TO CLIPS INDEX - Clips for March 4, 2008

My Turn: Robert Shelton: Debt financing, elasticity in state budget are musts for education
Arizona Republic - March 4, 2008 12:00 AM
In 1989, construction began on the University of Arizona's Fine Arts Complex, marking the end of an era.
It was the last project paid for with a cash appropriation from the Arizona Legislature.Virtually, every UA
building project since has been paid for with debt financing or private donations. For nearly 20 years,
university debt financing has been recognized as a more equitable way to pay for public buildings whose
long lives will benefit generations of Arizonans.

Garfield neighborhood feels impact of development boom
The Arizona Republic - March 3, 2008 05:40 PM
Downtown Phoenix's development boom is shaking up the once close-knit Garfield neighborhood.
The area, bound by 7th and 16th streets and Van Buren Street and Interstate 10, is historically known
as a tough Latino enclave with vintage bungalows, small businesses and deep family roots. But today,
it's surrounded by multimillion-dollar projects: Arizona State University's downtown campus, the down-
town medical school and upscale condos.

Arizona budget shortfall hits $1.2 billion
The Arizona Republic - Mar. 4, 2008 12:00 AM
Tax collections in January fail to hit projection
The new year didn't bring a brighter financial picture for Arizona. Numbers released last week show that
tax collections in January fell $226.2 million below the projection that helps guide state spending. The
new figures put Arizona's projected 2008 budget shortfall at roughly $1.2 billion, up from the $1.15
billion that Gov. Janet Napolitano has been citing since mid-February. The deficit had been projected
at about $970 million as recently as January.

NAU spring enrollment climbs
Arizona Daily Sun - March 4, 2008
Northern Arizona University is singing the tune of positive enrollment numbers once again. Mirroring
the fall enrollment jump, total spring enrollment increased 5.9 percent from spring 2007 to 20,224
students. That figure includes the Flagstaff Mountain Campus, online, satellite locations and Yuma.
David Bousquet, NAU vice president for enrollment management and student affairs, said NAU's
continued focus on undergraduate education is getting results.

Film focuses on Fossil Creek restoration
Arizona Daily Sun - March 4, 2008
The Flagstaff Mountain Film Festival begins Thursday and will include a screening of the locally produced
documentary "A River Reborn." "A River Reborn" will be shown Friday at 4:25 p.m. at the Orpheum Theater,
15 W. Aspen Ave. The award-winning film chronicles the restoration of Fossil Creek. The film stars many
locals and is narrated by actor Ted Danson, who grew up in Flagstaff. It is a riveting story of environmental
conflict and collaboration and the emergence of a new model for the resolution of environmental disputes.

UA to pay $243K for home at dorm site
Arizona Daily Star - March 4, 2008
UA officials and the Kennedy family on East Sixth Street have reached an agreement that will allow
the family's home to be demolished to make way for a new dorm. The agreement comes more than
a decade after the university bought the home under a deal that included a life-estate provision that
allowed William Kennedy, 78, to live out his days in the home his father built in 1919.

UMC opening unit for short-term care
Arizona Daily Star - March 4, 2008
University Medical Center is opening a new 5,000-square-foot "clinical decision unit" this week, adjacent
to the emergency department. The 24-hour unit's 16 beds are for emergency patients who require several
hours of close medical observation but who may not need to be admitted immediately to a scarce inpatient
bed. Kimberly Halloran is patient-care manager of the new outpatient unit.

'God Delusion' author will speak at ASU
Arizona Daily Star - March 4, 2008
All the seats are taken for a free talk by the author of the controversial best-selling book "The God Delusion,"
but there's still a chance of seeing Richard Dawkins in Tempe Thursday night. Dawkins will give a talk about
his book at 6:30 p.m. in Arizona State University's Gammage Auditorium. Though the talk is free and open to
the public, reservations are required and the auditorium's 3,017 seats all have been reserved. Organizers say
that at 6:45 p.m. people without tickets may form a line, and at 7:15 p.m. the house staff will use that line to fill
any unclaimed seats.

UMC adds rooms to cut wait in ER
Tucson Citizen - March 4, 2008
Sixteen private rooms, which administrators hope will reduce emergency room wait times, will be available
in a new unit at University Medical Center starting Tuesday. The beds will be primarily used by patients seen
in the Emergency Department who need to be monitored but not necessarily admitted.

A little short
Tucson Citizen - March 3, 2008 12:00 AM
Wildcats' consecutive NCAA tourney streak remains uncertain as Bayless' last-second attempt comes up just
shy against UCLA
TUCSON - The NCAA Selection Committee long has said "close losses" don't mean much when it comes to
being selected for the tournament. So Arizona's 68-66 loss to No. 4 UCLA Sunday won't likely sway any of the
committee members when it comes to deciding on UA's fate for participation in what would be its 24th
consecutive NCAA Tournament. It might raise eyebrows, but with UA at 17-12 overall and 7-9 in the Pac-10,
who knows?

Bill: Make ASU election info hub
ASU Web Devil - March 4, 2008
Proposal would create center at ASU to house information on redistricting, state demographics
A bill being considered in the Arizona House of Representatives would place ASU at the center of statewide
election research, if passed. House Bill 2432 would require the Arizona Board of Regents to establish a
center at ASU to provide access to election information, redistricting and state demographics. ABOR is the
governing body of state universities.

CUP lets med students help underserved locals
UA Daily Wildcat Online - March 4, 2008
8 clinics provide free health care to torture victims, refugees, pregnant women since '79
UA medical students are participating in a free program to help locals who may not otherwise receive treatment.
Patients in the Commitment of Underserved People program's eight clinics include refugees seeking asylum,
or individuals who have been victims of torture.

Kennedy case finds closure
UA Daily Wildcat Online - March 4, 2008
Long property dispute ends in $243K agreement with UA
The UA has agreed to pay the Kennedy family $243,000 for their home on East Sixth Street, ending a bitter property
 dispute that has lasted nearly a year. The home, which has been in the family of William and Barbara Kennedy for
the past 89 years, resides directly in the way of three new student residence halls the university plans to build by
August 2010. The transaction is scheduled to close by May 1, according to a university press release.

Prof. disputes degree merger
UA Daily Wildcat Online - March 4, 2008
Sternberg claims engineering department lacks justification for eliminating undergraduate
program
The Faculty Senate approved a measure to eliminate the undergraduate geological engineering program in the
 College of Engineering yesterday, despite one professor's attempt to convince senators otherwise. The College
of Engineering proposed to merge the undergraduate degrees in mining engineering and geological engineering
into a single Bachelor of Science degree called Mining and Geological Engineering in a proposal submitted to the
Senate by Mary Poulton, head of the mining and geological engineering department, and Jeff Goldberg, the
college's associate dean.

Half of Blue Chip economists say state should increase education spending
The Business Journal - March 4, 2008 - 9:22 AM MST
Half of the panelists from the Arizona Blue Chip Economic Forecast say the state should cut spending on public
transportation, assistance to the needy and environmental programs. Half of the 16 economists also said education
spending should be increased in the 2008-09 budget, while 38 percent said it should be decreased and 13 percent
said it should remain the same.

Avalanches on Mars surprise NASA astronomers
iTWire - March 4, 2008
!NASA HiRISE camera, onboard Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, was looking for frost when it snapped a first-time
ever photograph of active avalanches near the north pole of the planet Mars. Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Candice
Hansen, deputy principal investigator for the HiRISE mission stated, "We were checking for springtime changes
in the carbon-dioxide frost covering a northern dune field, and finding the avalanches was completely serendipitous.
” [NASA: "Avalanches on Mars"]