TO CLIPS INDEX  Clips for January 6, 2009

State budget woes worsen
The Arizona Republic 1/6/09
Arizona would have to borrow between $2.5
billion and $5.7 billion as early as February
to bridge the state budget through a cash-
flow crunch caused by a shortfall. That's the
estimate of state Treasurer Dean Martin,
who on Monday said that the state may have
to borrow money for the first time in decades.
"It's like . . . using your Visa to pay off your
MasterCard," Martin said at an afternoon
news conference. He said he hopes to
convene a meeting this week of the state
Loan Commission, the first step to securing
the short-term loans needed to literally keep
the lights on in state government. The loans

Lawmakers want power to cut off-limits
spending
Arizona Capitol Times/East Valley Tribune
1/5/09 5:54PM
Key legislative leaders want to ask Arizonans
to repeal a constitutional amendment that bars
legislators from trimming voter-approved pro-
grams. And they want to take the issue to the
ballot in a special election as early as March.
Russell Pearce, incoming chairman of the
Senate Appropriations Committee, said it will
be virtually impossible to balance next year's
budget if almost half of the state's spending
is constitutionally off limits. The Mesa
Republican said lawmakers need the flexibility
to make adjustments. Rep. John Kavanagh, R-
Fountain Hills, who will be Pearce's counterpart
in the House, said putting the entire budget in
play "would allow us to do (overall) cuts with
more mercy."

New Grant-funded Project Meant to Improve
Educational Technology
UA News 1/5/09
Companies like Amazon and iTunes have nifty
programs and algorithms tracking consumer
activity so that if, for instance, you are a fan of
soul music you'll likely find tunes by Stevie
Wonder and Angie Stone in your suggestions
box.  A team of scientists at The University of
Arizona is extending that concept and, with a
newly funded $300,000 grant, applying it to
research on developing artificial intelligence
and educational technology that would benefit
the military, business and, someday, K-12
schools and higher education institutions.

Brewer names two more to gubernatorial staff
Arizona Capitol Times 1/5/09
Jan Brewer continued to fill out her gubernatorial
staff, naming Richard Bark as her deputy chief of
staff for policy and Joe Kanefield as her general
counsel. "Both of these gentlemen will play key
 roles in my judicial appointments and in areas
of constitutional law," Brewer stated in a press
release Jan. 5.

Unhinged ecosystem poses threat to Rim
communities
Payson Roundup 1/6/09
Scores of studies by researchers at Northern
Arizona University and elsewhere have detailed
a complex living network — most of it connected
to the biology ...

Orbiter, Finishing a Mission, Offers a Peek
at Mars’ Wrinkles
New York Times 1/6/09
Last month, NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance
Orbiter wrapped up its two-year primary
science phase, and Mars geologists are
wallowing in a bounty of data. “Technically
and scientifically, it has certainly met our
expectations,” said Alfred S. McEwen, a
planetary geologist at the University of
Arizona and principal investigator for the
orbiter’s high-resolution camera. Images
taken by the camera, able to see features
down to about a yard in size, have revealed
details like rippled textures in what had
looked like bland dusty regions, and
researchers can now count tiny craters,
enabling them to better estimate the age
of terrains.

Arizona State's Sustainability Programs
Get a Sustainable Building—From 1965
The Chronicle of Higher Education 1/6/09
Practicing the kind of sustainability it preaches,
Arizona State University has renovated a 1965
building to house its Global Institute of Sustain-
ability and School of Sustainability — and the
project’s $6-million price tag even includes
six small rooftop wind turbines that will take
advantage of thermal updrafts to add power
to the local electric grid. Still to be added on
the roof is a 24-kilowatt solar array. The
renovation, by Lord, Aeck & Sargent and
Gould Evans Associates, is expected to earn
a silver rating from the U.S. Green Building
Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environ-
mentalDesign program. Architects say the
48,806-square-foot building should consume
18.7 percent less electricity than it used to,
and only half as much water. The building
houses classrooms, conference rooms,
faculty offices, and open areas for student
interaction.

Wavering Economy Spurs Boost in Nurse
Retention Among Arizona Hospitals
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation 1/5/09
The slowing economy has resulted in
improved nurse retention at some Arizona
hospitals, creating a backlog of entry-level
nurses, the Arizona Daily Star reports.
Responding to a report released in May by
the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare
Association suggesting the state's nurse-
to-patient ratio lagged behind other states',
a number of Arizona hospitals and colleges
partnered to provide fast-track training for
nurses to head off the anticipated shortage.
Tucson Medical Center (TMC), for example,
partnered with the University of Arizona's
College of Nursing, Grand Canyon
University, Northern Arizona University and
Pima Community College to offer scholar-
ships of between $10,000 and $30,000 to
nursing students in exchange for a two-year
work commitment following graduation.