Questionable judgments

• With the American West seemingly under perpetual threat of drought, developer Richard Mladick is nonetheless preparing to build Waveyard, a massive water theme park, near Mesa, Ariz., which will require 50 million gallons of groundwater to open and as much as 100 million gallons annually. Explained Mladick: "I couldn't imagine raising my kids in an environment (without the opportunity) to grow up being passionate about the same sports that I grew up being passionate about" (that is, kayaking, scuba diving and surfing). Voters approved Waveyard overwhelmingly, based on Mladick's promise of jobs and tax revenue. • In November, Pittsburgh radio station KDKA reported that soldier Jordan Fox had recently been ordered to return $3,000 of his $10,000 enlistment bonus because his blindness and back injury from a roadside bomb in Iraq prevented him from fulfilling the final three months of his one-year Army "commitment." Fox was surprised to learn that the give-back is standard, but U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire of Pennsylvania has introduced legislation to change that.