TO CLIPS INDEX Clips for February 5, 2009

Editorial: Legislature cut too deeply, must find solutions
The Arizona Republic 2/5/09
The emergency surgery on the 2009 budget went too far.
The Legislature's plan, signed by Gov. Jan Brewer on
Saturday, cuts so deeply into muscle that it weakens
Arizona's future. We can probably heal some of the dam-
age. If the state receives more federal stimulus money
than legislators anticipated, the dollars should restore
reductions with long-term consequences. But the
radical operation of 2009 is just a sample of what could
happen next fiscal year. The revenue shortfall for 2010
is expected to be a staggering $3 billion, nearly a third
of the general-fund budget.

ASU workers on layoff list may get hit by furloughs, too
The Arizona Republic 2/5/09
Some Arizona State University employees who are being
laid off will face a double whammy under the university's
new furlough policy. In response to the state's ongoing
budget crisis, the university was forced to eliminate up to
550 positions through attrition and layoffs, a number that
could grow by an additional 1,000 jobs. The process of
issuing 90-day layoff notifications began several months
ago. Last week, ASU President Michael Crow announced
plans to require each of the university's 12,000 employees
to take up to 15 unpaid days off by June 30, which would
save $24 million. On Tuesday, ASU officials confirmed
that some employees who have received layoff notices
will also be required to take furloughs if they are still on
the payroll.

SkySong takes form, project adds tenants
The Arizona Republic 2/4/09 2:18 PM
Its final cable tightened and last wrinkles pulled taut,
the shade structure dubbed SkySong is heading to
completion this week. Crews have been working since
early December on the 50,000-square-foot structure,
erecting its frame and adding the Teflon-coated fabric
shade. "It took a lot more coordination than we thought
but it's impressive to get to this point," said Matthew
Pridemore, senior manager for Higgins Development
Partners, Chicago-based co-developer of SkySong, the
ASU Scottsdale Innovation Center, with Glendale-based
Plaza Cos.

State workers facing furloughs, layoffs
East Valley Tribune 2/4/09 4:44PM
Hundreds of state workers are facing unpaid furloughs
and layoffs - potentially within a week  as agencies
struggle to implement budget cuts approved last week,
officials say. State agency officials were briefed Tues-
day on procedures they will need to follow to implement
reduction-in-force policies, as layoffs of state workers
are called, said Alan Ecker, spokesman for the Arizona
Department of Administration (DOA). Decisions on lay-
offs are up to individual agency heads, he said.

Editorial: Develop partnerships to keep recreation
during recession
Arizona Daily Sun 2/5/09
When it comes to paring back public spending, recreation
has to be at or near the top of the list. It's not that we be-
grudge people a good time or the employees in fields of
park -- health and welfare, public safety, transportation
and basic services like water and sewerage -- the less
justification there is for diverting scarce dollars to it during
a recession. In Flagstaff, we've seen two recent examples
of that approach on the recreation front: NAU's decision to
close the Center for High Altitude Training and the targeting
by Arizona State Parks of Riordan Mansion State Historic
Park for possible closure this spring. The case of the High
Altitude center is a little more complex because of its
affiliation with the U.S. Olympic Committee as a designated
training site. Apparently the U.S.O.C. requires a minimum
annual expenditure by the host in order to qualify for
matching funds, as well as a multi-year commitment.
That combination reportedly amounted to a $3 million
commitment that President John Haeger said NAU was
not prepared to make.

Chief justice examines approach of predecessor
Arizona Daily Star 2/5/09
William Rehnquist was an unconventional man who
directed a monumental shift in how constitutional
matters are decided by the U.S. Supreme Court,
current Chief Justice John Roberts said during a
public lecture on Wednesday. Speaking at the
University of Arizona's law school as part of an
annual series honoring Rehnquist, Roberts said
the man who once missed a State of the Union
address to attend a YMCA watercolor class pushed
the court away from policy-driven reasoning. "Over
Justice Rehnquist's time on the court, the method
of analysis and argument shifted to the more solid
grounds of legal argument," Roberts said.

Editorial: Our Opinion: Community will suffer as
UA cuts back its outreach
Tucson Citizen 2/5/09
The University of Arizona is best known as an institution
of higher learning. But it also is the cultural heart of
Tucson and a treasured storehouse of history and know-
ledge shared with the entire community. That often over-
looked role will become more evident in the coming
months and years as $57 million worth of budget cuts
sweep across the campus. Yes, it will be more difficult
for most students to enroll in the classes they need to
graduate within four years. Yes, classes will be more
crowded. And yes, several hundred UA employees are
likely to lose their jobs because of the financial hit
imposed on the university.

Editorial: Our Opinion: You will feel UA budget cuts
Tucson Citizen 2/5/09
When the University of Arizona is ordered to spend $57
million less, the cut resonates throughout the Tucson
area. The elimination of 600 jobs - 400 of which already
are vacant - means the state will have at least $2.6
million less income tax revenue. And every $1 spent by
UA and its employees generates an impact of at least
$6.70, according to economists.

Undergraduates a key to UA research
Tucson Citizen 2/5/09
A year ago, Meredith Roberts was an engineering
student at the University of Arizona who had never
taken a biology course. This year, the sophomore
is doing independent research on genes and DNA
in a molecular and cellular biology lab. And she's
getting paid for it. Roberts is one of 140 students
who participate in UA's Undergraduate Biology
Research Program, or UBRP. "I just wanted to see
where this would take me," Roberts said recently.
"It is a different type of learning. You learn to think
differently. But more than that, as an undergraduate
in a research lab, it makes you feel more a part of
the heart of the university." UA was at the forefront
of the movement to get undergrads out of the class-
room and into research labs when it launched
UBRP 20 years ago.

The big debate: Arizona budget cuts
Tucson Citizen 2/5/09
The story: Arizona's new budget is shameful and
unimaginative legislation that will cut education,
welfare, social service programs and state parks
while moving Arizona one step closer to becoming
a moribund, Third World backwater, the Citizen
says in an editorial. Particularly nauseating is the
$130 million gash in K-12 education. Your take:
Actually, the comment atop this column
represented the minority view among the Citizen's
online community, which mostly lamented the
budget cuts.

O'Sullivan: Proposed cuts would destroy the University
of Arizona as we know it
Tucson Weekly 2/5/09
Whenever I think of Arizona legislators, I think of Nathan
Huffheins. He's the guy in Raising Arizona with five
babies, one of whom gets kidnapped by Nicolas Cage.
Huffheins is a rich, self-made businessman with a tacky
business, a tacky wife and a tacky house filled with tacky
brick-a-brack. His life is tacky, because his mind is tacky.
He equates material wealth with success. He doesn't
know any better. He never went to college. Arizonans
might not have that college option much longer if the
Joint Legislative Budget Committee has its way.

The Bucks Stop Here
Tucson Weekly 2/5/09
Gov. Jan Brewer blames the state's budget problems
on an "insatiable appetite for spending" in recent years.
The state will shut down parks; the UA will close the
Flandrau Science Center and limit hours at other
museums; and single moms will find it harder to afford
child care so they can work, all as a result of a GOP
plan to bridge a $1.6 billion shortfall in the fiscal year
that ends in June. The cuts were not as deep as
Republican leaders first proposed--universities, for
example, took a $141 million hit instead of $174 million-
-but they were spread wide across state government.
...The plan, passed on a party-line vote in both the
House and Senate, was praised by GOP leaders as
a sensible way to bring state spending under control.
It was criticized by Democrats as a shortsighted hack
job.

Opinion: Time for Arizona to play the blame game
ASU Web Devil 2/5/09
Former President George W. Bush — it’s still surreal
to say that — has been and will continue to be blamed
for pretty much everything that went wrong in the past
eight years. We have grown up during the Bush reign
and don’t really know what else to do but blame whom-
ever is in charge. That’s what we will remember; he is
the one we so quickly pointed the finger at. Whether or
not his decision making was singularly responsible for
every crisis our country has faced in recent years, we
certainly deferred the burden of blame to him. Similarly,
it’s easy to take shots at President Michael Crow for
every little flaw that ASU possesses, and it’s even
easier in times like these. Criticizing Crow for allowing
budget cuts, faculty downsizing and tuition increases
may even be a little excessive. But before we jump the
gun, I think we need to understand that there’s so much
more going on than we realize. Although these
consequences are not good, it’s very possible that
they are the only immediate option.

Team to find budget solutions
ASU Web Devil 2/5/09
Four ASU faculty members and administrators were
chosen to work with the Arizona Board of Regents to
explore budget-balancing options for the Arizona
Legislature. The Fiscal Alternative Choices Team, or
FACT, consists of eight members from the Arizona
university system, two members representing ABOR
and the former director of the Joint Legislative Budget
Committee. The team was formed at the request of
Rep. Kirk Adams, speaker of the House of
Representatives, and Sen. Bob Burns, president of
the Senate. Adams and Burns asked the universities
to pool their resources to develop options other than
budget cuts that will solve the state’s financial crisis,
according to an ABOR statement released Monday.

Biodesign Institute cuts 14 jobs
ASU Web Devil 2/5/09
Arizona’s Technology and Research Initiative Fund,
an important financial contributor to the Biodesign
Institute at ASU, has shrunk significantly in the past
year, leading the institute to eliminate 14 positions.
The lack of funding from state sales tax, combined
with the $143 million cut to the university system,
has caused the institute to lay off 12 people, move
two people and halt the start of several new
research proposals. Kimberly Ovitt, director of
communication and institutional advancement at
the Biodesign Institute, said the fund, which is a
portion of the state sales tax, is down because of
the slowdown of consumer spending in the stalling
economy. Seventy-five percent of the money from
the fund is used to pay employee salaries, she
said. “We could not [balance the budget] without
eliminating about 14 positions,” she said. Voters
passed the legislation for the fund in 2000, Ovitt
added.

Haeger discusses potential consequences of budget
cuts
jackcentral.com2/5/09
NAU President John D. Haeger held a forum in front
of 600 people to discuss NAU’s plans for cutting its
budget at the High Country Conference Center on
Jan. 28. Last week, the Arizona Legislature approved
a proposal for reducing the state’s growing deficit,
which included a $141.5 million cut in university
funding for fiscal year 2009. This cut was decided
on after leaders of the House of Representatives
created an option of a $243 million cut. A plan
submitted by the university presidents and the
Arizona Board of Regents called for a $100 million
cut. Haeger presented a slide show detailing NAU’s
part of the plan. At the forum, Haeger said all the
developments regarding the cuts have been a
great challenge.

Budget cuts will be crippling to all of NAU
jackcentral.com 2/5/09
If you still doubt the severity of the economic recession
here at home, consider the fact that the Arizona State
Legislature is slashing NAU’s budget for the rest of
this fiscal year by an estimated $31.2 million. This
cut is supposed to ease the $3 billion budget deficit,
but cutting education is the worst move the state
could make at this crucial time. We’re already seeing
the repercussions of these cuts in the closure of the
Center for High Altitude Training on campus. The
center’s four employees are now unemployed. This
is undoubtedly only the start of a long list of tragedies.
President Haeger’s budget plan repeatedly states
they will only lay off employees after all other options
have been eliminated. As a result of these cuts, tuition
rates and fees will increase, class sizes will increase
and programs will lose funding. The entire university
will bear the pain of these cuts. And that’s just for the
2009 fiscal year. Next year, NAU’s share of the cuts
could be as much as $50 million.

Sports cutbacks begin with closure of High Altitude Center
jackcentral.com 2/5/09
Jan. 20 marked the first of many budget cutbacks for
NAU, including the closing of the prestigious High Altitude
Training Center. The training center, which had been
in operation since 1994, aided more than 6,000 team
members in 16 different sports in their pursuit of Olympic
gold. Olympic teams such as swim teams from Sweden,
Denmark and Australia made use of the training center
and NAU’s Wall Aquatic Center, Strength and Conditioning
Center and Lumberjack Stadium. These facilities will re-
main open despite the closing of the training center. The
High Altitude Training Center on North Campus is in the
process of closing its doors due to budget cuts. The
training center hosts athletes from around the world
including Olympians. “I was really disappointed,” Falen
said. “The athletes were really interesting to talk with,
and it was an honor to have a training center.”

Public education meeting scheduled in Flagstaff
Inside NAU 2/4/09
The state Legislature's House Education Committee
has scheduled a public meeting next week on
campus. The Education Committee's public meeting
is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday, Feb.
9, in the High Country Conference Center. NAU
President John Haeger and representatives from
Coconino Community College, Flagstaff Unified
School District and the Coconino County Supervisors,
among others, will make presentations and hold
discussions with committee members.

Furloughs, budget cuts vex TAs
UA Daily Wildcat 2/5/09
With recent budget cuts having quick, drastic effects
on the UA campus, graduate students are worried
about how they will be affected by cuts and furloughs.
At the Graduate and Professional Student Council
meeting on Wednesday, council members voiced
their concerns about the impact of furloughs on
graduate teaching assistants and associates. GTAs
are subject to mandatory furloughs just like any other
faculty and staff paid by the state. "To take a furlough
of two or three days even would be devastating to
some of us, considering we make about $70-$80
a day," said GPSC President Stephen Bieda. Bieda
said the inequality of the furloughs caused some
opposition among faculty.

Fund sweeps might require revise of 2009 budget
azcapitoltimes.com 2/4/09
Lawmakers might have to amend the fiscal year 2009
budget again as some money transferred to the general
fund to help fix a $1.6 billion deficit might turn out to be
funds they can't sweep. Among the funds the Legislature
swept during the special session last month was $22.5
million appropriated to the Arizona 21st Century
Competitive Initiative Fund. "There is some gray area
about the obligated and the unobligated money in that
fund," Senate President Bob Burns said. Burns said they
would ask the opinion of the Arizona attorney general as
to "what is really legal or not legal in that whole package."
They may also ask the Office of the Auditor General to
help clarify the matter, Burns said. The Governor's Office,
he said, has taken the lead in straightening this out.

New Rule on Spending by States Lacks Teeth
The Chronicle of Higher Education 2/4/09
A new federal requirement that states provide consistent
spending for higher education may not, at least in the
beginning, have much effect. Even as state budgets
sour and colleges brace for cuts, only one state — Rhode
Island — seems likely to have run afoul of the new rules
this year, according to a Chronicle analysis of available
data on state higher-education spending. Under the rule,
states must spend at least the same amount of money for
colleges each year as they spent on average in each of the
previous five years. The federal government, though, has
yet to establish a process for monitoring whether states
are complying, instead asking states to self-certify that
they are meeting that standard.