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The largest crowd ever to attend an Arizona Board of Regents meeting convened at the UA, many of them speaking out against a legislative budget proposal.

By LaMonica Everett Haynes, University Communications
January 22, 2009

The largest crowd ever to attend an Arizona Board of Regents meeting convened at The University of Arizona on Thursday, many of them speaking out against a legislative proposal that, if approved, would trim nearly 40 percent from the university system's budget.

About 1,000 people attended the meeting and dozens signed up for the designated call to the audience to speak out against the proposal put forth by the Joint Legislative Budget Committee.

State legislators are proposing a $243 million mid-year cut to the university system with a total $388 million cut for fiscal year 2010. The proposal has resulted in resistance from business owners and executives, community members, students, parents, alumni and general community members.

Numerous speakers said the issue is not that higher education faces a budget cut – noting that given the economic reality, a reasonable cut is necessary. What many are contending, however, is the size of the current proposal.

Donald R. Diamond, chairman of Diamond Ventures, Inc., spoke in support of the university system, saying it is "doing a good job" of educating students. Diamond also said that education remains a key issue for businesses and individuals intending to move to the state of Arizona.

However, given the current situation, he said Tucson and Phoenix are now competing with Albuquerque, N.M. and other southwestern cities for business.

Diamond and numerous other speakers said that should the cuts be approved, each university is at risk of having to cut services, close colleges and departments, scale back program offerings and lay off massive numbers of employees, among other things.

Some voiced concern about a possible decline in minority student enrollment. Others noted that universities may have to reduce programs in rural and tribal communities. Several said the state risks losing jobs, both on and off its university campuses.

Sarah Smallhouse, president of the Thomas R. Brown Foundations, also noted that institutions would have to consider larger class sizes and may have to close colleges.

"This is not a practical proposal," said Smallhouse, who is also a co-chair with Solutions Through Higher Education, an organization in Arizona currently running a pro-education campaign.

Lynn Nadel, the only UA faculty member who spoke during the call to the audience, said higher education affords other community benefits. They include reduced poverty, less dependency and a healthier lifestyle, said Nadel, a Regents' Professor of psychology. "We must act strategically," he added.

So lengthy was the list of people who signed up for the call to audience that, after more than one hour of public comment, about 20 more people were in queue to address the regents.
Others who spoke included: Tommy Bruce, president of the Associated Students of the UA; Tucson City Council member Rodney Glassman; Pima County Supervisor Ray Carroll, Lea Marquez-Peterson, vice chair of the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and executive director of Greater Tucson Leadership; Taylor Lawrence, CEO of Raytheon Missile Systems; and Ron Shoopman, president of the Southern Arizona Leadership Council.

Some, like Dr. Tom Grogan, founder and senior vice president for medical affairs for Ventana Medical Systems, noted that higher education in Arizona is the solution to the state's budget crisis, not its problem.

Grogan, who represents a company whose origins are based at the UA, said "we will create more wealth from the frontal cortex of man than from what will be found in the ground in Arizona." Grogan referenced the UA's top 20 status among the nation's research universities, saying that it is through the "mental real estate" that universities create that Arizona will be able to pull itself out of the economic slump.

Steve Lynn, vice president of communication and government relations with Tucson Electric Power Co., speaking about the need to support the higher education system in Arizona said: "You cannot cut yourself out of a recession. You must grow your way out."