The Round-Up: Week of April 4
Fires, tuition hikes and shutdowns. That's the buzz this week. It's Friday, so that means it's time for your favorite part of the week — not the weekend, but your weekly read of The Round-Up.
Around ASU
Early Tuesday morning a fire broke out inside the Memorial Union. The fire, which started around 5:30, was put out by the building’s sprinkler system. No one was injured, but was the building's opening was delayed until 7:45 a.m. Jamba Juice, where the fire occurred, has been closed for repair since Tuesday.
Next year, natural and life science students will be getting less for more. Many key resources will be cut next year even though students may pay an $800 per-year fee. The School of Life Sciences will be cutting their undergraduate research program and the Learning Resource Center.
Writers from The Onion came to campus Tuesday night to talk about their successful spoof news organization. The publication, which produces fake news stories that parody real news, has a wide audience and an even bigger sense of humor. ASU was not excluded from their jokes. One headline they showed read, “Prospective Student Had Most Fun Getting Drunk at Arizona State.”
Around Arizona
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed the 2012 state’s $8.3 billion budget this week, which includes $1.1 billion in cuts, reports Mary Jo Pitzi of The Arizona Republic. Brewer touted it as a budget that will put Arizona back on track for future economic growth. Nearly half of the cuts — $500 million of it — come from the state Medicaid program. Universities will receive a cut of $198 million.
The Arizona Board of Regents debated Thursday whether to increase tuition by large amounts, reports Amanda Lee Myers of the Associated Press. Should the Board approve the university presidents’ proposals, UA would see its tuition jump 22 percent, ASU by 19.5 percent and NAU by 15 percent.
The state House of Representatives sent a measure that would allow guns on campus to the governor’s desk, reports the Associated Press. The final vote count was 33-24. The measure would allow guns on walkways and paths at universities, but not in buildings.
Around the country
Thursday marked the latest day of stalled budget negotiations in Washington, report David Rogers and Jake Sherman of Politico. The federal government would shut down if a budget is not approved by Friday, as it would run out of operating funds at midnight. House Republicans have produced another stopgap funding bill that would cut $12 billion from the federal budget and keep the government operating through next week. The bill would also fund the military for the rest of the fiscal year. Besides not being able to agree on the amount to cut — talks have ranged from $33 billion to $39 billion — the GOP has several policy riders that Democrats oppose. Several of the most contentious policy riders, which are attached to the bill to alter an existing policy, would defund Planned Parenthood and strip the EPA of its ability to regulate greenhouse gases.
