TO CLIPS INDEX Clips for January 24-26, 2009
Arizona Republic, Jan. 25
This could be the week lawmakers pull out the long
knives and cut the state budget to bring it back into
balance. Or not. The Legislature's budget leaders
have said they intend to have a bill that would close
the $1.6 billion gap in the current-year budget finished
by the end of the week and to Gov. Jan Brewer by Feb. 1.
But as of Friday, there was no budget bill for lawmakers to
examine. Rather, many were still trying to absorb the details
in the 500-page "budget options" document prepared by the
Appropriations chairmen and released Jan. 16.
Ariz. university students plan protest at Capitol
KOLD.com, Jan. 26
Student leaders at Arizona's state universities plan to
rally at the State Capitol on Wednesday to protest possible
budget cuts for higher education. Activists estimate that
2,000 students and supporters will attend the noon event,
drawing students from the University of Arizona and Northern
Arizona University main campuses and Arizona State University's
three campuses in metro Phoenix.
Key
lawmaker: Cuts to universities less than $388 million
Tucson Citizen, Jan. 24
The budget cut to the state university system will be "significantly
less" than the $388 million option floated by leaders of legislative
appropriations committees last week, one of the leaders said."It is
unfortunate that people mistook a list of options for proposals," Rep.
John Kavanagh, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee,
said Friday in a phone interview from his Phoenix office. "The cuts
will not be that high; they will be significantly less than the total
number in the options."
UA Health
Affairs leader OK with interim deans
Tucson Citizen, Jan. 24
Stuart Flynn, the interim dean at the University of Arizona College
of Medicine-Phoenix, doesn't have to worry about being replaced
anytime soon, and not just because the search for a permanent
dean was suspended last October for budget reasons. "He's
called interim, but he's very strong. I couldn't be happier with his
leadership. I like what he's doing, therefore I'm not changing it,"
said William Crist, UA's vice president for health affairs, during a
break Friday at the Arizona Board of Regents meeting.
Shelton gets OK
for 3 more years at UA
Arizona Daily Star, Jan. 24
UA President Robert Shelton has signed on to lead the university
for another three years. The Arizona Board of Regents on Friday
approved a contract extension for Shelton, 60, that will pay him an
extra $50,000 a year and keep him on campus through June 2012.
Shelton, who currently makes $420,000 a year, plans to donate his
raise to the University of Arizona Foundation to establish the Robert
and Adrian Shelton Philanthropic Fund. Adrian Shelton is his wife.
New nurses face hiring challenges
Arizona Republic, Jan. 24
Nathan Caulk graduated from Arizona State University last month
with a degree that he thought was better than gold in these tough
economic times: a bachelor's degree in nursing. But when Caulk
sent out resumes to metro Phoenix hospitals, he didn't get a
response. So he took a job where he trained as a student, the
Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center. New graduates such as Caulk
are discovering that landing an entry-level nursing job has become
more challenging as hospitals scale back hiring because of the
recession. The slower entry-level job market is a sharp contrast to
ecent times, when hospitals rapidly hired new graduates to address
the state's critical nursing shortage.
Make road to budget cuts transparent and detailed
Arizona Daily Sun, Jan. 25
It used to be that government jobs were seen as immune from
the ups and downs of the economy. They didn't offer the same
financial rewards when the economy was booming, but at least
a government employee had a job when private companies were
having to lay people off. No longer -- at least not in Flagstaff. The city's
three largest government employers -- Northern Arizona University,
the city of Flagstaff and Flagstaff Unified School District -- each face
likely budget adjustments midway through their fiscal years, and even
larger cuts in spending in the year starting July 1. Programs and
services will almost surely be cut, and with them the hours and
possibly the jobs of employees who staff them.
Dems propose $7 mil cut from
universities
ASU Web Devil,
Jan. 26
Amid heated debate over budget cuts in the state Legislature,
House Democrats introduced a set of budget options Thursday.
They say these options will help balance the state budget without
making the massive cuts to higher education proposed earlier
this month. The Democrats’ proposal calls for $7 million in cuts
to higher education in the 2009 fiscal year, a sharp contrast to the
$175 million proposed by the Joint Legislative Budget Committee
earlier this month. Rep. Chad Campbell, D-Phoenix, said the new
proposal includes a measure called tobacco securitization, in
which the state would borrow money from an outside source to
help cover the budget shortfall and use tobacco tax revenues to
pay it back.
Arizona Daily Wildcat, Jan. 26
ASU President Michael Crow leaned into a red and blue microphone
on Friday and told the Arizona Board of Regents what educators
see as an insult added to a laundry list of financial injuries. "I
was recently speaking with a state legislator, who will go unnamed,
who wondered why Pell grants were important to us," Crow recalled.
This anecdote of ignorance comes just a day after almost 1,000
concerned business leaders and UA staff and students crammed
into the Student Union Memorial Center's North Ballroom. Dressed
in black shirts of mourning, they let the regents know just how concerned
they were by the prospect of a proposed 40 percent cut to Arizona universities.
Arizona Daily Wildcat, Jan. 26
President Robert Shelton's new contract details do not end with his
$50,000 raise. The Arizona Board of Regents unanimously approved
a contract extension on Friday that will keep Shelton at the UA until at
least June 2012, giving him a $50,000 raise on top of his $420,000
salary. Shelton said he will put the raise back into the UA system in the
form of a fund that will assist students through such avenues as financial
aid. The contract extension also includes a $50,000 housing allowance
and a $10,000 car allowance.
ASU Web Devil, Jan. 26
It has never been a more exciting time to be a scientist. With new
technologies and improved research opportunities sprouting up every
day, it’s truly remarkable what advances are happening behind closed
lab doors in the Biodesign Institute and the ASU science departments.
Take for example the research done by a life sciences doctoral student
and his team. Now, the scientific community knows that female ants that
try to “cheat the system” by sneaking their eggs in with the queen ant’s will
sorely pay. According to the study, the other ants will attack the “cheater”
for going behind the queen’s back and trying to ensure her progeny lives
on. So it shows that humans aren’t the only ones who give punishment
for breaking the rules…
Board OKs new housing for Poly,
West campuses
ASU Web Devil, Jan 26
The Arizona Board of Regents approved on Thursday a development plan
for additional housing at ASU West and Polytechnic campuses. ASU
requested approval of the Revised FY 2009 Capital Development Plan, which
included third-party housing projects, according to the board meeting
agenda. Lorenzo Martinez, assistant executive director for capital resources
for the Arizona Board of Regents, said the board approved the proposal with
the warning of possible cost
effects due to the current issues with the state budget.