators and policymakers about long-term social, economic and employment repercussions.In recent years, the high school graduation rate has significantly dropped, putting Arizona behind states like Alaska, New Mexico and California. According to the Arizona Department of Education, Arizona’s graduation rate remained 77.3% from 2022 to 2024.Arizona’s graduation rate remains lower than the national average of 86.6%. An analysis by Common Sense Institute of Arizona found that if the current trend continues, there could be almost 20,000 fewer high school graduates by the end of 2030.Absences not only affect academic performance but can also limit students’ ability to stay engaged with coursework. As Arizona evaluates the reason behind lower graduation rates, some leaders point to attendance problems as a main concern.“We cannot teach students that are not in school,” Tom Horne, head of the Arizona Department of Education, said.“The high school students who miss more than one-third of their classes face a bleak future.”A 2023-2025 graduate rate cohort from the Arizona state government shows an apparent pattern. Suburban counties in Arizona have graduation rates above 80% while smaller rural school districts in Arizona are continuing to drastically lower the average by 24%. Greenlee County and Maricopa County have the highest graduation rate in Arizona at 95%, while Pima County has the lowest graduation rate at 71%. President of the Arizona Education Association, Marisol Garcia, explains that the declining graduation rates may originate from two factors: a teacher retention crisis and underfunded classrooms. “Low pay and a lack of respect for educators are driving them away, which in turn harms students. Arizona needs to invest in our schools and our educators or this issue will continue to worsen,” Garcia said.The decline in Arizona’s graduation rates is not just an educational issue, but also a significant economic issue. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that someone with a high school diploma and a bachelor's degree has a median annual income of $60,000 to $80,000, while someone without a high school diploma or a bachelor’s degree earns roughly $30,000 less.Kyra Blackwell,a sophomore at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, said her college preparedness stemmed from the challenging course load in her suburban high school. “I am not super-surprised about the decline in Arizona graduation rates, as many students do not take their academic career seriously,” Blackwell said. “My academic success determines if I can get into a Master's program, and therefore it truly matters.”Many of the state’s young adults may face exclusion from higher-paying jobs and financial independence. Arizona’s graduation rate currently remains below 78%. Whether government officials choose to address the issue will likely influence the state’s workforce outcomes over the next couple of years.
PHOENIX — Music in languages other than English has been reaching more young listeners than ever, and the trend has been reshaping how students learn languages, connect with peers and experience culture on and off campus.
PHOENIX - Sky Harbor recorded roughly 8.3 inches as of November 25, more than the 7.22 inch annual average, Ryan Worley, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service, said. According to the National Weather Service’s website, the recorded rainfall hasn’t exceeded the average since 2018 when Sky Harbor recorded 9.29 inches.
PHOENIX – In a city full of coffee shops on every street corner, Kahvi Coffee and Café stands out as a favorite for Arizona State University (ASU) students and local residents.
(Photo: Sierra Watson/Blaze Radio ASU)
