TO CLIPS INDEX  Clips for March 20, 2009 

Arizona agencies outline impacts of budget cuts
AP/Forbes.com 3/20/09
Dozens of Arizona state agencies have projected how
they would respond to budget reductions of 5, 10, 15
and 20 percent, listing cuts including mass layoffs of
university personnel, truncating social-welfare services
and shutting down police aviation units…Arizona State
University said cuts in its state-provided funding would
require mass layoffs that likely would have to be
targeted a professional and classified staff because
student demand would limit possible cuts of faculty. 
The reductions of 5-10-15-20 percents would require
lay-offs of 740, 1,010, 1,280 and 1,550 professional
staff, the university said.
 

ASU economist: Stimulus plan fails to address innovation
Phoenix Business Journal 3/20/09
Arizona is getting $55 million for state energy programs that
could help propel solar and renewable energy sources, and
$12 million to outfit schools to use more technology. Funds
also will be available for U.S. Small Business Administration
loans to help startups, and tax breaks and financial aid for
lower-income families to send their kids to college. All of
that could help spark the next wave of energy production,
help high-tech firms or bear some great entrepreneurs and
innovators. But Dennis Hoffman, an economist at Arizona
tate University’s W.P. Carey School of Business, would
have liked to see more money allocated for science and
technology.
 

Protesters gather at ASU to mark 6th anniversary of war
Arizona Republic 3/20/09
About 50 protesters gathered Thursday evening on the bridge
over University Drive at Arizona State University to protest the
Iraq War.
Traffic was nearly at a standstill at about 6 p.m. on
University Drive from Mill Avenue to Rural Road past the
university, with many passersby honking in support of the
protesters. The event marked the sixth anniversary of the start
of the war in 2003.  People on the bridge were holding about
30 different signs, with such messages as “War is Not the
Answer,'' “Support the Troops in the War,'' “We Cannot Afford
to Make More Enemies,'' “Not One More Death, Not One More
Dollar,'' “War is Over if You Want It,'' and “Fund Education, Not
Occupation.''
 

He's fought prostate screening all along
Arizona Daily Star 3/20/09
University of Arizona research professor Richard J. Ablin
has long been saying what two new studies concluded
this week: that the PSA screening for prostate cancer
does little if any good. Not only that, but the studies say
the PSA blood test can lead to painful, expensive and
unnecessary medical treatments. It's all quite frustrating
to Ablin, an immunobiologist who was 30 years old in
1970 when he was part of a research team that
discovered PSA — prostate-specific antigen, which
is a protein produced by the cells of the prostate
gland.
 

Bowel transplant talk at UA
Tucson Citizen 3/20/09
Until now, there was scant hope for children who suffer
from irreversible small-bowel failure in Arizona. But soon,
University of Arizona Medical Center will offer the life-
saving treatment of full intestine and liver transplant, and
the surgeon heading the team will speak on the topic
from 4 to 6 p.m. Friday. Khalid Khan, associate professor
of surgery and pediatrics in UA's Department of Surgery
and director of the Pediatric Liver and Intestinal Trans-
plantation Program, will speak on "Innovations in Liver
and Intestine Transplantation in Infants" in the DuVal
Auditorium, 1501 N. Campbell Ave.
 

CAVIAT part of school innovation
Arizona Daily Sun 3/20/09
The difference with CAVIAT is that vocational students still
must complete all high school graduation requirements,
including passage of the AIMS tests. Another is that many
CCC credits are transferable to a four-year degree.  That
program, called CCC to NAU, is another example of local
cooperation over competition in local higher education.
While many community colleges across Arizona are
lobbying for the right to award their own four-year degrees,
CCC and NAU officials have recognized the possible
duplication that such a move entails within the Flagstaff
region. Instead, they've coordinated courses and academic
counseling so that students who choose can move
seamlessly from a two-year to a four-year degree
program.
 

Company offers scholarships for college, university students
KNXV-TV (ABC) Ch. 15 3/20/09
A Valley company is offering over two dozen scholarships to
students who will be attending a Maricopa Community College
or Arizona State University’s West campus.  Arizona Public
Service will be awarding the scholarships to students who
have a 3.0 cumulative grade point average, who is an Arizona
resident and in financial need. ASU West students who want
to apply must be a high school or current ASU West student
studying business or education.
 

Editorial: Boos and Bravos
ASU Web Devil 3/20/09
Bravo to the Arizona Board of Regents for rejecting plans to
wipe out the AIMS scholarship program — for now. While the
regents were not quick to give the scholarship its blessings
for long-term security, they did save the day for the thousands
of high-school students statewide who have been working
toward a tuition waiver to help them pursue a higher
education. But at least if that didn’t work, the universities still
could have lured them to campus with the upcoming higher
tuition, housing and dining rates. Or not.