TO CLIPS INDEX Clips for January 22, 2009

Rep. Nichols proposes multiple Board of Regents
The Arizona Republic 1/22/09 11:10 AM
A lawmaker representing Gilbert and Chandler
has introduced legislation that would allow
Arizona voters to replace the state Board of
Regents with separate boards for each
university. Rep. Warde Nichols, R-Gilbert, is
sponsoring House Concurrent Resolution
2002, which would place the question on the
November 2010 general election ballot. Under
the proposal, Arizona State University, the
University of Arizona and Northern Arizona
University each would have a separate five-
member board of regents. For each board,
three members would be chosen by the
governor and one each by the state House
Speaker and Senate President.  Members of
the current board would continue serving on
the board of the university located closest to
their residents until the expiration of their
current terms.

Brewer promises to downsize, cut spending
The Arizona Republic 1/22/09
After being sworn in Wednesday as Arizona's
22nd governor, Janice Kay Brewer pledged to
shrink government but grow freedom in
confronting a $1.6 billion state-budget shortfall.
Roughly 1,500 people, including four former
governors, attended the outdoor ceremony on
the Capitol grounds. They witnessed Brewer,
64, rise to the state's highest post and usher
in a new era of GOP control of state government.
She thanked her predecessor, Democrat Janet
Napolitano, who resigned a day earlier following
her confirmation as federal Homeland Security
chief; but Brewer promised a break from the
state spending of the past six years. Brewer
will serve the remaining two years of
Napolitano's term, until the office is up for
election in 2010.

Budget 'would gut' ASU, president says
The Arizona Republic 1/22/09
The cuts in higher-education funding some
state lawmakers are proposing "would gut"
Arizona State University and "set it back a
decade or more," university President
Michael Crow said Wednesday. "I am deeply
concerned for the future of Arizona State
University," Crow said. "ASU has taken its
share of budget cuts to help the state deal
with its revenue shortfall - and we are pre-
pared to do more." Crow e-mailed his
concerns to lawmakers and outlined
disastrous consequences for ASU if the
funding-cut proposals are approved. He
also criticized them for sidestepping such
alternatives as borrowing money or raising
taxes to relieve the state's fiscal crisis.

Growing deficit in budget awaits Brewer's
shears
The Arizona Republic 1/22/09
The day was warm and welcoming. And Janice
K. Brewer, the 22nd governor of Arizona, was
ebullient and upbeat about the fateful events
that brought her to the tasks that lay ahead.
"No one ever knew (life) would bring me here,"
said Gov. Brewer moments after reciting her
oath of office in the shadow of Arizona's
historic Capitol building. "But one thing is
certain: There's no place I would rather be."
She may have occasion to reconsider.
Confronting the conservative Republican,
our former secretary of state, on one side is
a budget deficit of unimaginable enormity:
more than $4 billion over the next 18 months.

Brewer promises state economic stimulus
Capitol Media Services/Arizona Daily Sun/
East Valley Tribune 1/21/09 4:34PM
Gov. Jan Brewer said Wednesday she is planning
a stimulus package to jump-start Arizona’s weak
economy. But Brewer, who became the 22nd per-
son to be governor, told those attending her
inaugural that, unlike Washington, her plan is not
going to involve up to $1 trillion in deficit spending.
Instead, she promised a program based on a
simple premise: freedom. Other than saying she
won’t borrow, Brewer provided no specifics on
exactly how she intends to get Arizona on its fiscal
feet — or more immediately, make up the $1.6
billion deficit for the rest of this year and estimated
$3 billion gap between revenues and expenses
next year. About the only thing Brewer made clear
is she does not intend to balance the budget with
higher taxes. Instead, she said, the reverse will be
true.

Survey: Politics, money concern college
freshmen
Associated Press/Arizona Daily Sun 1/22/09
More than ever, politics and money are on
the minds of new college students. The latest
installment of a giant annual survey of college
freshmen shows political engagement at a
40-year high, and more students than ever
planning to take jobs on the side and settling
for second-choice schools. With last year's
historic election heating up, nearly 36 percent
of freshmen starting last fall reported frequently
discussing politics in the last year, according to
the survey by UCLA's Higher Education Research
Institute. That surpassed the previous high of 34
percent recorded in 1968. As recently as 2002,
fewer than 20 percent of students reported politics
were a frequent topic of conversation. The 43rd
annual survey, released Thursday, was given to
more than 240,000 incoming four-year college
students during orientations from April through
October. Most participants filled out paper
surveys.

Plan would add out-of-state students
East Valley Tribune /Arizona Daily Star
1/22/09
Tucson, Arizona - The University of Arizona
might try to increase its number of out-of-
state undergraduate students — and the
much higher tuition dollars they bring —
under a proposal being considered today
by the Arizona Board of Regents. Designed
to give all three state universities more
financial flexibility, the schools' proposal
would allow the institutions to exceed the
current cap on how many non-resident
undergraduates can come to campus,
bumping it from 30 percent of the total
undergraduate population to 40 percent.

Brewer takes office with stimulus vow
Arizona Daily Star 1/22/09
PHOENIX — Jan Brewer was sworn in
as Arizona's 22nd governor Wednesday,
promising to shrink government and keep
taxes low. During her inaugural address,
Brewer said Arizona will move ahead with
its own stimulus program, rather than wait
for federal money to trickle down. But she
offered no details on what that plan will
include. Given the rapid transition since
former Gov. Janet Napolitano was selected
to be the nation's homeland security
secretary, the new governor has had little
time to prepare too many detailed plans.
Up until a few weeks ago, you might have
spotted Brewer driving around — top down
on her convertible, hair in the wind —
jammin' to ABBA hits like "Dancing Queen."

Opinion: Thorns & Flowers
Arizona Daily Star 1/22/09
Tucson, Arizona - …..A flower to the University
of Arizona students and faculty who stood up
Tuesday to protest Phoenix lawmakers'
proposals to cut more than $300 million from
state spending on higher education. That cut
to Arizona's three public universities would
amount to about a 30 percent reduction in
state aid — a devastating blow to education.
During a peaceful, 30-minute rally speakers
encouraged those in attendance to contact
their legislators and make their voices heard.
Join them in speaking out by finding your
representative, House and Senate leaders
or the appropriations committee chairmen
at www.azleg.gov and sending your thoughts
by e-mail

Our Opinion: Don't close UA poison center
Tucson Citizen 1/22/09
The Poison Control Center at the University
of Arizona could close next month under a
budget proposal in the Legislature. That
would be a poor decision likely to lead to
an increase in costly emergency room visits
from people unable to get telephone
guidance from the poison center. The UA
center is staffed by pharmacists specially
trained in toxicology and certified as poison
specialists. It receives an average of 70,000
calls per year and serves all the state except
Maricopa County. If the center is closed, a
center in Phoenix would take all state calls -
a burden it is not staffed to handle.

More than 800 protest proposed budget cuts
to higher ed
Tucson Citizen 1/22/09
It was standing room only in the Student Memorial
Center North Ballroom on the University of Arizona
campus as more than 800 opponents of proposed
legislative budget cuts to higher education turned
out for the Arizona Board of Regents meeting
Thursday afternoon.  Area business leaders,
including Don Diamond, president of Diamond
Ventures, and Sarah Smallhouse, president of the
Thomas R. Brown Foundation, vied with students
and faculty to address board during a call to the
audience at 1:20 p.m. Republican legislative
leaders have proposed to cut about $600 million
from the state's higher education budget of about
$1.08 billion in the next 18 months, according to
Christine Thompson, assistant executive director
for government affairs for the regents. "Stagnation
is not a viable strategy," Regent Fred DuVal told
the crowd before the call to the audience. He said
that the budget debate was not about university
efficiency "but about ideology."  "Make no mistake,
this is a retribution budget that stands to strip away
everything the prior governor stood for," he said to
rousing applause.

UA lab to check for toxic 'needles in haystack'
Tucson Citizen 1/22/09
A lab to study environmental contaminants
potentially toxic to human health opened
Wednesday at the University of Arizona.
The Arizona Laboratory for Emerging
Contaminants, known as ALEC, uses
super-sensitive instruments to test water,
soil and tissue for minute amounts of sub-
stances such as uranium, heavy metals
and organic compounds, including
pharmaceuticals, said Jon Chorover, co-
director of the lab. "We're looking at what
individuals are being exposed to in their
environment," Chorover said.

Budget proposal would close UA's poison
control center
Tucson Citizen 1/22/09
The University of Arizona's poison control
center in Tucson is at risk of being closed
within the next month. According to a
proposal by the Joint Legislative Budget
Committee for the current fiscal year, which
ends June 30, the funding for the center
would be consolidated into the funds for
the poison control center in Phoenix. The
move would save the state $550,000 this
year. The Tucson center receives 200 to
230 calls per day and serves all of Arizona,
except for Maricopa County, which is
served by the poison control center at
Good Samaritan Hospital in Phoenix.
That center receives about 325 calls per
day.

Editorial: Bridging the gap
ASU Web Devil 1/22/09
Across the world, various religious sects
and other assorted individuals have come
to the conclusion that the year 2012 will
mark the coming of the apocalypse. As
the ASU community read through a
cautionary e-mail sent out by President
Michael Crow on Wednesday, it may have
come to a different conclusion: The 2012
doomsday predictions may not be soon
enough for ASU. In the grim message,
Crow said that the Arizona Legislature’s
proposal to slash $70 million from the
University’s budget over the next five
months, with another $155 million in
reductions coming in the next fiscal
year, has left him “deeply concerned”
for the ASU’s future. He warned that,
if the proposal passed, the University
would have to possibly shut down an
entire campus, lay off thousands of
employees, require a two-week-or-more
furlough of all remaining employees,
close academic programs and
considerably increase tuition and fees.

Merger plan would save $2.7 million
ASU Web Devil 1/22/09
In a move to further streamline college
administration and cut costs, ASU
announced on Wednesday plans to
merge the design school with the
Herberger College and consolidate
the University’s education programs.
Under the plan, the College of Design’s
administration will be combined with
the Katherine K. Herberger College of
the Arts, and the School of Geographical
Sciences and the School of Planning will
be integrated into the College of Liberal
Arts and Sciences. The plan also includes
details for creating the Mary Lou Fulton
Institute and Graduate School of Education,
as well as linking administrations for all
teacher preparation programs university-
wide.

Budget woes could close campuses
ASU Web Devil 1/22/09
ASU would need to close up to two campuses
to deal with proposed budget cuts by the Arizona
Legislature that would cut state-funding to the
university system by 40 percent next year, ASU
officials said Wednesday. The proposals,
introduced by Senate Appropriations Chair
Russell Pearce and House Appropriations Chair
John Kavanagh, would force ASU to cut costs
by up to $126 million by July 2009 and another
$194 million by July 2010, officials said. “We
initiated planning today to close the Polytechnic
campus,” President Michael Crow told a reporter
for the East Valley Tribune. ASU spokeswoman
Julie Newberg said the University is looking into
closing the Polytechnic campus, but nothing is
definite.

Campus fights budget nightmare
UA Daily Wildcat 1/22/09
At their first regular board meeting of 2009,
the Arizona Board of Regents will hand the
mic over to UA students, parents, faculty,
local business leaders and many other
community members today for input on
the proposed legislative budget cuts. The
meeting will begin at 1 p.m. in the Student
Union Memorial Center North Ballroom
followed by a "Call to the Audience" at
1:20 p.m. The ABOR staff said they will
be concentrating on the public's opinion
of the budget cuts proposed by the Joint
Legislative Budget Committee - which
amount to approximately $600 million in
cuts over the next 18 months ­- prior to
strategic planning of the budget, lead by
Regent Robert Bulla.

Paying for 'free' news
UA Daily Wildcat 1/22/09
As more and more people turn to the Internet
for their daily source of news, the Associated
Students of the University of Arizona are
trying to ensure that students are able to keep
up with national headlines by reading a news-
paper. The issue is it could deter revenue
streams for campus media outlets. ASUA
Senator Emily Fritze said the new Collegiate
Readership Program, sponsored by USA
Today, encourages students to become
aware of current events all over the world,
as opposed to just campus related news.
As part of this program, a copy of USA
Today and the Arizona Daily Star are available
to all UA students at various locations around
campus for free. Because of the potential
negative consequences and loss of advertising
dollars for campus media, student media out-
lets at the UA and universities across the
country are voicing their concern.

ASUA meeting focuses on severe budget
cuts, rallying students to action
UA Daily Wildcat 1/22/09
The 40 percent budget cut for the Arizona university
system proposed by the state legislature was again
the focal point of a highly-charged ASUA Senate
meeting Tuesday evening in the Student Union
Memorial Center. Associated Students of the
University of Arizona President Tommy Bruce
expressed fear and concern over the cuts,
presenting the Senate with an idea of what the
future of the UA would look like if the proposal is
approved. "This is the largest threat we have ever
seen to higher education in this state," Bruce said.
"(The proposal) would leave us severely mangled."
To bring attention to students' opposition to the
budget cuts, Bruce encouraged all concerned UA
students, faculty and staff to attend the Arizona
Board of Regents meeting today at 1 p.m. in the
Student Union's North Ballroom.

Editorial: Budget cuts demand a united response
UA Daily Wildcat 1/22/09
The UA isn't exactly known for being a particularly
activist campus. So there was something unusual
and special about the rally Tuesday, when about
a thousand people filled the UA Mall to protest the
Arizona Legislature's proposal to slash nearly 40
percent of the state's higher education funding. If
the proposal passes, the UA would lose $103
million of its state funds, with more cuts to follow
in the summer. Sparked by members of the
Arizona Students' Association, who are organizing
rallies to protest the proposal across the state, the
rally drew a fairly impressive turnout. According to
Michael Slugocki, chair of ASA's Board of Directors,
848 people have signed ASA's petition against the
budget cuts so far. It was a worthy turnout for a half
-hour rally held a mere hour after the end of the
presidential inauguration. But it's only the start of
what needs to be a sustained and unrelenting
outcry against this proposal.

Rec expansion set for 2010
UA Daily Wildcat 1/22/09
Students will soon have their answer to long
lines at the Campus Recreation Center - the
new Rec Center expansion facility is set to
open spring semester 2010. Construction to
expand the Rec Center is well underway and
planners with Facilities Design and
Construction say the new design is set to be
completed in November 2009 and will be avail-
able for students in early 2010. Total costs for
the new 56,000-square-foot facility will exceed
$27.5 million. The expansion to the Rec Center
is based solely on student funding so it remains
unaffected by the current UA budget crunch,
Campus Recreation Director Juliette Moore
said. UA students have been paying a $25-per-
semester Rec Center Bond Fee that has been
added onto tuition since 2005, Moore said.

Michael Crow: Budget cuts could force ASU to
close campuses, double tuition, lay off workers
Phoenix Business Journal 1/22/09 3:00am
President Michael Crow warns that Arizona State
University might have to close two campuses,
lay off or furlough thousands of employees and
nearly double in-state tuition. Crow issued the
warning saying he is concerned that the Arizona
Legislature will impose cuts that could cripple
the operations of state universities. One budget
plan calls for $255 million in budget cuts at ASU,
he said Wednesday. That could lead to massive
cuts at the university, he said in a letter to
lawmakers.

Arizona’s growth on Bioscience Roadmap
exceeds U.S. norms
Phoenix Business Journal 1/21/09 11:52am
Arizona is gaining a national reputation as an
emerging bioscience center, according to a
new study. Ohio-based Battelle released the
Arizona Bioscience Roadmap update
Wednesday, tracking the progress of the local
industry since 2002. Commissioned by The
Flinn Foundation, the Roadmap project shows
Arizona’s growth has exceeded U.S. norms in
generating federal grants and adding bio-
science jobs and companies. However, the
lack of capital investment in young companies
continues to plague the state’s growing industry.
Venture capital firms based in Arizona don’t
have money left to give to bioscience startups
because they have committed their funds to
existing investments, said Walter Plosila, senior
adviser to the Battelle Technology Partnership
Practice.

ASU announces second major reorganization
Phoenix Business Journal 1/22/09 3:00am
Arizona State University officials on Wednesday
announced its second major academic
reorganization in the last six months. This plan
involves more than a dozen colleges and schools.
The changes, expected to save the university $2.7
million, will not reduce academic offerings,
eliminate any tenured or tenure-track
appointments or diminish access for students,
officials said. Plans, however, call for the reduction
of four administrative positions, 18 academic and
service professionals, and 35 classified staff
positions. The savings will be realized in fiscal
2010. The University Senate will put forth its
recommendations and any plan must be
approved by the Arizona Board of Regents.

Legislators look to First Things First for budget
loopholes
Arizona Capitol Times 1/21/09
Senators looking to reduce the state's red-ink-
soaked budget heard presentations Jan. 21
from members of the state's Early Childhood
Development and Health Board - also known
as First Things First (FTF) - to identify
unnecessary duplications in state expenditures.
Legislators turned their sights to the board after
learning of the more than $300 million stockpile
it had accumulated since 2006 when voters
approved Proposition 203, the initiative that led
to the creation of the group. The board is
designed to provide early-development and
basic health care-screening programs for the
state's 600,000 children under the age of five.

House aims to release budget proposal by
Jan. 23
azcapitoltimes.com 1/22/09
The House of Representatives is aiming to
have a working plan to solve the $1.6 billion
budget shortfall by the end of the week, said
the chair-man of that legislative chamber's
budget committee. "I would like to craft kind
of a general budget to work on (for) next
week's meeting - by Friday," said House
Appropriations Chairman John Kavanagh.
Additionally, he said the goal is to have a
budget package for the 2009 fiscal year
ready for action by the entire body by Jan.
30. Kavanagh, a Fountain Hills Republican,
made the comments at the close of a
committee meeting in which lawmakers
were given updates on the state's revenues.

UA starts website linking social networks
and climate change
ABC15.com 1/22/09 7:47 am 
University of Arizona University of Arizona's
Institute for Environment and Society and the
Climate Assessment for the Southwest are
launching the first website known to combine
social networking with climate science to help
people and organizations understand and plan
for climate change in the southwest. The
Southwest Climate Change Network Website
is a virtual community in which scientists,
decision makers and the public share
information on climate change and collaborate
on solutions to adapt to the impacts of climate
change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
"There is a lot of novelty to what we are doing,"
said Joe Abraham, the network's project
manager.

UA looks at increasing out-of-state students
Associated Press/KTAR.com 1/22/09  5:29 am
The University of Arizona likes out-of-state under-
graduate students and the higher tuitions they
pay. The school is pushing a plan before the
Arizona Board of Regents Thursday that would
allow the state's three universities to exceed the
current cap on how many nonresident under-
graduates can come to campus, bumping it
from 30 percent of the total undergraduate
population to 40 percent. But any new spots
given to out-of-state students wouldn't come
at the expense of qualified in-state students.
They pay less tuition but are sub-sidized
through tax dollars.

$600 mil in budget cuts to state universities
a possibility
azfamily.com 1/22/09
Students held protests PHOENIX – The Arizona
Board of Regents is meeting on Thursday to
discuss proposed budget cuts for the state’s
universities. If the cuts happen, it would cost the
schools hundreds of millions of dollars over the
next 18 months. Two Republican lawmakers
are proposing a $600 million budget cut out of
the Arizona university system over the next 18
months or so. The news has students and
faculty as well as the three presidents of
Arizona’s universities up in arms. The budget
will be topic #1 on Thursday at the Board of
Regents meeting at the University of Arizona
in Tucson.

Bloodbath at the Capitol
Tucson Weekly 1/22/09
Republican leaders followed through on their
promise to focus on the state's budget crisis
last week, offering a plan to trim state
spending by nearly $4.9 billion over the next
18 months. Sen. Russell Pearce and Rep.
John Kavanagh, who chair the Senate and
House appropriations committees, unveiled
a range of options that included cuts of up to
nearly a billion dollars to K-12 education,
$489 million to universities, $665 million to
health-care programs and $310 million to
welfare agencies. The proposals reflect the
state's dire economic straits as forecasters
project a shortfall of $1.6 billion in the current
fiscal year, and $3 billion in the next fiscal
year, which begins July 1.  University of
Arizona President Robert Shelton said the
proposed university cuts would "cripple"
higher education.