TO CLIPS INDEX Clips for February 4, 2009

Robb: GOP's budget fix put in perspective
The Arizona Republic 2/4/09
Legislative Republicans will not receive much thanks
for the fix they adopted to this year's budget. In fact,
the flow of brickbats is pretty incessant. Arizona State
University President Michael Crow has even accused
some legislators of turning Arizona into a Third World
country.  A little perspective is in order. It won't do
much good. The brickbats and hyperbole will continue
unabated. But someone should make the notation
just for the historical record.  According to the Arizona
Tax Research Association, authorized general-fund
spending for this year was $10.7 billion. You will
hear and read lower figures. But that's the real sum,
according to ATRA, when adjustments are made
for accounting gimmicks and debt.

State can't ask for $30 million from cities
The Arizona Republic 2/4/09
Add another $30 million to the state's budget woes.
The state Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that it
was unconstitutional for the Legislature to require
a $30 million payment from cities and towns to help
balance the current-year budget. In a unanimous
decision, the court said that the Legislature was
wrong to require the payment in the budget bill it
approved last June because the payment is not
an appropriation.

Editorial: Our View: State Legislature got it done
right — finally
East Valley Tribune 2/3/09 10:19PM
The Arizona Legislature has finally found some
serious discipline by resolving an immediate
and enormous budget deficit in relatively quick
fashion and with an eye toward balancing the
priorities of the state’s diverse population. In
less than three weeks, lawmakers have
eliminated about $1 billion in spending that
was exceeding this year’s tax revenues. Another
$600 million came from the state’s “rainy day”
fund and a conservative estimate of what
Arizona should receive if a federal economic
stimulus package passes Congress.

Commentary: Sanjeev Ramchandra: Time to
restructure university system
East Valley Tribune 2/3/09 10:18PM
Arizona’s university system comprising of only
three public universities is insufficient and broken.
One consequence of this is the expansion of the
Arizona State University empire with the satellite
campuses now charging the same tuition rate as
the overcrowded main campus. Instead of
marketing gimmicks like “One University in
Many Places” and“ Largest public university
under a single administration,” Arizona needs
to establish separate universities that promote
competition and accountability instead of the
massive bureaucracy that is found at a jumbo-
sized university.

Suit calls for ASU to have safety office
East Valley Tribune 2/3/09 10:48PM
Arizona’s public universities must establish a student
safety office that will better protect its campuses to
settle a former student’s lawsuit, which accused ASU
of placing her in a dangerous situation that allegedly
led to her rape. The Arizona Board of Regents has
assigned its legal counsel, Nancy Tribbensee, to
serve as student safety coordinator. In that position,
Tribbensee will review policies and appoint officials
at each university to work directly with students and
respond to cases of sexual harassment, assault and
discrimination, the board said in a prepared statement.
The state must also pay the plaintiff, a former female
Arizona State University student called “J.K.” in court
records, $850,000 from its insurance fund. J.K. and
her family will participate in deciding how the student
safety office takes shape.

Supreme Court chief justice delivers address at UA
Associated Press/East Valley Tribune 2/4/09
TUCSON, Ariz. -- Supreme Court Chief Justice John
Roberts is scheduled to deliver a lecture Wednesday
at the University of Arizona's law school. Roberts was
named to the high court in September 2005 to
succeed William H. Rehnquist. He is giving the
college's third annual Rehnquist Center lecture. The
nonpartisan Rehnquist Center on the Constitutional
Structures of Government was established in 2006,
and the lecture series honors the late chief justice.

Record spring at NAU
Arizona Daily Sun 2/4/09
Northern Arizona University's spring enrollment is
another record- breaker. NAU gained nearly 1,200
students at its sites statewide between spring 2008
and spring 2009, for an increase of 5.9 percent. That
puts total enrollment at 21,413 students. Most of that
increase was on the Flagstaff Mountain campus:
About 900 more students are attending classes
locally this spring versus last. NAUalso saw record
enrollment last fall, when 22,507 students showed
up for classes statewide. Enrollment generally
declines from fall to spring.

Haeger: Furloughs, layoffs likely for FY 2010
Arizona Daily Sun 2/4/09
Northern Arizona University has about two weeks to begin
implementing myriad cost-cutting measures that will plug
a $22 million hole in its budget. Trimming personnel and
raising tuition are also possible, if not probable, in the next
fiscal year, although immediate plans have not yet been
settled. And proposed cuts already shared in the days
leading up to Gov. Jan Brewer's recent signing of
legislation that would balance the $1.6 billion state deficit
reappeared in a newly released draft budget reduction
plan from NAU President John Haeger.

Opinion: AdvoCATS is good for pets (even dogs)
Arizona Daily Star 2/4/09
Tucson, Arizona - Being responsible for a pet is a serious
undertaking. Unfortunately, too often people don't under-
stand the commitment of pet ownership. Animals pay the
price when their person doesn't have the time or money
that pet care requires. This responsibility is often not so
apparent to college students, who might be living on their
own for the first time. They might miss the dog or cat they
left at home and decide to adopt a new furry friend.
College students' unsettled lifestyle — moving each year,
keeping odd hours and probably living on tight budget —
often isn't compatible with responsible pet ownership.

$100K from Cox aids UA scholarships
Arizona Daily Star 2/4/09
Tucson, Arizona - Cox Communications has donated
$100,000 to help fund a UA scholarship program
designed to allow qualified low-income students to
graduate debt-free. Known as Arizona Assurance, the
program provides select in-state students whose
families make less than $42,400 a year with financial
aid, grants and work-study programs that cover all the
costs of attending the University of Arizona — which
officials peg at slightly more than $14,000 a year. The
UA announced the program last year, accepting about
600 students in the fall. UA President Robert Shelton
has said he would like to expand the program to allow
any qualifying student the opportunity to attend the
university for free.

Guest Opinion: Andrea Dalessandro: GOP leading
AZ into the darkness
Tucson Citizen 2/4/09
Arizona is going the wrong way. GOP legislators
and Gov. Jan Brewer are trying to turn our state
into a giant Hooverville. In spite of my pleas to
Gov. Brewer and Rep. Frank Antenori, the
Legislature passed draconian budget cuts to
vital state operations in the dark of the night Fri-
day. I am a regular viewer to the Legislature's
live proceedings from home via www.azleg.gov.
Who would expect proceedings to start around
10 p.m. on a Friday? I spoke not only for myself,
but also for the 48,966 citizens who voted for
me last year. My pleas for sound policy and
people fell on deaf ears.

Online Comments: The big debate: UA budget cuts
Tucson Citizen 2/4/09
The story: The University of Arizona will have to lay
off 200 people and reduce outreach and arts
programs after the state Legislature reduces funding
by $57 million. Three museums will close. Your take:
Well, at least no one is gloating. The Citizen's online
community recognizes the reductions are forcing
taxpayers to take a long look at their legislators,
and themselves.

Editorial: Caught in a web
ASU Web Devil 2/4/09
Over the weekend, as the infamous state budget
cuts were making their way from being a shame-
ful and destructive idea, to being a shameful and
destructive bill, a moment of brevity appeared out
of the blue. With ASU’s photocopying costs being
questioned in the budget talks as the University’s
funding was on the chopping block, House
Appropriations Committee Chairman John
Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, chimed in with a
comedic gem: “Since our cuts are going to send
ASU back to the Middle Ages, the question is, how
many monks will they need?” Trust us when we
say that the hilarity was not lost on us. Making light
of jobs lost, programs cut and thousands of citizens
being thrown into miserable situations for the
unforeseeable future is classy.

Tough economy puts Dream fund in danger
ASU Web Devil 2/4/09
Since moving to Arizona nine years ago, Claudia, 17,
a high-school senior in Mesa, has completed 740
community-service hours, has taken college classes
and has kept up a 3.7 GPA, hoping to prepare herself
to attend ASU to study nursing. As an undocumented
immigrant, Claudia, whose last name is being with-
held to avoid identifying her, must pay out-of-state
tuition and isn’t eligible for federal aid — a result of
Proposition 300 is passing in 2006. And with a tough
economy, the American Dream Fund, a private
scholarship option, may not be available next year.
…Chicanos Por la Causa created the American
Dream Fund in 2008. President and CEO Edmundo
Hidalgo said the organization was able to fundraise
$5.5 million dollars, $2 million short of the expected
goal, to provide scholarships for about 200
undocumented students attending ASU.

Business school statue vandalized
ASU Web Devil 2/4/09
The recently donated horse statue outside the
W. P. Carey School of Business was vandalized
early Tuesday morning with a message expressing
opposition to the school’s placement of the statue
during the state’s budget crisis. “Budget cuts, tuition
increase[,] but at least we got the statue,” the writing
said. Cmdr. Jim Hardina of the ASU Police
Department said the incident happened overnight,
and police were notified around 8:15 a.m. on Tues-
day. The message was written in spray paint, he
said, and there were no leads as to who might
have vandalized the statue as of Tuesday afternoon.
Hardina said surveillance cameras at a nearby
parking garage might have caught the incident on
film, but no cameras were directly watching that
area. Robert Mittelstaedt, dean of the business
school, said the vandalism of the statue was mis-
guided.“It shows a lack of respect for everyone in
this community,” he said. He said the school has
received a lot of positive feedback about the
statue, which conveys a spirit of entrepreneur-
ship.

NAU President Haeger's statement to campus on
the FY2009 budget reduction proposal
NAU News 2/3/09
Dear colleagues, I have put together a draft plan for
Northern Arizona University to respond to the $21
million to $22 million reduction to our FY 09 budget.
This reduction is based upon the $141.5 million cut
to the Arizona University System that was authorized
by the Legislature and signed by the governor over
the weekend. I am taking this plan out to campus for
input this week, and after meeting with various
groups, I will submit my final budget reduction plan
to the Arizona Board of Regents on Monday, Feb. 9.
As you know, the university had been preparing for
a cut of about $10 million. We have given up about
100 positions on campus, closed the Center for High
Altitude Training and the Social Research Laboratory,
restricted travel and purchases, and taken back $6
million from all the major divisions of the university.
The latest budget reduction now means we have to
more than double the size of our cut in the next five
months.

Freshmen to face online requisites
UA Daily Wildcat 2/4/09
The English department's writing program is developing
two online courses that will soon be required for all in-
coming freshman. This will mark the first time the UA
has required students to take an online course as part
of their general education courses. A one-credit writing
skills course and a one-credit research course will
soon be required for students to take in conjunction
with English 101 and 102, Anne-Marie Hall, director
of the writing program, said. The writing skills course
is being piloted this semester with six instructors. If
approved by the provost, the course will be set as
part of the curriculum for the fall of 2009. The research
course is in the developmental stage and will be
piloted in the fall.

Opinion: Theresa Ulmer: Cuts detrimental to
state's growth
Yuma Sun 2/3/09 7:46 PM
State Republicans have taken an axe to the most
elemental building block of economic development:
education. In their attempt to balance this year's
state budget, they have undermined our future
safety, stability and prosperity. They have gutted
K-12 and higher education while leaving the
House, Senate and governor's budgets almost
entirely intact. They're cutting money for textbooks
and needed services for the most vulnerable of
the state as the House and Senate hang on to
a $4 million slush fund. ...Among these cuts were
$142 million to the state university system, $133
million to K-12 education and $44 million to the
state's health care system for the indigent. One
of the legislators for this district, Russ Jones,
committed to protect education while
campaigning and then voted yes for this
devastating budget. In a public forum he stated
his reason for wanting to go back to the
Legislature was "to be part of the majority and
get things done."

Dems claim Brewer rushed budget to go to
Super Bowl
KTAR  2/4/09 5:27am
Arizona Democrats say Gov. Jan Brewer ram-
rodded through a fix to the current state budget
so she could travel to Tampa, Fla., and watch
the Arizona Cardinals in the Super Bowl.  "We
were all disappointed that the Cardinals fell
short in the Super Bowl, but the real loser is
Arizona," Emily DeRose, communications
director for the Arizona Democratic Party, said
in a written statement released by the party
Tuesday. "Rubber-stamping the Legislature
and rushing tough economic decisions that
affect real people so the governor can go to
a sports game is not the kind of leadership
we have grown to see in our state," De Rose
said.

ASU & TGen discover breakthrough "memory drug"
abc15.com 2/4/09 7:42 am 
Click the play button on the video window to the
see the story. On the third floor of the Arizona State
University Psychology building a team of young
researchers smile quite a bit following a medical
discovery. "We were first to make this discovery,"
said Dr. Heather Bimonte-Nelson, an Assistant
Professor of Psychology. Bimonte-Nelson is the
lead author of the study, which found that hydroxy-
fasudil, an active ingredient in the drug Fasudil
could improve the working memory and enhance
the ability to remember more items of information.

First tribal financial manager certification program
to begin in 2009
Indian Country Today 2/4/09
Tempe, Ariz.-Cited as the first of its kind in the nation,
Arizona State University will begin a tribal financial
manager certification program in late spring 2009.
The Native American Financial Officers Association
initiated the two-semester program, noting the need
to provide education and training in tribal governments’
accounting principles and their legal operating
environment, a background that many people don’t
have. “It’s just not taught anywhere,” said Corinne
Wilson, Fort McDermitt Paiute-Shoshone, NAFOA’s
tribal financial manager certification program
coordinator.

Americans Increasingly See College as Essential
and Worry More About Access, Poll Finds
The Chronicle of Higher Education 2/4/09
The proportion of Americans who view a higher education
as being necessary to succeed economically has risen
sharply this decade, but the percentage who believe that
the vast majority of people who are qualified for college
have the opportunity to go has dwindled over the same
period, according to survey findings scheduled for
release today. Among the 1,009 adults who participated
in the nationwide survey—conducted by Public Agenda
and the National Center for Public Policy and Higher
Education, two independent nonprofit research groups
—55 percent said college is necessary, up from 31 per-
cent of those who responded to the same question in
2000. But only 29 percent of respondents to the most-
recent poll said qualified students have the opportunity
to go to college, down from 45 percent in 2000.