TO CLIPS INDEX
- Clips for March 8, 9, & 10, 2008
ASU-owned strip mall unchanged
The Arizona Republic - March 10, 2008 12:00 AM
Two decades after Arizona State University began planning to redevelop the
southwestern corner of University
Drive and Mill Avenue, Tempe Center is still standing. Area residents still
mourn the loss of the Stabler's grocery
store, Jam's Cafe and other former longtime tenants.
ASU West preschool to close
The Arizona Republic - March 8, 2008 12:00 AM
A highly honored preschool in the West Valley will end its 17-year run in June,
a casualty of rapid growth at Arizona
State University at the West campus. Parents are protesting the decision. ASU
can no longer afford to subsidize
and give free space to the privately run ASU West Child Development Center &
Family Studies Research Lab, said
Elizabeth Langland, vice president of the West campus.
Regents
approve no-guns resolution for state's universities
The Arizona Republic - March 8, 2008 11:14 AM
TUCSON - The Arizona Board of Regents has approved a resolution reaffirming its
position that the state's university
campuses should be weapons free. The resolution, passed unanimously Friday at
the regents' meeting in Tempe,
was a response to a bill advancing in the state Legislature that would allow any
person with a concealed-carry permit
to possess a concealed firearm on university and community college campuses.
ASU is
planning its priciest building
The Arizona Republic - March 8, 2008 12:00 AM
Arizona State University is pushing ahead in the face of the economic downturn
with plans for its most expensive
building ever, a $185 million science-and-technology building. The seven-story
building, which is scheduled to open
in fall 2010, fits into ASU President Michael Crow's vision of ramping up
research in energy, engineering and the
sciences. ASU has built a new engineering building and three bioscience
buildings in recent years.
Regents OK hikes of 5-9% for room, board at 3 schools
The Arizona Republic - March 8, 2008 12:00 AM
Along with tuition, the cost of living on campus will go up in the fall at
Arizona's three state universities. Students will
pay an average of 5 to 9 percent more to live on campus, an increase that
concerns students who pay their own way
and that adds more costs to the growing price of a college education. The
Arizona Board of Regents on Friday approved
room-and-board increases for 2008-09, which are on top of steep hikes in tuition
approved late last year; those also go
into effect for the coming school year.
Bill would give alternative to AIMS graduation rule
The Arizona Republic - March 10, 2008 12:00 AM
A House bill moving through the Legislature may help more students receive their
high-school diplomas in May without
passing the AIMS test. House Bill 2008 proposes to permanently reinstate an
alternative graduation requirement that
takes into consideration a student's existing grades and the number of times the
student took the AIMS test or sought
tutoring. The measure, if approved, would be retroactive to December.
Council OKs lease for Catholic university
The Arizona Republic - March 10, 2008 12:00 AM
A Catholic university from Texas became the first college to lease land in
Goodyear. University of the Incarnate Word will
build on 30 acres northwest of Estrella Parkway and Yuma Road, under the terms
of a 99-year lease the Goodyear City
Council approved 7-0 on March 3. The San Antonio-based university plans to raise
money statewide before starting to
build, so construction is not expected to begin until at least 2011. A
50,000-square-foot administration building and an
80,000-square-foot classroom building are planned initially, said Cyndi Wilson
Porter, vice president for extended
academic programs.
Educated heart of debate on migrants losing ground
The Arizona Republic - March 9, 2008 12:00 AM
The idea wasn't to punish kids but to be fair. We didn't like the idea that
students who were not U.S. citizens, but have lived
here most of their lives, were paying in-state tuition to attend Arizona
colleges. So we passed a proposition to stop it. We
figured that it wasn't right for American citizens living in other states to pay
more than non-citizens living here. Now it appears
that some private citizens have come forward to offer their own money in the
form of scholarships to non-citizen students.
And we don't like that, either. Nearly 90 percent of those responding to an
azcentral.com poll said that ASU's support of such
a program undermined the purpose of Proposition 300.
Opinion: Jim Weiers: Freeze is a necessary tactic in reining in state spending
The Arizona Republic - March 8, 2008 12:00 AM
This week, the Legislature took the second step toward correcting the state's
fiscal woes. We passed a freeze of excess
spending that hits the governor's desk on Monday, which comes on top of the
hiring freeze the Legislature initiated last
month. It is my sincere hope Gov. Janet Napolitano signs this spending freeze,
which amounts to less than a 2 percent
freeze of state spending. It's the least we can do.
Educational athletics' mission
The Arizona Republic - March 8, 2008 12:00 AM
The Feb. 18 editorial, "A game for elites," identified many concerns shared by
the Arizona Interscholastic Association (AIA)
executive board. Since 1925, the AIA has been entrusted with the mission of
ensuring fairness, equity and maximum
participation in athletics and activities for its member schools. Although the
mission of the AIA has remained the same
since its inception, the myriad of alternative participation options and demands
have created a very different landscape
with interscholastic athletics and activities.
The coming U.S. brain drain
East Valley Tribune - March 9, 2008
Aerospace, defense industries hunt for talent as Cold War workers retire
WASHINGTON — Recruiting has become a major challenge for the U.S. military as
the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
press on. But in the quest to protect the country, it isn’t just the government
that fears being understaffed. The aero-
space and defense sector is bracing for a potential brain drain over the next
decade as a generation of Cold War
scientists and engineers hits retirement age and not enough qualified young
Americans seek to take their place.
The problem could affect national security and even close the door on commercial
products that start out as military
technology.
Feds probe MCCCD
grant spending
East Valley Tribune - March 8, 2008 - 8:24PM
The National Science Foundation is investigating whether the head of Maricopa
County Community College District's
technology center misspent hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay for his own
pet projects. The federal agency paid
the Maricopa Advanced Technology Education Center $1.7 million to create an
electronic library. Kim Grady, the
dismissed administrator who oversaw the project, accuses the center's director,
Michael Lesiecki, of using much of that
money to stage conferences and hide financial shortfalls.
Editorial: Live
and let live, off campus
East Valley Tribune - March 8, 2008 - 11:26PM
When Arizona State University officials justify recent hikes in the costs for
students to enroll, they point primarily to factors
over which they have little control — general inflation, intense competition for
top-quality professors and public desires
that ASU rank among the nation’s best institutions. But at least one rising
expense rests directly at the feet of ASU
President Michael Crow and his anticipation that someday every first-year
student will be required to live in a campus
dormitory.
ASU police
arrest man in groping cases
East Valley Tribune - March 7, 2008 - 10:37AM
Arizona State University police arrested a suspect Friday morning in a sexual
abuse case involving groping complaints
on campus. Matthew Joseph Maxwell, 21, was arrested about 1:30 a.m. on suspicion
of groping a female student on
Tuesday at the Student Services Building. ASU police Cmdr. Jim Hardina said
detectives were also exploring a possible
link to a similar groping incident that occurred on campus about 20 minutes
later.
Flagstaff on Olympians' radar screen
Arizona Daily Sun - March 9, 2008
It is an exciting date (08/08/'08) for spectators across the United States and
the world. For the athletes it is the benchmark
of years of hard work and determination. Some of the finest athletes in the
world are training in Flagstaff for the chance to
be in Beijing on that date. They are using the facilities at the Center for High
Altitude Training at NAU. Assistant director
Sean Anthony said the excitement to work with these world-class athletes should
extend beyond the center to Flagstaff
itself.
State lawmakers proposing more immigration bills
Arizona Daily Sun - March 8, 2008
State lawmakers around the country are proposing hundreds of bills this year
aimed at curbing illegal immigration, but
experts say the cost and public opposition will keep many from becoming law.
Lawmakers in at least eight states are
now sponsoring legislation similar to Oklahoma, which last May passed the
nation's most comprehensive anti-
immigration law. It restricts illegal immigrants' access to driver's licenses
and other IDs, limits public benefits, penalizes
employers who hire them and boosts ties between local police and federal
immigration authorities.
Opinion: Phil Lopes:
Time to stop posturing, solve budget shortfall
Arizona Daily Star - March 10, 2008
Phil Lopes, a Tucson Democrat, is the minority leader in the Arizona House
Tucson, Arizona - Claims that a recent Republican budget bill will do anything
to solve the state's budget shortfall are
misleading. The Republicans' recent legislation has driven budget negotiations
off track at a time when the talks were
finally showing signs of progress. There are no more negotiation meetings
scheduled. Observers are left wondering
when the Republicans are going to quit the political games and get down to the
people's business.
Regents affirm
no-guns policy for universities
Arizona Daily Star - March 8, 2008 - 12:47PM
The Arizona Board of Regents on Friday approved a resolution reaffirming its
position that the state’s university
campuses should be weapons-free. The resolution, passed unanimously, was a
response to a bill pushed in the
Legislature by Sen. Karen Johnson, R-Mesa, that would allow any person with a
concealed-carry permit to have a
concealed firearm on university and community college campuses.
UA athletics undecided
who earns bonus pay
Arizona Daily Star - March 8, 2008
Lute Olson could grow richer with the Arizona Wildcats' success, although he has
not coached a game this season.
The head men's basketball coach, on an unexplained paid leave of absence, has
six categories of bonus clauses
in his contract that reward the coach for team achievements. The UA athletic
department says it has not decided
who will get any money awarded for the team's success.
Editorial:
State of UA basketball a muddled mess
Tucson Citizen - March 10, 2008
This much is known about the Arizona men's basketball team: it faces Oregon
State in a play-in game of the Pacific-
10 Conference tournament at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday night. Everything else is
seemingly a muddled mess - from top
to bottom. So, we'll start at the top, with head coach Lute Olson, whose
continued unexplained leave of absence and
jack-in-the-box approach - in and out of McKale Center this season - fueled
rumors around town and left fans
guessing about his future. It wouldn't surprise me if an announcement comes this
week from Olson declaring he
plans on returning next season.
Amphi gets
5-year, $29M federal grant for teacher development
Tucson Citizen - March 10, 2008
The Amphitheater Public School District will receive $29.2 million over the next
five years to retain and attract high-
quality teachers. The project's intent is to increase student achievement, said
Roseanne Lopez, program co-
ordinator for Amphi. Eleven of the 22 Amphi schools are eligible to participate
in the teacher incentive program,
Project EXCELL!.
Regents: No
guns policy on campus
Tucson Citizen - March 10, 2008
No guns on college campuses - period. That was the message the Arizona Board of
Regents symbolically sent to
the state Legislature on Friday when adopting a resolution reaffirming the
board's longstanding policy of having the
state's three universities be gun-free.
Guest
opinion: Olivia Vanegas-Funcheon: Building a college in the desert
Tucson Citizen - March 10, 2008
Tohono O'odham school's expansion to boost enrollment fivefold, add host of new
programs
Last fall, I attended a professional meeting in which discussion turned to
legislative monitoring of universities. To
highlight the visibility of higher education institutions, the keynote speaker
leaned on her podium and said, "It's not
like we're building a college in the middle of the desert." The other college
presidents sitting at my table all looked
at me, so I spoke up, "But we are building a college in the middle of the
desert."
Why a
Free Press? : 'The Lute Story' gets curiouser and curiouser
Tucson Citizen - March 8, 2008
Four months ago to the day, I wrote that University of Arizona basketball coach
Lute Olson owed the public a better
explanation for his sudden leave of absence announced Nov. 4. I was pilloried in
cyberspace for saying so; online
commenters were outraged and vitriolic. Olson was due his privacy. How dare I
say otherwise? My wife half-jokingly
suggested we leave town for a few days. I should have waited a few months to
write that column. As 'The Lute Story"
grows curiouser and curiouser, about a third of readers and fans likely still
would pelt me with virtual rocks and
garbage for demanding anything of their sainted Lute. But another third would
agree with me and the rest are sick of
the whole affair and ignoring it.
Dorm room
rate hikes OK'd
Tucson Citizen - March 8, 2008
Undergraduate students at the University of Arizona who want to live in campus
housing next year will pay about 9
percent more than students living on campus this year. The Arizona Board of
Regents on Friday unanimously
approved UA's proposed housing rate increases for the 2008-09 school year, along
with an average increase of
slightly more than 5 percent for Arizona State University and Northern Arizona
University.
Regents approve posts
UA Daily Wildcat Online - March 10, 2008
Hay takes over provost position, Garcia fills VP for instruction spot
TEMPE - The Arizona Board of Regents approved two individuals to take over two
key UA positions during its meeting
Friday. Meredith Hay will serve as the executive vice president and provost
beginning April 30, replacing Eugene
Sander. UA President Robert Shelton selected Hay, vice president for research at
the University of Iowa, on Feb. 22
after nearly a year long search.
MARC helps minorities make mark in research
UA Daily Wildcat Online - March 10, 2008
Minority students are encouraged to apply to a UA program designed to help offer
opportunities in biomedical research.
Minority Access to Research Careers, is a two-year program that allows students
to get involved in research and sets
them up with mentors to help give them experience and gain networking. The
ultimate goal is to train underrepresented
undergraduates so they can be prepared for graduate school or careers in their
fields, said Marc Tischler, director of MARC.
Dorm rates increased
UA Daily Wildcat Online - March 10, 2008
UA increase biggest among state's 3 universities, used for new residence halls
TEMPE - UA students living in residence halls are set to face the biggest rate
increase for their rooms among the state's
three universities - largely to pay for dorms that haven't been built yet. The
Arizona Board of Regents raised the 2008-2009
rates for a nine-month contract an average of 8.9 percent, or $438 for
undergraduate housing and $53 for monthly graduate
housing, during its meeting Friday.
Spending
freeze puts chill on budget talks
Arizona Capitol Times - March 7, 2008
Republicans say action saves $582 million
Lawmakers approved what’s being termed a “temporary freeze” of about $582
million dollars in the budgets of state
agencies and other dedicated funds. Republican leaders hope it will be the first
step toward jump-starting negotiations
to fix a $1.2 billion deficit this fiscal year. House Speaker Jim Weiers brushed
aside criticisms from Democrats that the
proposal is out of order because it bypasses bipartisan negotiations that have
been ongoing since January. He said the
move wasn’t meant to be offensive.
Campus-living costs going up
Mohave Daily News - March 8, 2008 9:27 PM CST
PHOENIX (AP) - The cost of living on campus will go up in the fall at Arizona's
three state universities by an average of
5 to 9 percent. The Arizona Board of Regents on Friday approved room-and-board
increases for 2008-09, which are on
top of steep hikes in tuition approved late last year.
Alternatives to the Smorgasbord: Linking Student Affairs With Learning
The Chronicle of Higher Education - March 10, 2008
On Super Bowl Sunday in 2003, a bracingly cold day in Flagstaff, Ariz., Rebekah
Nathan, an anthropology professor who
had secretly enrolled as a freshman student as part of a research project,
rushed back to her residence hall at Northern
Arizona University. Nathan, who wrote her book under a pseudonym and whose real
name is Cathy A. Small, looked
forward to watching the game and sharing pizza and conversation in a common room
with fellow students and residence-
hall staff members. But only five students showed up for the
university-sponsored party. The vast majority of students
appeared to have gathered with close friends in their own rooms or at off-campus
locations. In her insightful book, My
Freshman Year: What a Professor Learned by Becoming a Student (Cornell
University Press, 2005), Small used that
anecdote to illustrate the disjuncture between institutional assumptions and
policies on the one hand and the realities
of contemporary student culture on the other. That disjuncture is not new, but
it is becoming more evident to — and
problematic for — college educators. It presents challenges, but also
extraordinary opportunities, for student-affairs
administrators on most campuses.