TO CLIPS INDEX February 11, 2009

Rob Robb: Search for mythic pot of budget gold
The Arizona Republic 2/11/09
The Board of Regents has appointed a task force
of university professors to identify additional
revenue the state can tap to balance the state's
budget, rather than making such deep spending
cuts. I hate to be a cynic about the efforts of the
university wizards and prejudge their results. But
this path is very well-trod. It leads nowhere. An
honest debate about state government finance
is clouded by two persistent myths. The first is
that there are some rich, untapped veins of
revenue. The second is that some alternative
tax structure would be less volatile and more
stable during downturns

ASU to cut programs, limit new students
The Arizona Republic 2/11/09
Arizona State University President Michael Crow
on Tuesday announced sweeping cuts that will
cap enrollment, shut down four dozen academic
programs, scale back operations at its Poly-
technic and West campuses, and close
applications to next year's freshman class five
months earlier than planned. In addition, the
university may seek a tuition increase for next
fall - on top of an increase approved in December
- in response to reductions in state funding. And
that's just for 2009. Crow said that for 2010, it's
possible that the Polytechnic and West
campuses could be closed entirely.

Arizona State U. President Outlines Additional
Cuts and Enrollment Cap
The Chronicle of Higher Education 2/11/09
Arizona State University will shut down dozens of
academic programs, cap enrollment, and require
employees to take two to three weeks’ worth of
unpaid leave, its president, Michael M. Crow, told
The Arizona Republic today. The moves come as
the state faces a $1.6-billion budget shortfall for
2009 and possibly a $3-billion deficit for 2010. Mr.
Crow also said that the university might have to
raise tuition, and that even though the institution
had already eliminated 550 jobs and declined to
renew the contracts of about 200 faculty
associates, several hundred more people would
probably have to be let go. The university will
scale back operations at two of its four campuses
this year, Mr. Crow said, and next year it might
have to close the two campuses altogether.

Crow: ASU will cap enrollment, close dozens
of programs
The Arizona Republic 2/10/09 3:08 PM
Arizona State University President Michael Crow
today said the school will cap enrollment and
close applications to next year's freshman class
March 1, possibly ask for more tuition from next
fall's students, close about four dozen academic
programs and significantly scale back operations
at its Polytechnic and West campuses, all in
response to state budget reductions. And that's
just for 2009. Crow said that for 2010, it's possible
that both the East and West campuses could be
closed entirely. Crow was alternately angry,
resigned, defiant and hopeful as he spoke of how,
"we've worked with administrators, professors,
staff and students to find ways to make these cuts."

ASU wants to ax programs, move up deadline
East Valley Tribune 2/11/09 6:24PM
ASU announced Tuesday plans to dramatically
shorten its application deadline for new students,
cut off funds for a popular scholarship and
consolidate and close dozens of graduate
programs to meet the state funding cuts law-
makers handed down last month. The state's
three public universities must cut $142 million
from their budgets for this fiscal year, which ends
June 30. For Arizona State University, that means
more than $60 million in cuts, on top of $28
million in funding lost last summer. Many of the
particular changes that ASU proposed Tuesday
are similar to its other cost-saving moves -
merging academic programs to save on
administrative expenses.

ASU to cap enrollment, cut programs
Associated Press/Arizona Daily Sun
2/11/09
TUCSON -- Arizona State University announced
an unspecified, first-ever enrollment cap Tues-
day and plans to close about four dozen
academic programs because of $88 million in
state-imposed budget reductions. ASU spokes-
woman Sharon Keeler said Tuesday no specific
enrollment ceiling was announced immediately,
but closures will start at once. Imposition of an
enrollment cap is a dramatic departure for the
university, which since 2002 has actively
increased its enrollment. Current enrollment
is expected to top last spring's 59,871 students
on all ASU campuses.

ASU slates more program cuts, downsizing of
ASU West, Mesa campuses, enrollment limitations
Phoenix Business Journal 2/10/09 3:32pm MST
Arizona State University said Tuesday state budget
cuts will force the school to limit freshman enrollment,
shut down 48 academic programs and substantially
scale down operations at its campuses in Mesa and
northwest Phoenix. Those suburban campuses would
be left with one college program each and ASU West
could be renamed the New College. The most recent
state budget cuts $88 million from state university
funds, which likely will be hit with additional reductions
in next year’s budget when the state faces a $3 billion
deficit. ASU is furloughing workers and university
President Michael Crow has warned that ASU West
or ASU Polytechnic in Mesa could be closed if the
school suffers drastic budget cuts.

ASU Caps Enrollment, Cuts Programs
KPHO 5 News 52/11/09 8:43 am MST
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Arizona State University said $88
million in state-imposed budget reductions will
force it to enact an enrollment cap for incoming
freshman and close about four dozen academic
programs. ASU spokeswoman Sharon Keeler
said Tuesday that no specific enrollment ceiling
was announced immediately, but closures will
start at once. Most of the affected programs are
on the Tempe campus, but administrative pro-
grams on the Polytechnic and ASU West
campuses will be scaled down.
Related To Story - Video: Budget Cuts Lead To
ASU Enrollment Caps

ASU to close academic programs
ASU Web Devil 2/11/09
ASU will cap enrollment in addition to enacting
more layoffs and cutting about 4-dozen academic
programs and funding for a scholarship program,
University officials announced Tuesday. Effective
March 1, applications for the class of 2013 will
close — five months earlier than past deadlines.
Funding of the AIMS scholarship program, which
covers tuition costs to incoming freshmen with
competitive GPAs and test scores, will be
suspended. Both the Polytechnic and West
campuses will be cut to one college each as
programs will either be cut or moved to the
Downtown campus, and West campus will be
renamed the New College of Interdisciplinary
Arts and Sciences to better fit its new role. The
majority of program cuts will occur at the Tempe
campus. A few dozen programs have stopped
accepting applications to begin the closing-out
process.

Editorial: Backward bound
ASU Web Devil 2/11/09
In 2002, Michael Crow took over as president
of ASU. In his inauguration address, Crow set
out a vision for a university unlike any other.
He called his personal vision for ASU “the
new American University.” The rest was history
— literally. Behind Crow, the New American
University catchphrase quickly developed into
a wide-ranging project with eight objectives
set to change the face of public education in
both the state and the nation. It didn’t take
long for ASU to begin doing so. Crow’s
University took off. According to ASU statistics,
14 trans-disciplinary schools were established
after 2002, 601 tenured and tenure-track faculty
joined ASU after 2002, the school hit the top 20
list in research expenditures for schools with-
out a medical school, and such ventures as
the Biodesign Institute and Downtown Phoenix
campus were launched.

ASU’s proposed response to state budget cuts
ASU Web Devil 2/11/0
List of changes for Downtown Campus, Poly-
technic Campus, Tempe Campus, & West
Campus.

Editorial: Successful TGen's new partner-
ship a powerful force
The Arizona Republic 2/11/09
TGen was just an exciting idea in 2002. Now,
the Translational Genomics Research Institute,
as it's formally known, is making medical break-
throughs, pulling in grant money and spinning
off new businesses. On Tuesday, the non-profit
announced a powerful partnership that will boost
its resources and clout. TGen will team up with
the Van Andel Research Institute of Grand
Rapids, Mich. It has the potential to be a dream
match. VARI's strength lies in basic research.
TGen's muscle is in moving discoveries from
the lab into treatment or diagnostics. Together,
they can generate new ideas, attract more
funding and have a bigger national impact.

Final hurdle left for stimulus plan
The Arizona Republic 2/11/09
WASHINGTON - Senate passage of an $838
billion economic-rescue package Tuesday
starts what promises to be a bumpy process
of reconciling that bill with a House version -
all in time for President Barack Obama to
sign the final product early next week. After
almost a week and a half of contentious
debate, the Senate passed the measure
61-37, with only three Republicans joining
the majority Democrats. The House passed
its $819 billion package Jan. 28, without a
single Republican vote. The two bills are
roughly 90 percent alike, but House and
Senate negotiators may have a tough time
blending the parts that don't match. Education
funding has been a major Democratic issue.
The Senate bill, for example, doesn't include
the $20 billion in the House bill for school
and university construction and repairs. And
it contains only $1 billion of the $2 billion in
the House bill to increase Head Start funding.

Cecil Ash Commentary: Can’t spare education
from budget cuts
East Valley Tribune 2/10/09 10:16PM
As a freshman legislator, the revision of the 2009
budget has been an eye-opener. Since no two
legislators think alike, arriving at a consensus
is difficult. First, you have Republicans and
Democrats who think differently. Then within
the Republican Party, there are conservatives
and moderates. If members of the state House
of Representatives can agree, there is still the
Senate that must concur. Finally, the governor
must approve of everything. Responding to the
suggestions and urgings in the hundreds of e-
mails and letters of constituents and special
interest groups has been an impossible task.
But the greatest challenge of the entire process
is deciding what to cut and what should be
retained. Perhaps the best-organized lobby
is the education lobby.

Editorial: Special committee needed to tackle
school funding
Arizona Daily Sun 2/11/09
First, let us say how much we appreciate the effort
to which state lawmakers went to hold a hearing
Monday in Flagstaff on education funding. The
weather coming up from Phoenix was atrocious,
but that didn't stop key members of the House
Education Committee from making the trek. That
said, we're not sure that a listening tour of the
state will do the trick when it comes to resolving
the conflict between filling the massive state bud-
get gap and avoiding the equivalent of educational
suicide. If that last phrase sounds overly dramatic,
remember that Arizona is already near the bottom
of the states in terms of per-student spending.
Taking 10 percent more out of already lean school
budgets -- amounting to 150 teaching positions in
FUSD -- should be considered only after all other
options have been ruled out.

Guest Opinion: David Sadker: Legislators lack
creativity in bolstering education
Arizona Daily Star 2/11/09
So here we are again, cutting a state budget that
even in good times has fallen far short of meeting
the educational needs of our children. After all,
who can feel good about being 49th in education
spending, and shooting for 50th? I don't, so I
decided to investigate how other states approach
their education budget. Last month, Education
Week ranked Maryland's schools No. 1 in an
analysis of such factors as high school graduation
rates, student achievement, academic standards
and accountability. What are they doing in Maryland
to be No. 1 while Arizona trails the pack? In 2002,
Maryland approached its education budget with an
eye toward what it wanted to achieve. The state
appointed a commission to define expectations
for a sound education. The commission set goals
for attendance, graduation rates and academic
achievement. Then the commission computed
the cost to achieve such goals, about $2 billion.

Guest Opinion: Dr. Andrew Arthur: Let's pay more
taxes for education, health care
Arizona Daily Star 2/11/09
Tucson, Arizona - The state of Arizona is a wonderful
place to live, with beautiful views, plenty of sun and
mountains, but its greatest asset is its people. The
people come from many diverse backgrounds, with
their own cultures, music, food and personal stories.
With our state's future depending most on how its
children grow and develop, it would make sense that
our resources be devoted in a large part to helping
our children achieve this goal. Based on the words
of reassurance from the Arizona Legislature, it seems
that almost all of its members share my sentiments.
Unfortunately the statements coming from the
Legislature, while well-meaning, often lack a larger
perspective.

UA students to discuss flu response
Arizona Daily Star 2/11/09
Tucson, Arizona - Hundreds of University of Arizona
students training to be health and legal professionals
will gather Friday to discuss how Southern Arizona
would respond to a flu pandemic. Organized by
Arizona Health Sciences Center officials, the work-
shop is designed to get students to think about the
logistical and ethical problems that the region would
face if an influenza virus outbreak were to occur,
according to a UA news release. More than 400
medicine, pharmacy, nursing, law and public health
students are scheduled to attend the event, which
features a talk on emergency preparedness by Dr.
Richard Carmona, the former U.S. surgeon general
and a longtime Tucson health figure.

Masonic Lodge to be a UMC cancer clinic
Arizona Daily Star 2/11/09
University Medical Center has bought a Masonic
Lodge on the city’s North Side and plans to expand
its cancer clinic there. The hospital bought the
property, at 1944 E. Allen Road, for $3.25 million at
the end of January. The property is across the street
from the Peter and Paula Fasseas Cancer Clinic.
Kevin Burns, UMC’s chief financial officer, said
negotiations took 18 months. In another recent
transaction, University Medical Center bought the
Catalina 6 Theater, 2320 N. Campbell Ave., for
$3 million.

Editorial: Our Opinion: The feds' evil stimulus
dollars
Tucson Citizen 2/11/09
Some Arizona legislators are wary about accepting
money from the federal stimulus program, likening
it to a drug habit that turns into an addiction.
Nonsense. The federal government has no money
of its own. Money from the stimulus package has
come, or will come, from taxes paid by Americans -
including those of us in Arizona. Stimulus dollars
aren't a gift from the government. They are a way
to return to us some of the money we have paid
or will pay in the future. It is foolish of legislators
to refuse federal stimulus money. While they are
making some strange statement, the dollars we
paid will be sent instead to other states. That'll
show 'em.

Editorial: Our Opinion: GOP's plan: Cut revenue,
blame deficit on Napolitano
Tucson Citizen 2/11/09
Follow the bouncing ball and see if you can under-
stand this logic from the Arizona Legislature:
• Although Democrat Janet Napolitano hasn't been
governor for weeks, Republicans still are blaming
her for the state's budget problems. • Legislative
Republicans this week set their priorities for 2009.
At the top of their list: eliminating $250 million in
revenue. That's right. On one hand, Republican
legislators say the former governor is responsible
for the gobs of red ink in the budget. And on the
other hand, their first goal is to reduce the state's
revenue stream.

Guest opinion: Glen Hamer: A tale of two states
Tucson Citizen 2/11/09
As California's economy sinks into the Pacific, its
leaders continue to call for more taxes and
regulations. Arizona is headed in a starkly different
direction. Our new governor, Jan Brewer, did not
make a living as a Hollywood action hero. But as
governor, she is all action and may turn out to be
a hero if she continues with her efforts to revive
Arizona's struggling economy by controlling
spending without raising taxes and reducing the
regulatory burden on private industry. .....Next, the
Arizona Legislature must tackle a fiscal year 2010
deficit that may exceed $3 billion. As cuts are
made, it is important to prioritize. The research
capabilities of the universities are valued by many
employers in Arizona. We must do more to retain
and recruit the highest-performing teachers to
improve our K-12 education system. And a health-
care safety net is critical both to provide for our
indigent citizens and to save businesses from
the cost-shifting that occurs when care is not
properly compensated.

Aide says stimulus dollars could help Arizona
budget
The Associated Press/Tucson Citizen
2/11/09 7:45 pm
PHOENIX - Arizona stands to get billions of federal
stimulus dollars from legislation awaiting a final
congressional compromise, including health and
education money that could help close the state's
budget shortfalls, the Legislature's budget director
said Tuesday. Some parts of the pending package
provide funding for programs that would stimulate
the state's economy, create jobs and provide
some services. But the funding would not directly
help erase the state's budgetary red ink, said
Richard Stavneak, executive director of the Joint
Legislative Budget Committee staff. Just as a
federal bailout helped Arizona close a big budget
shortfall during a recession earlier this decade,
the stimulus money now expected could ease
legislators' work to close a projected $3 billion
shortfall in the next state budget with up to $11
billion of spending.

Schools waiting for FACT action
UA Daily Wildcat 2/11/09
The Arizona Board of Regents, along with Arizona's
three major public universities, have put together
a collaborative group of economists, business
school faculty members, and administrators to
guide the state toward fiscal alternatives other
than painful budget cuts. The group has been
dubbed Fiscal Alternative Choices Team, or FACT.
John A. Swain, one of the two FACT members from
the UA, practiced law in Phoenix from 1987 to 1998,
specializing in state and local taxation. "I have
some knowledge and experience that may be
helpful to the state, and I'm also an Arizonan and I
would like to help in any way that I can," said Swain,
who became a law professor in 1999. "I think the
universities are a resource to the state." Swain
said FACT is still in the formative stages, and
besides a meeting Friday, not much has occurred.

Eller looks to score with sports minor
UA Daily Wildcat 2/11/09
In today's faltering economy, sports are still big
business. The Eller College of Management has
plans to start teaching students how to "show me
the money." Management and Organizations
Department Head Stephen Gilliland said starting
this summer students would have the opportunity
to minor in sports management. "We are putting
together a sports management minor, but until we
get the final blessing from the (Arizona) Board of
Regents we are calling it a management minor
with a sports concentration," Gilliland said. "It will
be six courses. It is open to non-business
students … (who) can take one, two or all six
classes this summer."

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
Inside Higher Ed 2/11/09
Public colleges and universities are just beginning
to recover from the 2001 recession, and that
progress is likely to be undone in the coming fiscal
year, according to a new report. The report, issued
by the State Higher Education Executive Officers
(SHEEO), indicates that per-student state
appropriations were on the rise from 2006 to 2008,
following four consecutive years of decline. Even
with these gains, however, state-supported
colleges are receiving less in constant dollars per
student than they were in 2001 — a peak year in
data that stretch back to 1983. The data do not
show what happened to state support for the first
half of the 2009 fiscal year, which began in July at
most colleges. A survey of officials at SHEEO
institutions, however, indicates that during that
volatile period 65 percent of colleges took midyear
budget cuts, and 44 percent are in states with
governors who’ve proposed cuts or flat funding
in the 2010 fiscal year.

Big Changes for ASU
Mesa Issues 2/10/09
ASU President Michael Crow has announced
some significant changes to ASU and its
operations. Some of the changes include
dramatic cuts at the ASU West and Polytechnic
campuses. Crow is also assuring the public
that he is not going to pull a Napolitano and
head for a better job elsewhere. I am sure this
is going to spark another whole round of panics
and threats that Arizona's education system is
going down the tubes. Here is a bit of a reality
check: First, it looks like in some ways, Crow
is taking the critical schools and retrieving them
back to the main or downtown campus. In the
short run, this will eliminate redundancy. In the
long run, this may be a play for ASU to let West
and Poly go, which I have said before, may not
be a bad thing. State colleges run by separate
boards would be a great way to offer under-
graduate programs at cheaper rates and
educate different parts of the workforce.