TODAY'S LOCAL HEADLINES

• University experts recommend Ariz. tax changes
• Segway creator, author are UA keynote speakers
• New law dean to push for private support
• Downturn a time to innovate, retailers tell UA global conference
• Economists: Arizona in for long recovery
• UA seeks stimulus funds
• CatTran drive a success
• Retooling campus technology
• Avnet looks to recruit talent at annual Tech Games

TODAY'S NATIONAL HEADLINES

No National Headlines Today.

TODAY'S OPINIONS

• Costly cell phones, technology can wait

LOCAL HEADLINES

University experts recommend Ariz. tax changes
By Paul Davenport. A team of university experts on Thursday urged lawmakers to consider tax increases and sweeping changes to Arizona fiscal policies to tackle the state's current budget crisis and preventing another one. The Arizona Board of Regents assembled the team of seven university personnel, a regents economist and a consultant who is a former gubernatorial and legislative budget director. The move came in response to a request by top legislative leaders for ideas for balancing the budget.
(The Arizona Republic: http://www.azcentral.com/news/election/azelections/articles/2009/04/02/20090402budgetfix-on.html)
(Yuma Daily Sun: http://www.yumasun.com/news/raise_49101___article.html/balance_state.html)
(KSAZ-TV (Fox) Ch. 10: http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/university_experts_recomment_tax_changes_040209)
(Tucson Citizen: http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/ss/local/113490.php)
(East Valley Tribune: http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/137431)

Segway creator, author are UA keynote speakers
By Aaron Mackey. A UA professor with a best-selling book and the inventor of the Segway scooter will speak at the university's commencement ceremonies this May, officials announced on Thursday. Dean Kamen, who invented the Segway Human Transporter, will deliver the keynote address during the undergraduate ceremony, scheduled for May 16, a University of Arizona news release said. The night before Kamen speaks, UA associate professor Alan Weisman will address graduate and professional students receiving degrees. Weisman, who teaches in journalism and Latin American studies, is the author of The New York Times best-seller "The World Without Us."
(Arizona Daily Star: http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/business/287241.php)

New law dean to push for private support
By Aaron Mackey. New UA law school dean Lawrence Ponoroff will strive to increase the number of scholarships, faculty members and programs supported by private donations, a challenge he's looking forward to in the face of an economic recession. Ponoroff, whom University of Arizona officials named dean of the James E. Rogers College of Law on Thursday, said that with a recent renovation to the law school complete, he'll focus on enriching the classroom experience and the law school's prestige.
(Tucson Citizen: http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/all_headlines/113499.php)
(Arizona Daily Star: http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/business/287214.php)

Downturn a time to innovate, retailers tell UA global conference
By Dale Quinn. Now's the time for retailers to make innovative changes and develop new technologies if they want to emerge strong from the recession. It's those companies that will thrive when the economy rebounds, speakers said Thursday at this year's Global Retailing Conference held by the University of Arizona's Terry J. Lundgren Center for Retailing. Nearly 300 retail insiders and students are attending the two-day conference, which continues today at the Westin La Paloma Resort & Spa.
(Arizona Daily Star: http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/business/287181.php)

Economists: Arizona in for long recovery
By Ed Taylor. But not all is rosy. Economists point to the huge inventory of new houses in Arizona that still needs to be sold off and to a continuing problem with foreclosures. As a result, Arizona may pull out of the recession more slowly than the rest of the country, they say. "The bottom line is we grossly overbuilt, and we have a ways to go to get out of that," said Tom Rex, an economist at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. He said it could take three years "before we start to resemble normal conditions."
(East Valley Tribune: http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/137435)

UA seeks stimulus funds
By Kate Saavedra. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, could provide the UA with some much-needed funding after massive budget cuts dealt a harsh blow this semester, but obtaining federal dollars is still going to take a fight. Andrew Comrie, associate vice president for research, is coordinating a university-wide effort to capitalize on stimulus funds.
(UA Daily Wildcat: http://wildcat.arizona.edu/news/2009/04/03/News/Ua.Seeks.Stimulus.Funds-3696529.shtml)

CatTran drive a success
By Marissa Hopkins. For one day, a UA CatTran bus picked up canned and nonperishable food instead of student passengers. The bus sat at the intersection of North Cherry Avenue and University Boulevard from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. yesterday collecting food to donate to the Tucson Community Food Bank as part of a collaboration event between UA4Food, the Staff Advisory Council and Parking and Transportation Services.
(UA Daily Wildcat: http://wildcat.arizona.edu/news/2009/04/03/News/Cattran.Drive.A.Success-3696530.shtml)

Retooling campus technology
By Tim McDonnell. Anyone vexed by the UA's current information technology infrastructure can breathe a digital sigh of relief. University Information Technology Services is in the midst of the Mosaic Project, which will slowly replace a broad swath of outdated IT systems such as payroll and WebReg with new, better software. "(We're) replacing all of our old administrative-type systems. Some of our systems are 30 years old. We want to increase the capabilities and capacities of those systems, so we're having to replace those," said Kay Beasock, organizational and communications manager for the project.
(UA Daily Wildcat: http://wildcat.arizona.edu/news/2009/04/03/News/Retooling.Campus.Technology-3696528.shtml)

Avnet looks to recruit talent at annual Tech Games
by Andrew Johnson. More than 200 Arizona college students will compete in the fourth-annual Avnet Tech Games on Saturday, building or creating personal computers, virtual servers, solar-powered lamps and other devices. Organized by Phoenix-based electronics distributor Avnet Inc., the daylong competition is open to the public and takes place at University of Advancing Technology in Tempe. The event is a crucial tool for recruiting potential talent, despite the current standstill in hiring for many technology companies, Avnet representatives said.
(The Arizona Republic: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/2009/04/03/20090403biz-techgames0403.html)

OPINIONS

Costly cell phones, technology can wait
By Dennis Maduli Jr. I was surprised and fascinated to learn the University of Arizona's Imaging Technology Lab plays a role in conducting some of the world's astronomical projects, which produced the world's largest imaging device and the one with the highest level of resolution. All in all, going down the path of using this costly technology in cell phones to produce smaller, elite cameras wouldn't be a good investment given the way our economy is now.
(Arizona Daily Star: http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/opinion/287143.php)