TO CLIPS INDEX
Clips for
January 12, 2009
My Turn by Bernadette Melnyk: Nursing
program in need of funding
The Arizona Republic
1/10/09
The education of nurses is vital to the health
and welfare of Arizona residents. The Arizona
State University College of Nursing & Health-
care Innovation has doubled its enrollment in
the past five years to help close a critical short-
age of nurses in our health-care system, which
makes it the state's and one of the nation's
largest producers of nurses with baccalaureate
and graduate degrees. Since 2004, the College
of Nursing has increased its faculty from 42 to
80 full-time members and 65 part-time faculty.
During that time, the number of students
admitted to the bachelor of science degree in
nursing program increased from 160 to 300 a
year. Although substantial state budget cuts will
reduce that number to 220 admissions per year,
it is a net gain of 60 graduates a year over the
2004 level.
Viewpoint by Jack L. August Jr.: Wanted:
A civil legislature
The Arizona Republic
1/11/09
Shortly after he retired from the U.S. Senate in
1987, Barry Goldwater summoned me to his
home in Paradise Valley. He heard I was writing
a book about Carl Hayden (Vision in the Desert:
Carl Hayden and Hydropolitics in the American
Southwest), and the senator wanted to go on
record about his old friend. Before I set up my
tape recorder, Goldwater announced, "Young
man, I have more bipartisan political genes in
me than you think." Surprised and somewhat
unnerved, I completed my preparations for the
oral-history interview with the Arizona icon.
...According to Babbitt's legislative director,
Fred DuVal, who currently serves as a member
of the Arizona Board of Regents, both law-
makers distinguished where and what they
had to win and this ability to communicate
made accommodation much easier, though
not ensured.
Robert Robb: The time for playing games
with state's budget is over
The Arizona Republic
1/11/09
From the political notebook: • The announcement
by state Treasurer Dean Martin that the state would
run out of cash to pay its bills probably sometime
in March changes the budget debate monumentally.
To this point, the question of whether the state
budget was balanced was a paper exercise. So,
various games could be played. The state could
push payments into the next fiscal year. The state
could pretend it borrowed money sometime in the
past. These maneuvers could create the illusion
that the state budget was balanced, when in fact
the state was spending considerably more than it
was taking in from ongoing revenues. But illusions
can't pay the bills when there is no money in the
bank.
Napolitano readies her farewell
The Arizona Republic
1/12/09
For a sense of what Gov. Janet Napolitano will
say Monday in delivering her seventh and almost
certainly final State of the State address, glance
at a couple of lines from last year's speech. "We
must remember that Arizonans years from now
won't ask how we balanced the budget,"
Napolitano told legislators and onlookers at
the time. "Instead, they'll ask how we improved
education, ensuredtheir safety, built a prosperous
economy and planned for explosive growth."
Napolitano is expected to echo those thoughts
Monday in asking legislators to be mindful as
they close state-budget shortfalls pegged at
$1.6 billion for the remainder of this fiscal year
and up to $3 billion for next. Past Napolitano
initiatives and signature investments from all-day
kindergarten to Science Foundation Arizona are
at risk, as are priority programs such as state-
subsidized health care.
For first time in modern history, Phoenix may be
losing people
The Arizona Republic
1/12/09
For the first time in modern history, Phoenix's
population could be shrinking. It's an idea that
would have been unimaginable just a few years
ago, when Phoenix was surging up the list of the
nation's most populous cities. Now, a variety of
indicators suggest that fewer people are living
here than a year ago. No one knows for sure
exactly how many people have moved in or out.
But with the 2010 census about to get under way,
some indicators suggest Phoenix's population
may be smaller than the projected 1,636,170
people. City records show declining trends in
several key areas.
Napolitano looks back and ahead
The Arizona Republic
1/11/09
As she began wrapping up business in Arizona
last week in advance of Thursday's confirmation
hearing in Washington, D.C., to head Homeland
Security, Gov. Janet Napolitano met with The
Arizona Republic's Editorial Board for an "exit
interview." Here are excerpts: ....
Olson to be honored by Pac-10
Tucson Citizen/The Arizona Republic
1/11/09 8:22 PM
It was a no-brainer. With former University of
Arizona hoops coach Lute Olson now retired
and a name needed from the school for this
year's men's basketball Pac-10 Hall of Honor,
Olson was all but a shoo-in to be Arizona's
nominee. He is indeed the choice, and will
be honored at the men's basketball
conference tournament in Los Angeles in
March. Olson, 74, retired in October after 50
years of coaching, including 25 at Arizona.
He's already a member of basketball's holy
grail, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall
of Fame, getting inducted in 2002. He led UA
to 589 wins and had 780 victories overall. He
guided UA to four Final Fours and one NCAA
title (1997).
State's budget ax to cut deeply
The Arizona Republic
1/11/09
No programs untouchable as legislators tackle
huge deficits. Sometimes you don't miss some-
thing until it's gone. Prepare to become aware
of how the state budget touches your life: Law-
makers are on the eve of making deep cuts in
the budget to wipe out a projected $1.6 billion
shortfall. From classroom textbooks to job-
training money, from health care for children
of low-income families to consumer-fraud
protection, lawmakers will be asked to weigh
what to cut and how much when the 49th
Legislature convenes Monday. And after
wrestling this year's budget into balance, law-
makers must craft a balanced budget for next
year, when the deficit is expected to be as
much as $3 billion. ....Rep. David Schapira,
returning for his second term, said he's scared
at what lies ahead. He foresees deep cuts to
the state universities, where he himself taught
recently - until Arizona State University laid off
many of its adjunct professors. Schapira, D-
Tempe, said legislative colleagues have
talked about the possibility of closing
campuses.
UA gets $3.16 mil to continue killer-asteroid hunt
Associated Press/The Arizona Republic
1/11/09
University of Arizona's Catalina Sky Survey has
been awarded a $3.16 million NASA grant to
continue protecting Earth from killer asteroids.
The grant was announced by the university on
Thursday and will fund the survey through 2012.
The survey tracks and identifies near-Earth objects,
which are asteroids and comets that have come or
are predicted to come with-in 130 million miles of
the sun, making them a risk to hit Earth.
Bills to be sidelined to focus on budget
The Arizona Republic
1/11/09
With a budget crisis demanding their full attention,
lawmakers say the hundreds of bills that they
consider each session will be relegated to the
side-lines when they convene Monday. "There's
a complete reversal of mindset that needs to take
place," said Sen. Bob Burns, the Senate's president-
elect. Burns has told members that he will not allow
bills to be heard until a majority of senators can
agree on how to close the state's 2009 budget
deficit, now estimated at $1.6 billion. "I'm going to
push as hard as I can to keep the focus on the bud-
get till it's solved," said Burns, R-Peoria. "The quicker
we solve it, the quicker the pain goes away."
Schapira vows to take up students' cause in budget
battle
The Arizona Republic
1/10/09 8:00 AM
State legislators go back to work Monday, and Rep.
David Schapira of Tempe is putting on his gloves.
Schapira says he will be working to spare education
spending from being cut too deep by budget
reductions. The $9.9 billion state budget is $1.4
billion to $1.6 billion in the red, and the budget cuts
are one plan to help balance it out. "I think it's
important that we don't solve the state's deficit on
the backs of students," Schapira said. "My biggest
fear is that we pull out of this economic crisis by
Valley set to pursue stimulus funding
The Arizona Republic
1/10/09
Government officials in the Valley want to
make sure their own bureaucracies don't
restrict the flow of federal economic-stimulus
dollars headed for Arizona. County and
municipal leaders said they were planning
to apply for billions of dollars in funding
promised by President-elect Barack Obama
to fund public-works projects such as roads
and schools, bridges and buildings, and
public services such as light rail. Most civic
leaders appeared to agree that bringing jobs
and economic stability to the area should be
their priority during what is expected to be the
worst year in recent decades for employment.
Editorial: Our View: Lawmakers will go straight to
work on state budget crisis
East Valley Tribune
1/10/09 4:51PM
The yearly opening of the Arizona Legislature at the
state Capitol tends to be a joyous moment for law-
makers eager with anticipation about the
improvements they will want to bring to the state on
behalf of all Arizonians. But the first day of the 2009
session should be a strictly somber affair — if not
downright gloomy. State lawmakers arrive at work
Monday with warnings ringing in their ears from
State Treasurer Dean Martin that he will have to
borrow billions of dollars to keep government
agencies running and the budget faces outright
bankruptcy in the coming months.
Editorial: Take the federal stimulus and run with it
Arizona Daily Sun
1/11/09
What one hand giveth the other taketh away. Or so
it seems with the trillion-dollar federal stimulus pack-
age that will be undercut by spending cuts in 50 states
and thousands of municipalities amounting to nearly
the same number. The problem -- or salvation,
depending on your point of view -- is that state and
local governments must balance their budgets, while
the federal government is under no such mandate.
When tax revenue dries up, the feds can print more
money while everyone else has to tighten their belts.
When things get really bad, as they have now,
Washington uses some of that new money to bail
out state government, especially the entitlement
programs like Medicaid and unemployment benefits
that require matching grants at the state level. That's
what happened in Arizona and elsewhere in the late
1970s and early 1980s.
Local entities protecting their turf
Arizona Daily Sun
1/11/09
For months NAU officials have been quietly cutting
their budgets with the expectation that state legislators
will shave millions more out of the state's allocation to
the university system. Christy Farley, an associate vice
-president for government affairs for NAU, said the
state controls roughly $161 million of the university's
$401 million budget. Lawmakers have trimmed $50
million already from the three state universities this
year. "We understand we have to be part of the solution,"
Farley said. But to what extent is not yet known. Farley
said so far the university's self-imposed cuts have led
to fewer tenure-track professors and more lecturers for
students attending NAU this year. NAU President John
Haeger pledged last month that the cuts would not
affect students, but with a looming $1.6 billion state
budget shortfall through June 30, it is unclear how
long he can keep that promise.
Editorial: Legislators must do what's right for entire
state
Arizona Daily Star
1/11/09
Our VIEW: Phoenix-based lawmakers shouldn't protect
their own, ignore the rest These could be perilous times
for Southern Arizona when the state's Maricopa County-
dominated, Republican-majority Legislature opens Mon-
day. Southern Arizona has lost a powerful protector in
former Senate President Tim Bee, who ran
unsuccessfully for Congress. Next to go: Gov. Janet
Napolitano, a Democrat who has joked that her primary
legacy may be moderating the conservative excesses
of the Legislature.
Federal money
may not fix budget
Arizona Daily Star
1/10/09
PHOENIX — Southern Arizona's two members of
Congress say the state should not count on federal
money to cope with a $1.5 billion budget shortfall,
even as Gov. Janet Napolitano is staying positive
about such a bonus. While Napolitano has pegged
a federal economic stimulus package, something
being pushed by President-elect Barack Obama,
as a way for the state to pay its bills through the end
of the year, U.S. Reps. Gabrielle Giffords and Raúl
Grijalva say they envision the money going for
specific infrastructure and job programs, often to
local governments. And that has some legislative
leaders saying the money can't be counted on to
aid the state.
Having left her
mark on state, 'Janet' departs
Arizona Daily Star
1/12/09
PHOENIX — When Gov. Janet Napolitano ran for
re- election in 2006, she rolled out a 60-second
television ad that was something akin to Ronald
Reagan's "Morning in America" campaign. It was
basically "Morning in Arizona," with "Janet" — as
she casually pitched herself to voters — hanging
out around the state with regular people: school-
children, families, the elderly. "Arizona's on the
move," Napolitano said in a shot in front of the
state Capitol. "But we're not done yet. With your
help, we can get even more done in the next
four years."
UA expands asteroid-watching program
Arizona Daily Star
1/10/09
Undergraduate astronomy students at the University
of Arizona will soon have the opportunity to hone
their research techniques and maybe even save the
world as the Catalina Sky Survey expands its search
for asteroids that could wipe out our civilization. With
new technology and continued NASA funding
announced this week, the Catalina Sky Survey
should cement its position as king of the hill among
asteroid watchers. Operating three telescopes — two
in the Catalina Mountains and a third that scans the
southern skies from Australia — the Sky Survey can
lay claim to spotting 70 percent of the near-Earth
objects observed in the past three years.
Our Opinion: It's the budget, then everything else
Tucson Citizen
1/12/09
With Arizona's 90 legislators getting together Monday
in Phoenix for the beginning of their 2009 session,
there is only one topic to discuss. Money. A month
ago, BusinessWeek magazine said that percentage-
wise, Arizona had the worst budget problems in the
nation, with a $1.3 billion deficit in its $9.9 billion bud-
get for fiscal 2009. That's old news. Arizona's deficit
now is projected at $1.6 billion - and rising. That is
for the fiscal year ending June 30, when the state
must close its book without a deficit. ....Because of
constitutional requirements, voter mandates and
other factors, legislators are severely limited in what
they can cut. Education - from state-funded all-day
kindergarten to the universities - has been
prominently mentioned as a likely target. Education
has been cut and will be cut more.
Water harvesting a tasty deal for area
Tucson Citizen
1/12/09
A precious natural resource many Tucsonans let
trickle away could mean big savings. Harvested
rainwater could be used to offset drinkable water
now pumped, treated, delivered and used out-
doors, said James J. Riley, associate professor
of soil, water and environmental science at the
University of Arizona. An increase in rainwater
harvesting could make it unnecessary to secure
new, expensive and less desirable sources of
water as the area's water needs grow, he said.
"If you could save the requirement of having to
provide extra water by using rainwater, you
could save a lot of installation costs, meters
and piping to provide that source of water," he
said. "You could really reduce what it would cost.
Arizona budget crisis dominates legislative
session
The Associated Press/Tucson Citizen
1/13/09
PHOENIX — Arizona legislators report for duty
Monday with plenty of fresh faces among them
and new leaders in charge. Those are probably
good things, because lawmakers will need all
the energy they can muster as they confront
what is seen as the state's worst budget crisis
in decades. That could see lawmakers make
cuts deep and wide in an array of state
programs and agencies, including education
and health care. "Everybody's going to see
things that they support on the chopping block
so the thing is how do we compromise on those
items," said Sen. Albert Hale, a Window Rock
Democrat who serves on the Senate
Appropriations Committee.
Students to Remain
Enrolled Despite Non-
payment
UA News
1/9/09
University of Arizona students who have not paid
their tuition and fees by the first day of classes,
which normally would result in their classes being
dropped, will be able to sign up for a payment plan
under a new policy. Each semester, about 2,000
students voluntarily enroll in the UA's tuition pay-
ment plan. Now, those who do not pay in time will
automatically be signed up for the plan. Students
must sign up for the payment plan on or before
Jan. 14 to avoid a $50 late fee for nonpayment.
Guest Opinion: Don't tax you, don't tax me -
tax the man behind the tree
Inside Tucson Business
1/12/09
The State of Arizona is facing an unprecedented
budget shortfall. All of the easy alternatives seem
to have been exhausted: specialized funds have
all been raided and emptied, payments to school
districts delayed, and the state’s “rainy day” fund
depleted. The day of reckoning is upon us. Should
we cut programs? Raise taxes? Given a
constitutional mandate to balance the budget,
there seem to be no alternatives to these choices.
What does the public want? Responses from two
iterations of the O’Neil Associates/ASBA Arizona
Economic Indicators Monitor are instructive.
Unpaid College Tuition Bills Rise, Survey Finds
U.S. News & World Report
1/9/09
Colleges and universities are seeing more
students unable to pay their second-semester
bills and in danger of being forced to drop out,
according to a survey by the American Association
of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers.
More than 65 percent of the 43 college registrars
who responded to an association-wide E-mail
survey said that they had noticed an increase in
unpaid bills this year. Most colleges don't let
students register for a new semester until they
have at least paid their bills for the previous
semester.
Budget Cuts Threaten Arizona Nursing Programs
Nurse.com
1/12/09
Despite a mounting need for nurses across Arizona,
proposed plans to slash higher education budgets
could force many of the state's universities to down-
size their nursing programs, the East Valley Tribune
reports. According to the Tribune, nursing programs
in Arizona are particularly expensive because state
law requires schools to have one professor for every
10 nursing students. By contrast, other educational
programs can have as many as 20 to 30 students
per professor. To offset the proposed budget cuts,
Arizona State University, which runs the state's
largest nursing program, has already announced
it will cut 80 spots from its incoming nursing class,
reversing progress over the last five years to expand
the program by 40%. Meanwhile, officials at Northern
Arizona University are exploring ways to make budget
cuts without lowering enrollment.
Central Avenue Post Office
Phoenix New Times
1/6/09 5:09pm
I fall in love with old buildings. There's that odd little
Flintstonian office building at Third Street and
Clarendon, whose comically prehistoric rock-and-
mortar façade stole my heart years ago. ...Of course,
I panicked when I read a couple of years ago that
ASU had purchased the building for use in its new
downtown campus. It would serve as a gathering
place for students as well as housing the
administrative offices of some ASU executives
and the ASU police.