TO CLIPS INDEX - Clips for March 22, 23, & 24, 2008

Lawmakers move to fight textbook costs
The Arizona Republic - March 24, 2008 12:00 AM
Each semester, Chris Nagata plunks down about $500 for textbooks, although he passes on buying
some titles listed on the syllabus. If the University of Arizona sophomore had purchased every book
assigned last semester, he says, his total would have been closer to $700. That includes the $200
book he bought about human anatomy and physiology. "Oftentimes you have professors who say,
'This is a textbook you need,' " said Nagata, a physiology major. With the price of college education
soaring, Arizona students have been pushing for ways to rein in the cost of textbooks. And their
cause has resonated with lawmakers.

Sharing Ariz. public schools' good news
The Arizona Republic - March 24, 2008 12:00 AM
This month, they have launched Arizona Public Schools Making a Difference Every Day, a joint non-
political and nonpartisan campaign aimed at shining a light on what's right with public education in
the state. "All the groups came together because we felt the discussion about public education in
Arizona was out of balance," said Panfilo Contreras, executive director of the Arizona School Boards
Association, one of the organizations involved. "Certainly there are issues that demand and are
getting our serious attention, but we felt we needed to stand up and level the playing field by
honoring the good things that are happening in public schools through-out the state, too."

Budget negotiations remain slow as deficit adds up
The Arizona Republic - March 23, 2008 12:00 AM
Despite a growing sense of urgency, state budget negotiations continue to move slowly because of
sharp differences on how to close the gap. Spending cuts? Borrowing? Tapping the "rainy-day" fund?
All of these are likely, but the hang-up is getting agreement on how much of each to use. Complicating
things is the $1.7 billion projected deficit for the 2008-09 budget, another issue lawmakers and the
governor must resolve by June 30, when the fiscal year ends. That adds up to nearly $3 billion in
looming deficit for this year and next. The state Constitution requires a balanced budget. Gov. Janet
Napolitano says they'll get there; restive House Republicans want to know when.

What can Ariz. do to fix budget crunch?
The Arizona Republic - March 23, 2008 12:00 AM
2 lawmakers examine challenge, offer fixes
Borrowing for school construction? Use of the "rainy day" reserve? Program and service cuts totaling
$1 billion? Those are among the options being considered by legislative leaders and Gov. Janet
Napolitano as they search for a way out of a hole in the state budget that has grown to $3 billion
between this year and next. As a percentage of the state's General Fund, Arizona has the largest
such deficit in the country, according to an analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a
left-leaning think tank based in Washington, D.C. A pair of legislators sat down with The Arizona
Republic to discuss the state's fiscal challenges.

ASU's Downtown Phoenix sites taking shape
Arizona Republic - March 23, 2008 12:00 AM
Editor's note: This article was submitted by Julie New- berg, with media relations at ASU's Downtown
Phoenix campus. She can be reached at 602-496-1005 or julie.newberg @asu.edu. Cranes are still
soaring over downtown Phoenix, but the end is in sight for key ASU construction projects. The new
Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication building on Central Avenue and
Taylor Street is nearing completion with work expected to wrap up in June. Workers are currently
focusing on outside windows, exterior panels, interior walls and painting. "Move-in will be in July
through August," said Patrick Panetta, University Real Estate Development assistant director. The
new home of Eight/KAET-TV in the building will probably be occupied later than Cronkite faculty, staff
and students.

Ariz. last in pork-barrel cash, lawmakers say it's a waste
Arizona Republic Washington Bureau - March 22, 2008 12:00 AM
Key lawmakers say earmark process wastes taxpayer money
WASHINGTON - Arizona has some powerful lawmakers in Washington, including Republican
presidential candidate John McCain. But when it comes to pork-barrel spending, otherwise known
as earmarks, the state isn't very powerful. In fact, it ranks last.

Gov. Janet Napolitano: Issuing bonds a smart, sensible method
The Arizona Republic - March 23, 2008 12:00 AM
To put it plainly: Bonding to build schools makes sense. Bonding, also referred to as capital-financing,
is the way we pay for most large public projects at all levels of government in all 50 states. Governments
bond to build high-ways and roads, state buildings and schools. Business leaders of all stripes confirm
that, when you are building something you will have for a long time, it is a smart practice to spread the
payments out over time.

Are bonds the answer to Arizona's budget woes?
The Arizona Republic - March 23, 2008 12:00 AM
To bond or not to bond, that is the question. Or rather, that is often the big debate at the state Legislature,
with Republican lawmakers at odds with Gov. Janet Napolitano and fellow Democrats over the need for
the state to borrow for school construction. With the state facing a $1.2 billion budget deficit this year, and
similar dire financial status likely in next couple of years, Republican leaders appear to be budging on the
governor's preferred budget-balancing tool, in addition to cuts. "In my opinion, there's going to have to be
some sort of capital-financing program," House Majority Leader Tom Boone, a Peoria Republican,
reluctantly told GOP
colleagues last week.

Voices: To bond, or not to bond?
The Arizona Republic - March 23, 2008 12:00 AM
Bonding faces up to Arizona's needs
Arizona is one of the fastest-growing states in the nation. Projections demonstrate that, by 2030, Arizona's
student population will increase to 2.5 million. Arizona's education infrastructure will need to increase by
more than 150 percent in just 20 years. This reality must be met with long-term, comprehensive planning
that ensures dedicated annual revenue for school construction - revenue generated through an adequate
and equitable system of taxation.

Forum with NAU president
Arizona Daily Sun - March 23, 2008
President John Haeger has scheduled a university-wide forum to discuss a variety of issues facing
Northern Arizona University and higher education in general at 3:30 p.m., Thursday, in Ashurst
Auditorium. During the forum, titled "Higher Education, the Economy and University Priorities," Haeger
will discuss access and affordability to higher education, national competitiveness, and the national
and state economies and their affect on higher education. A question-and-answer session will follow
the presentation and be concluded by a reception at 4:30 p.m.

New NAU degree saves community college students tuition
Arizona Daily Sun - March 22, 2008
Northern Arizona University is making it easier for some community college students to get a four-year
degree. Margo Colosimo, an NAU student now in her first semester of the 90/30 program, said the
opportunity opened a whole new world for her. "It was awesome. I was completely floored when I found
out I could actually finally reach my dream of getting my degree." After completing her associate's degree
at Pima Community College in Tucson, she thought she might have to abandon her dream of earning a
bachelor's degree due to her full-time job.

'Angel' investors gathering at UA to look at faculty, student projects
Arizona Daily Star - March 24, 2008
A group of "angel" investors will meet with UA researchers at the first Southwest Angel Summit today and
Tuesday, coinciding with the university's Innovation Day on March 25. The group of more than 20 investors,
who invest personal money in start-up ventures, will meet informally with faculty and student researchers
and participate in Innovation Day events, organizers said. Bob Morrison, executive director of the Desert
Angels, said investors from California, Nevada, New Mexico and Arizona will "come together and discuss
regional priorities and opportunities for collaboration." The event was organized by the Desert Angels and
the Eller College of Management's McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship.

Opinion by Greg Hansen : UA should offer job to Frese
Arizona Daily Star - March 23, 2008
Women's coach a priority
Wildcat alumna has won an NCAA title at Maryland, would bring fresh face to Pac-10
By the time Arizona hires a new women's basketball coach and Lute Olson returns to his office, it will
have cost Jim Livengood about $1 million in unbudgeted dollars. The UA's basketball crisis fast became
a financial one. First, a position was created for ex-associate head basketball coach Jim Rosborough at
a cost of about $125,000. Next, Kevin O'Neill will be paid about $725,000 for the year, which is roughly
$600,000 in new salary.

Dig in Sonora yields intriguing finds
Arizona Daily Star - March 23, 2008
Kids help paleontologists find evidence area was a crossroads for varied species
SAN CLEMENTE de TÉRAPA, Sonora — The curiosity of a 7-year-old boy trumped the expertise of a
group of field paleontologists for the find of the day: a tiny owl bone dug from the dirt of the arid bad-
lands of northeastern Sonora. The site has already revealed a remarkable diversity of prehistoric life,
but even a quick examination of Martín Bademi's discovery impressed the researchers, who say the
distinct and well-preserved fossil may be "the key element" in proving the long-extinct owl species
was prevalent in the region.In eight years of excavating, scientists from the University of Arizona and
Northern Arizona University — along with colleagues from both sides of the border — have unearthed
a wealth of fossils that indicate the area was once a rich biological crossroads for creatures from
both tropical and arid regions.

Big stage for UA women biologists
Tucson Citizen - March 24, 2008
6 undergrads to present work at national biology conference
Lissette Velasquez is a sprite of a scientist, but she's working on a monster of a problem: reducing the
population of mosquitoes that carry dengue hemorrhagic fever. Velasquez is studying iron metabolism
in the Aedes aegypti mosquito in hopes of finding a way to limit the number of eggs those mosquitoes
lay. Her research, once published, will be the first study to feature Transferrin 2 - an iron-binding protein
necessary for successful egg-laying - in the disease-carrying insects. And she's not yet finished with her
bachelor's degree. Velasquez's work, along with that of five other UA women in UA's Undergraduate
Biology Research Program, has been accepted for presentation at Experimental Biology 2008, a San
Diego conference featuring more than 13,000 scientists.

ASU, Scottsdale group agree on preserving Kerr Cultural Center
ASU Web Devil - March 24, 2008
A committee in Scottsdale is doing all it can to ensure long-term preservation of the 50-year-old Kerr
Cultural Center. The Historic Preservation Commission of Scottsdale rejected a proposal on March
13 that would offer some protection for the center because the plan did not include the building's exterior
and parking lot, said Don Meserve, a representative of the Historic Preservation Commission. The
Scottsdale Historic Register Committee, a part of the Historic Preservation Commission, began about a
year ago to look for further protection for the Kerr Cultural Center by placing it on their register, Meserve
said. The University and the historic commission have been working together since January to work out
the details of the proposal, he said.

Money abounds for ASU entrepreneurs
ASU Web Devil - March 24, 2008
Any ASU student, faculty or staff member with a bright idea could be eligible for a $20,000 grant. The
Entrepreneurship at ASU Initiative grants $250,000 yearly to fund innovative business ventures, said
Rhett Wilson, ASU community and entrepreneurial liaison. "Writing a business plan; that can be taught,"
Wilson said. "But a really good idea, you can't teach that." The initiative funds student, faculty and staff
members who have a cutting-edge business plan or can improve an existing plan.

New trials, new hope in program
ASU Web Devil - March 21, 2008
Law students to investigate cases for potentially wrongful convictions
Dubbed the "Snaggletooth Killer" and convicted of the 1991 murder of a Phoenix bartender, Ray Krone
spent 10 years in prison — three of them on death row. But with the help of the Arizona Justice Project,
he was able to show that the bite mark on the victim, which had earned him the ghoulish nickname,
wasn't from Krone. He was released in 2002. The project helps inmates who have been wrongfully
convicted or unjustly sentenced, said its chair, Larry Hammond. This semester, the justice project
found a new home at ASU's Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law.

Endowments for UA on rise
UA Daily Wildcat Online - March 24, 2008
Rate of private financial gifts ranks in top fifth nationally
The UA is considered among the country's wealthiest universities - in terms of endowments, at least. The
university received $532 million in endowments - financial gifts from private donors - in 2007. That figure
ranked 136 out of a listed 785 institutions in reports from The National Association of College and
University Business Officers. In 2006, the UA received $466 million in endowments and was ranked 133
out of 765, according to the reports.

Finishing school for foreign MBAs
Gannett News Service - March 24, 2008
A few years ago, Arizona State University officials noticed an unsettling trend: Foreign-born graduates
of the school's MBA program were getting fewer job offers and making less money than their U.S.-born
counterparts. The reason was not academics. Some students raised in other countries simply had a
tough time culturally: Making small talk, dressing appropriately and handling the hundreds of other small
cues that can mean success or failure in a workplace. That's why the university launched a type of finishing
school for its full-time foreign MBA students, who make up 25 percent to 30 percent of a typical daytime MBA
class.The effort appears to be working. "Now, they're getting slightly higher salaries than the U.S. students,"
said Gerry Keim, associate dean at Arizona State's W.P. Carey School of Business.

Opinion: A 'reasonable' response to the violence
Nogales International - March 21, 2008 2:13 PM PDT
In counterpoint to Kathy Scott’s Rite On from the Nogales International of Friday, March 14, (Allowing guns
on campus is a nutty idea), I submit that the legislation proposed by Arizona Sen. Karen Johnson (R-Mesa)
and Rep. Russell Pearce (R-Mesa) could be just the thing to allow a reasonable response to campus violence.
Firstly, I don’t agree with Kathy Scott’s view of teachers as scatter-brained, middle-aged menopausal females
and doddering males who would leave a weapon in an unattended classroom. I spent a year as a substitute
teacher in Nogales classrooms in my first year as an Arizona resident, and have subsequently dealt with
teachers and administrators on a daily basis in my duties as sports reporter for this paper. I would say that
teachers and administrators are, on the whole, extremely responsible adults.

Arizona Technology Council Releases Results of Arizona Policy Benchmark Survey
Business Wire - March 21, 2008
Arizona Voters Surveyed on Current Public Policy Issues Affecting the Future of the State
PHOENIX--The Arizona Technology Council today released results of an Arizona survey assessing the public
opinion of a range of Arizona public policy issues. The new survey suggests that Arizonans are split on the
question of whether the state is going in the right direction (45 percent) or has seriously gotten off on the
wrong track (40 percent). The majority of Arizonans (47 percent) describe the state economy these days as
good, while 38 percent describe it as not so good and 12 percent describe it as poor. Findings indicated that
Arizonans feel illegal immigration should be the top priority for the Governor and the state legislature, followed
by education, jobs and the economy; taxes; spending and the state budget; and health care and prescription
drugs.