TO CLIPS INDEX - Clips for February 21, 2008

Documentary portrays U.S. students as falling behind
Arizona Republic - 02/20/2008, 15:18 pm
At first blush, Brittany Brechbuhl and Neil Ahrendt seem American success stories: They attend
Carmel High School, a gleaming glass-and-brick edifice in suburban Indianapolis, where tax-
payer support buys a genetics lab, a swimming pool and a 91 percent graduation rate.

ASU may require students to disclose mental illness
Arizona Republic - 02/20/2008, 10:56 am
An Arizona State University committee considering ways to improve campus safety in the wake
of recent campus shootings may suggest that students be required to disclose their mental
health histories.

Bill would keep math, science from chasing school electives
East Valley Tribune - February 20, 2008 - 6:40PM
State lawmakers moved Wednesday to ensure that math and science courses don't force out
some electives. The House Committee on K-12 Education approved legislation to bar schools
from cutting music, art and physical education programs as they're being forced to provide
more academics.

House OKs hiring freeze, sets up clash with gov.
Arizona Daily Star - 2/21/2008
PHOENIX — By a wide margin, the House of Representatives voted Wednesday to immediately
freeze virtually all new hiring in state and university government, setting the stage for a showdown
 with Gov. Janet Napolitano. The 40-15 vote came just hours after the governor insisted such
drastic action is not necessary.

Getting leg up with robots: several schools, clubs use sophisticated devices as teaching tools
Arizona Daily Star - Feb. 21 5:05 am
Several Tucson-area schools are relying on robots to help teach students math and science
principles, computer skills, engineering, teamwork and leadership. Schools with robotics teams
have transformed the after-school activity into a part of the school's curriculum by creating science
and computer elective classes that teach robotics, while other schools have integrated robotics into
regular science classes.

Entrepreneur, philanthropist Soldwedel dies at 83
Tucson Citizen - 2/21/08
Donald N. Soldwedel, a long-time University of Arizona benefactor and pioneer in Arizona news-
papering, has died. He was 83. Soldwedel died Wednesday evening following complications
from a stroke. Friends and associates say Soldwedel was an entrepreneur by nature, a forward-
thinking individual with an optimistic, can-do attitude.

House OKs bill to freeze state government hirings
Tucson Citizen - 2/21/2008
PHOENIX - Citing continued advertising for hundreds of jobs, Arizona legislators moved to impose
a hiring freeze on state government to help erase a big projected revenue shortfall. The Republican
-led House sent the hiring freeze bill to the Senate on a bipartisan 40-15 vote Wednesday, though
most Democrats voted against it. The bill (HB 2043) allows exemptions for positions deemed
critical by agency directors and other top officials. The emergency bill would take effect immediately
if signed into law, ...

Congress investigates endowment spending on financial aid
ASU Web Devil - February 21, 2008
Endowments serve to advance an institution, but this month, U.S. senators are questioning whether
enough university endowment funds are being allocated to alleviate student costs. In the wake of
extraordinary growth of university endowments — invested donations whose earnings are spent on
university needs — the U.S. Senate Finance Committee asked the 136 colleges with the largest
endowments to confirm that they are similarly expanding financial aid programs, said a spokes-
woman for ranking Finance Committee Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.

UA aiding Ethiopia with famine
UA Daily Wildcat Online - 2/21/08
3-year grant will offer classes on disaster management
Researchers from the UA have received a three-year, $200,000 grant to aid in Ethiopia's famine
disaster. The UA has teamed with Bahir Dar University to build a center of excellence and create
a new master's curriculum in disaster risk management in Ethiopia. The program received the
$200,000 grant from the U.S Agency for International Development in 2007 and is for the entire
three-years.

ASUA violates bylaw
Arizona Daily Wildcat - 2/21/2008 06:23 am
Questions regarding ASUA's club funding policies were raised after a campus club was denied
funding without being given the right to due process. Members of Caring for the Advancement of
Refugee Education, a club that tutors high school refugee students in Tucson, addressed the
Associated Students of the University of Arizona Senate at its meeting yesterday evening, to what
they referred to as 'an injustice to students.

House follows Senate with budget solution
Arizona Capitol Times - February 20, 2008 3:38 PM MST
A House panel has approved a budget fix to address the current fiscal year’s estimated $1.2 billion
shortfall, following the lead of a Senate committee that did the same yesterday. The plan includes
$212 million in cuts to state agencies, including a $25 million reduction in university spending and
about $37 million less for K-12 education.

Government not allowed to control guns
Yuma Daily Sun - February 20, 2008 - 7:37PM
When the founders wrote the United States Constitution, many of them felt that it did not do enough to
constrain the activities of government officials and that is the reason why the Bill of Rights was written.
In the preamble to the Bill of Rights the founders state very succinctly that the Bill of Rights are even
further restrictions on the power of government that clarify even more what government officials are
forbidden to do. This was done in order to help build confidence in government for the benefit of all
individuals.