TO CLIPS INDEX Clips for March 10, 2009

Schools to receive stimulus by April
The Arizona Republic 3/10/09
Federal stimulus money will begin flowing to
Arizona schools by the end of March, and state
universities could see cash as early as mid-
April. Arizona will receive a total of $4.4 billion
from the stimulus package. More than a
quarter of it, $1.4 billion, is targeted to help
schools and universities save jobs, prevent
program cuts and keep tuition from rising
despite the state's plummeting revenues
and widening budget gap. The money is
intended to last them through 2011, but
because Arizona's shortfalls are so large,
it's unlikely to do much good past 2010,
state estimates show. It is not clear if the
money will replace about $260 million in
midyear cuts lawmakers already made to
schools and universities. Lawmakers still
face about a $900 million gap in the current
budget year, which ends in July, and are
counting on the stimulus money to help
avoid additional midyear cuts.

Stem-cell move has little impact on state
The Arizona Republic 3/10/09
President Obama's decision to ease restrictions
on funding of embryonic stem-cell research will
have little impact on Arizona's universities
because the state has its own limits on such
controversial research methods. Arizona
university researchers cannot use state funds
to manipulate embryonic stem cells in pursuit
of treatment or potential cures for diseases
such as Alzheimer's or heart disease. What's
more, an Arizona law dating back more than
a quarter century prohibits Arizona scientists
from experimenting with any type of human
embryo or fetus. Some Arizona scientists
say the ban handicaps a state that has
made a big push this decade to foster
bioscience research.

Gilbert youngsters study Mars with scientists
The Arizona Republic 3/9/09 3:30 PM
Science-fiction writer Ray Bradbury based
his 1950 short stories collection "The Martian
Chronicles" on the fantastic notion that the
Red Planet could be colonized, but that idea
is not so far-fetched for students at Gilbert's
Burk Elementary. ..... Mackenzie was among
about 24 fifth- and sixth-grade students from
Burk Elementary who participated recently in
a Mars workshop at Arizona State University
that is geared to help students pursue jobs
in science and technology. Researchers at
the university are aiding NASA scientists in
their studies of the Red Planet. They are on
a team of scientists, including some from
the University of Arizona, who have access
to the massive THEMIS camera that is
orbiting Mars taking photos of the surface
for the Mars Odyssey Mission.

Senate president wary of referring ballot
proposals
The Arizona Republic 3/10/09
Democracy could break out . . . Ah, to refer
or not to refer. On Monday, state Senate
President Bob Burns told reporters he has
concerns about referring to a special-
election ballot either of two proposals Gov.
Jan Brewer suggested last week. But for
different reasons. For starters, Burns, R-
Peoria, likes the idea of asking voters to
reform the Voter Protection Act, allowing
legislators to get their mitts on funding
for voter-approved state programs. His
druthers, in fact, "would be for it to go
away completely." But he's hesitant to
send the proposal to the ballot. Why?
He thinks voters would reject it - or, as
Burns put it, "I just don't feel comfortable
that it would pass." Meanwhile, Burns is
similarly disinclined to refer to the ballot
the other half of Brewer's budget rescue
package: a temporary tax increase.

Midwestern University to open Arizona's
first optometry school
The Arizona Republic 3/10/09 11:02 AM
Midwestern University will welcome 50 of the
state's first optometry students in August.
Four years later, the new doctors of optometry,
known as ODs, will find patients with a wide
variety of needs right at their doorstep. ....Many
of them will try their skills first at Midwestern's
new Eye Institute, which is being built next to
its existing public clinic. The institute should
be open by next spring.

Mass-casualty exercise near ASU in Tempe
Tuesday
Associated Press/East Valley Tribune
3/10/09 11:59 AM EDT
TEMPE, Ariz. -- A mass-casualty disaster exercise
based on a scenario involving a terrorist attack
using an improvised explosive device is being
held near Arizona State University in Tempe. The
Arizona Department of Public Safety says Tues-
day's exercise, dubbed "2009 Coyote Crisis,"
involves approximately 1,200 volunteers who
are serving as mock victims and will be
transported to more than two dozen hospitals
in the Phoenix metro area.

Ariz. schools could see stimulus funds this
month
Associated Press/East Valley Tribune
3/10/09 10:59 AM EDT
PHOENIX (AP) -- Arizona school districts could
begin seeing badly needed federal stimulus
dollars by the end of the month, and state
universities could see cash as early as mid-
April. The state will get $4.4 billion from the
stimulus package, with $1.4 billion of it
targeted to help schools and universities
save jobs, prevent program cuts, and stop
tuition from rising. The money is intended to
last through 2011. Over the coming weeks,
Arizona will receive two installments of
stimulus money. The first, about $186.5
million, will arrive in late March, according
to a timeline released by the U.S.
Department of Education. The cash will
flow directly to schools to help pay for
educational needs of low-income students,
such as extra tutoring, and students in
special education.

Council to tackle Rio Nuevo costs borne by
city agencies
Arizona Daily Star 3/10/09
Tucson, Arizona - Councilman Steve Leal said
Monday that city general-fund money should
not be used to pay for Rio Nuevo Downtown
redevelopment projects and called for a
council hearing on the issue. Leal said
intervention is needed because the council
has repeatedly told City Manager Mike Hein
that city services should "never be reduced
or diluted to shift monies to augment or
hasten Rio Nuevo." On Sunday the Arizona
Daily Star reported that internal city e-mails
indicated Rio Nuevo requested $5 million
in added work on the Fourth Avenue Under-
pass to enhance the surrounding area. Rio
Nuevo officials said they didn't request the
work and wouldn't pay for it.

AZ scientists won't benefit from shift
Arizona Daily Star 3/10/09
Tucson, Arizona - Researchers at the University
of Arizona won't be benefiting from any of the
public research dollars expected to be available
now that the federal government is reversing its
policy on embryonic-stem-cell research. Arizona
is one of several states with a state ban on such
research. "What I am hoping is that this
(decision) will continue to provide motivation
and excitement to encourage stem-cell work in
general," said David T. Harris, a professor in the
department of immunobiology at the UA's College
of Medicine. UA scientists have long conducted
work on non-embryonic stem cells. Stem cells
are unspecialized cells that can mature into
any type of cell in the human body and be
guided into doing so.

Ariz. schools could see stimulus funds this month
The Associated Press/Arizona Daily Star 3/10/09
PHOENIX — By the end of the month, Arizona school
districts could begin seeing badly need federal
stimulus dollars, officials said. The first installment,
about $186.5 million, will arrive in late March
according to a timeline released by the U.S.
Department of Education. The cash will flow directly
to schools to help pay for educational needs of low-
income students, such as extra tutoring, and
students in special education. It is about half the
stimulus money dedicated to these funds. State
universities beaten up by budget cuts could begin
receiving money by mid-April.

UA may face additional 20% cut to its budget
Tucson Citizen 3/9/09
The University of Arizona will face game-changing
choices that equate to losing six colleges next
year if the school has to absorb a further 20 per-
cent cut to its budget, according to a document
sent to the Governor's Office late Friday. Gov.
Jan Brewer, searching for solutions to Arizona's
estimated $3 billion revenue shortfall next year,
asked all state agencies to provide scenarios
for cuts to their organizations of 5, 10, 15 and
20 percent. The state's three public universities
and the Arizona Board of Regents did so in a
30-page document that begins with emphasizing
the "maintenance of effort" provision in the federal
stimulus funding package and the "crippling"
effect additional cuts would have on higher
education.

UA says budget cuts could force closure
of 6 colleges
Associated Press/abc15.com 3/10/09 7:40 am
Cutting 20 percent from the University of Arizona
budget would be the equivalent of closing six
colleges within the school, university officials
said in a letter sent to Gov. Jan Brewer. The
governor recently asked government agencies
to come up with plans for cutting 5, 10, 15 or
20 percent from their budgets as the state
wrestles with an estimated $3 billion budget
deficit. "I think you can see that reductions of
this magnitude will profoundly impact what we
can provide at the university," said Stephen
MacCarthy, vice president for external relations.
UA said $15 million in permanent cuts from
this year that it covered with borrowed funds
from auxiliary accounts is equivalent to laying
off 300 people. The Arizona Board of Regents,
in a 30-page document, emphasizes the
maintenance of effort provision in the federal
stimulus funding package and the crippling
effect additional state cuts would have on
higher education.

Sun Devil Stadium Makeover Eyed
KPHO.com 3/9/09 8:52 pm MST
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Students at Arizona State University
want to know why school officials are talking about
spending millions of dollars to fix up Sun Devil
Stadium when the school is laying off teachers
and cutting back classes. ASU is in the middle
of a major budget crunch, which is why students
like Joanna Wisniewski want to know why school
officials are discussing a plan to spend millions
of dollars to renovate Sun Devil Stadium. "Since
there are so many budget cuts, a lot of ASU
students and teachers are getting cut off and
laid off so probably right now renovations are
not a priority," said Wisniewski. State lawmakers
are considering a bill designed to help ASU
raise money to pay for more than $100 million
in improvements to the 51-year-old stadium.

Commentary: John C. Cavanaugh: Been There,
Done That With Cost Reductions and Tuition
Restraint
The Chronicle of Higher Education 3/10/09
Government support for higher education has
received more attention lately than in any
comparable period throughout my roughly 30-
year career. The recent debate over the inclusion
of colleges in the stimulus package put two
aspects of higher education in the spotlight: the
importance of attending college, and the role of
higher education as an enormous economic
driver. The first point is well-trodden turf. It has
been documented for years that more
professions are requiring some level of post-
secondary education. The second point is not,
at least to the public. The fact is that higher
education creates and provides lots of jobs.
Suddenly we are viewed by many as a major
part of the solution to the current economic
problems. As Secretary of Education Arne
Duncan said, "The best thing we can do is
educate our way to a better economy."

Public-Policy Group Issues Recommendations
for Increasing College Access
The Chronicle of Higher Education 3/10/09
Washington — In response to President Obama’s
call last month for the United States to have the
highest proportion of college graduates in the
world by 2020, a public-policy group released a
set of recommendations today for how states
could help the country achieve that lofty goal.
The group, the National Center for Public Policy
and Higher Education, writes in the report that
“states and their colleges and universities will
only exacerbate existing problems of access,
affordability, equity, and economic
competitiveness if they follow past patterns of
responding to revenue shortfalls by shifting the
financial burden to students and their families.”
Instead, the group says, states should deem
college access their top priority, finding ways to
admit all eligible students to two- and four-year
institutions while aiming to reach enrollment
capacity at broader institutions that can serve
more low- and middle-income families.

A Focus on Outcomes
Inside Higher Ed 3/10/09
President Obama is making a serious play to
become the education president his predecessors
have angled to be. Two weeks after he challenged
every American to get at least one year of college
and proposed a 2010 budget that would
significantly refashion the student loan and Pell
Grant programs, the president plans to return to
the theme of education as key to the country's
economic future and its citizens' personal
advancement. A speech he will give this morning
to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce will mostly
reinforce and expand on proposals he has already
made -- such as locking in annual increases in
the Pell Grant and aiming to significantly raise
the proportion of American workers with college
training. But senior administration officials who
briefed reporters on the speech late Monday
suggested that Obama would focus more than
he has to date on the administration's intent to
hold states and colleges more accountable for
ensuring that students who enter college
succeed once there.

Obama Calls for Overhaul of Education System
The New York Times 3/10/09 10:10 am
President Obama makes remarks on education
reform on Tuesday. President Obama said Tues-
day that the nation must overhaul its education
system and dramatically decrease the drop-out
rate among students to remain competitive in the
global economy. In an address to the Hispanic
Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Obama issued a
challenge to states to increase the quality of
reading and math instruction to keep American
students at pace with other countries. It was
the first major education speech Mr. Obama
delivered since taking office seven weeks ago.
“It is time to give all Americans a complete and
competitive education from the cradle up
through a career,” Mr. Obama said. “We have
accepted failure for too long – enough.
America’s entire education system must once
more be the envy of the world.”