[caption id="attachment_349" align="alignleft" width="138"]Terri Proud[/caption]A former Tucson lawmaker just hired to coordinate a female veterans’ conference isn’t sure women belong on the front lines, at least partly because combat is no place to be dealing with menstrual cycle issues.

Terri Proud, a one-term state representative, was recently hired as an administrative assistant with the Arizona Department of Veterans’ Services at a salary of roughly $40,000, said Arizona Department of Veterans’ Services spokesman Dave Hampton. The conference is one of several responsibilities she’ll be undertaking, he said.

When asked about women on the front lines, Proud said that is a tough issue she didn’t want to talk about.

She said her position is drawn partly from her family’s military background and partly from biology.

It is safe to bet that cacti, triple digit temperatures and rattlesnakes all figure their way into your train of thought when thinking about the state of Arizona–its only natural.

Unless discussing the backyard pool or the urgency to escape another seasonal drought, it isn’t often that water matriculates its way into the barren desert land.

Albeit truthful, it is a stereotype that distracts from the state’s water-related recreational opportunities. Do I dare even go as far as to tap into the Arizona Surf Club? Is that such a thing?

Although incomparable to Minnesota’s reputable 10,000 lakes, Arizona is home to 31 lakes, which offer various activities. From fishing to boating to kayaking to waterskiing, Arizona has room for them all. 

If you’re looking to kick your feet up, seclude yourself from technology and simply relax, then pack up your fishing gear for Patagonia, Ariz. Patagonia Lake, which rests just 12 miles north of Nogales, is Tucson’s closest lake. The quaint 2.5-mile-long and 250-acre lake is best known for its Largemouth Bass and Flathead Catfish.

Or, if you’re looking to go tubing, jump on the I-10 up to the Salt River. If Lake Havasu is spring break, then the Salt River is spring break’s hangover. The inner-tube trip is as lazy as any Sunday should be as you soaking in the sun’s rays, all the while floating down through Tonto National Forest.

Drawing away from the college-polluted spring break city and “Personal Watercraft Capital of the World,” of Lake Havasu, try Northern Arizona to fulfill your wild side.

Mexico. A country rich in history, culture — and tourism dollars.

While Arizona’s neighbors from the South aren’t typically viewed as an economic stimulator, Mexican tourists generated an estimated $975.4 million in Pima County alone in 2008, according to a study by the University of Arizona.

“They come to our malls, to every store you can imagine, and can afford to leave money at restaurants, hotels,” said Felipe Garcia, Executive Vice President of Visit Tucson and the company’s resident expert on Mexico. “It has a great impact here in Southern Arizona and all the state of Arizona because they’re paying sales tax. Every municipality in our state has a benefit from those dollars— or their pesos— when they’re down there, their dollars crossing the border.”

Garcia said images of undocumented border-crossers, drug trafficking and violence first pop into the head of U.S. citizens. People see Mexico as a threat, rarely as an economic opportunity and trade partner.

Unfortunately several factors, such as border violence and S.B. 1070, have reduced the number of Mexican tourists to the United States since 2008.

“(SB1070) really gave us a black eye with the Mexican visitors and the Mexican consumers,” Douglas, Ariz., Mayor Danny Ortega Jr. said.