TO CLIPS INDEX
Clips for January 5, 2009
Arizona hoping green initiatives will blossom
into new jobs
The Arizona Republic
1/5/09
While the nation waits to see how environmentally
friendly President-elect Barack Obama's proposed
stimulus package will be, Arizona's economy
already is greening up. Signs of change include a
green chamber of commerce, an upcoming green
-job fair and a major green-building conference.
...Green jobs - The Center for American Progress,
a Washington, D.C., think tank, has proposed a
$100 billion green-economic-recovery program
that could create 2 million jobs while helping in-
crease energy independence. ....Arizona State
University's new School of Sustainability has
about 400 undergraduate and graduate students
and expects to grow to 1,500 to 2,000 in four years,
said Director Charles Redman. Brigitte Bavousett,
a Chandler resident who last month received the
first ASU master's degree in sustainability, has
held several jobs as a consultant while still a
student.
Arizona may run out of money in February
The Arizona Republic
1/4/09
Arizona could run out of money to pay its bills as
early as next month, state Treasurer Dean Martin
says. And unlike last spring, when the treasurer
issued a similar alarm, this time there won't be
reserves to cover the bills. Martin says the state
will be forced to borrow money in the short term
- the first time since World War II - and adds that
there is little that lawmakers can do to avert it.
"No matter what they do with the budget, we'll
be negative in March or April," Martin said. He
has shared his sober analysis with the incoming
legislative leaders, as well as Jan Brewer's
gubernatorial transition team.
Regents offering loan program to prospective
teachers
The Arizona Republic
1/4/09
Interested in becoming a teacher? If you can
commit to teaching math, science or special
education, the Arizona Board of Regents has
a loan program that could help in a big way.
The regents created the Loan Forgiveness
Program for Math, Science and Special
Education Teachers to help students pay for
their education, and it is truly a remarkable
incentive. First-time bachelor's degree
students can get a full-coverage student loan
with a 100 percent forgiveness provision for
teaching at least one year longer than the
After 5 years, Mars rovers still going
The Arizona Republic
1/3/09
A solar-powered rover called Spirit is shaking off the
cold and dust of a nearly fatal Martian winter. At the
same time, its twin, Opportunity, is inching its way
across a desolate 10-mile-wide plain toward a deep,
richly layered crater. The golf-cart-size explorers were
built to last at least 90 days, perhaps a year. Instead,
they have lasted five years, and they have far exceeded
their expected payoff in research. The rovers have
roamed the surface of Mars examining its geology and
have shed light on the role that water played in the
planet's history. Phil Christensen, a scientist at Arizona
State University, built a key part of the rovers' brains
that allow them to evaluate the composition of rock.
NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California,
which manages the rover program, will mark the fifth
anniversary of the landings later this month.
Outside researcher helps Higley track teacher
retention
The Arizona Republic
1/2/09 8:35 AM
Higley Unified School District is using an outside
researcher to help track teacher retention, an issue
that has generated considerable concern among
parents. Denise Birdwell, interim superintendent
for the southeast Gilbert district, told the Gilbert
Republic that HUSD is working with an Arizona State
University researcher, Michael Halpert. Halpert, who
founded the Teacher Retention Group research firm,
has been studying national and Valley schools'
retention data. He is working with Higley to gather
research for his doctorate.
Exec seeks more money for med school
The Arizona Republic
1/2/09
When William Crist was recruited for the University of
Arizona's newly created position of vice president for
health affairs, one of his chief duties was to spur the
growth of the new medical-school campus in down-
town Phoenix. Crist took the $650,000-a-year position
in August with the idea that the startup campus in down-
town Phoenix would have nearly $500 million to spend
on a health-science education building and a state-of-
the-art research building. But with the economy in free
fall and the state facing a $1.2 billion budget shortfall,
Crist and the Arizona Board of Regents worry that funds
for the expansion will be difficult to secure. The
Legislature already has approved a $1 billion stimulus
package for university building construction, including
$470 million to build the Arizona Biomedical
Collaborative-2 research building and a health-
sciences education building at the UA College of
Medicine in Phoenix.
2008 in Review: Sagging economy hardly fazes
NAU
Arizona Daily Sun
1/3/09
The recession became a sobering reality for Northern
Arizona University in 2008, as campus officials tackled
budget cuts in the face of the state budget deficit. Some
campus construction projects, intended to be part of a
regional economic stimulus plan, were given the green
light, but others have been put on hold. Still, record
numbers of students continue to enroll at the Mountain
Campus, packing dorms with the largest freshman class
on record. $10M IN CUTS? The state's current budget
deficit is $1.2 billion. Lawmakers have already trimmed
$50 million from the state's allocation to the university
system, and are likely to shave more.
College brings computer class to
Wickenburg
The Arizona Republic/Arizona Daily Star
1/5/09
Twice a week, Michael Maguire, a Phoenix-area
community college instructor, gets in his car and
drives for more than an hour to the small tourist
town of Wickenburg. Behind the faux Western
storefronts lurks a modern need, one that Estrella
Mountain Community College — Maguire's Avon-
dale employer — is trying to address in a computer-
filled classroom at Wickenburg High School. After
years of requiring students to haul themselves
down to greater Phoenix for even basic higher
education, Estrella has come to Wickenburg,
which lies 60 miles northwest of Phoenix, for a
pilot semester.
TMC now lacks jobs for
its nurse grads
Arizona Daily Star
1/4/09
Some recent nursing-school graduates who expected
to fill a void at Tucson Medical Center are finding the
local nurse shortage is not as severe as it once was.
TMC agreed to pay the graduates' way through a fast-
track nursing program. In exchange, the graduates
would work at the hospital for two years as registered
nurses. But when graduation came in December, TMC
officials found they didn't need all the program's 27
registered-nurse graduates — even after paying
thousands of dollars for each one's education.
UA law school
lauded for public service programs
Tucson Citizen
1/2/09
The University of Arizona's law school recently received
national recognition for programs that defy the money-
grubbing opportunist image that many have of lawyers.
November's National Jurist magazine ranked UA's
James E. Rogers College of Law 24th among 60 U.S.
law schools for teaching students public interest law.
The journal considered student involvement, curriculum
and financial factors, including tuition and financial
assistance. "This generation of students, I believe, is
increasingly interested in ways in which they can apply
their talents to make not only their lives better, but make
other people's lives better," said Dean Toni Massaro.
Our Opinion: An
agenda: What we'd like to see
during 2009
Tucson Citizen
1/1/09
With 2008 gone and its momentous events packed
away in our minds, it's time to set the agenda for 2009.
Resolutions are so overdone at the beginning of a new
year. So instead, let's simplify it. Here are a few things
we expect - and hope - to see before we again meet in
this space Jan. 1, 2010. Rio Nuevo: Up, up and away
2009 is to be the year for Rio Nuevo. No, wait. That was
2008. Or 2007. Never mind. This time it's for real. No,
really - construction is set to begin this summer on the
$130 million University of Arizona Science Center/
Arizona State Museum. Real work on the downtown
hotel/convention center also is moving forward.
Our Opinion: UA law
grads know service
Tucson Citizen
1/3/09
Not all law schools highlight lessons on public service
and pro bono work, so we're proud to see that emphasis
at the University of Arizona's James E. Rogers College
of Law. Congratulations are in order, too. National Jurist
magazine just ranked the Tucson school 24th among 60
law schools nationwide for teaching public interest law.
This generation of students is "increasingly interested in
ways in which they can apply their talents to make .
. . other people's lives better," says Dean Toni Massaro.
While few new lawyers will enter public service law,
Massaro says, UA's program teaches them how to take
on pro bono cases in private practice.
ASU, Penn form
partnership to commercialize
technology
ASU News
1/5/09
In what is believed to be a unique relationship in higher
education, Arizona State University (ASU) and the
University of Pennsylvania (Penn) have entered into a
partnership to assist one another with commercialization
of selected technologies for their respective universities.
The collaboration will leverage the resources, networks,
and contacts of Arizona Technology Enterprises (AzTE),
ASU’s technology venturing arm, and the University of
Pennsylvania’s Center for Technology Transfer (CTT)
for the purpose of transferring university technology to t
he marketplace. “We are moving beyond the conventional
tech transfer model by combining the collective resources
of our offices for the mutual benefit of our respective clients,”
says Augustine Cheng, managing director of AzTE.
Arizona
attorney general rebuts Havasupai settlement,
despite clients’ wishes
Indian Country Today
1/2/09
PHOENIX – Members of the Havasupai Tribe had reason
to be cautiously optimistic upon learning that regents of
the Arizona State University system wanted to settle a long-
running legal dispute with the tribe centered on what
members believe was misuse of blood they long ago gave
to researchers at Arizona State University. But now the tribe
has discovered that Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard,
who represents university regents in the case, does not want
to settle the litigation, despite his clients’ wishes to do so.
Kitchell establishes scholarship fund at Northern
Arizona University
Indian Country Today
1/5/09
Kitchell, one of the state’s leading construction-industry
firms, has long been an ally of Northern Arizona University
and its Native American students – and now the company
is looking to build on the successful partnership. During a
December 10 ceremony at NAU’s Blome Building, Mark
Pendleton, president of Kitchell Contractors, along with Dr.
Barry L. Lutz, interim dean of Northern Arizona University’s
College of Engineering, Forestry and Natural Sciences and
Tom Rogers, chairman of NAU’s Department of
Construction Management, signed an agreement for the
company to provide a scholarship fund for Native American
students studying construction management.
Brewer Seen Taking Conservative Path
KPHO News 5
1/4/09 6:17 am MST
PHOENIX -- Look for a turn to the right. That's the
widespread expectation of what will happen when
Republican Secretary of State Jan Brewer replaces
Gov. Janet Napolitano after the Democratic incumbent
resigns to become U.S. homeland security director.
Brewer labels herself a "fiscal conservative Republican,"
and by all accounts she had a reliably conservative
record as a state legislator in the 1980s and 1990s.
That was before she went on to serve as a Maricopa
County supervisor and then secretary of state.
Seeking Money for
Universities, Not Students
Inside Higher Education
1/2/09
I’m sure that the 51 presidents, chancellors, regents,
and heads of university associations who signed an
open letter to President-elect Obama believe that
their request for a share of the expected federal
stimulus package is in the country’s best interests.
Although I personally cringe at what I view as self-
serving pleas, I am confident that they believe in
what they are doing. At the same time, it might be
helpful to look at just how narrow a vision guides this
request and why satisfying the plea is unlikely to
achieve the noble goals that the letter alludes to.
Specifically, the signatories, convened by the
Carnegie Corporation of New York, are asking the
federal government to spend $40-45 billion in the
form of capital investment — direct expenditures on
“shovel-ready” construction projects, mostly at public
universities. The federal funds would be distributed
to the states on the basis of population and would be
channeled through governors, bypassing state
legislatures.
Colleges Press New Ideas as They Brace
for Bumpy State-Budget Sessions
The Chronicle of Higher Education
1/5/09
As state legislatures convene in the coming days and
weeks, colleges will be battling to stave off large cuts,
with governors in places like Arizona, Missouri, and
Ohio asking public colleges to prepare for budget
reductions of as much as 25 percent. Nearly every
state is now projecting a revenue shortfall for both
the current budget year and the next fiscal year, and
few public-college officials expect to dodge the
budget ax. But some higher-education leaders and
state policy makers see the bleak economic outlook
as an opportunity to press for broad changes in
college policy and operations that haven't had much
traction under better financial circumstances. The bad
budget times are also leading college and government
officials to suggest ideas for paring costs that have been
too politically unpopular to even put on the table in past
years, such as merging institutions, eliminating tenure,
and even turning a major public research university into
a private one.