Shortly after I was hired in 1989 by the Yuma Daily Sun as a cub reporter, the city editor assigned me to cover the county fair.

That’s right. All I had to do for the next three days was walk around the county fair and come back with a daily story.

I bungee jumped, went to the hypnotist show and forked over 50 cents to see “the world’s largest hog.” I couldn’t believe I got paid to go to the fair, including reimbursement of the two quarters I paid to see the big pig.

I knew then that I made the right career choice and never regretted it in the two decades that followed. Not every assignment has been a day at the fair. But I have met countless interesting people and have learned something new just about every day on the job.

That’s my long-winded way of getting to goodbye. Though the Tucson Citizen will continue to publish until May 9 and possibly well beyond, this will be my last column.

My next job is not in journalism. So this is where I get off of a thrilling 20-year ride.

During four years in Yuma as a general assignment reporter, I wrote about everything. Fires. Floods. Murders. Trials. Elections. Drug addiction. You name it.

I took on the persona of “the desert lizard” to pen a weekly entertainment column.

I wrote about the death of activist César Chávez in 1993 and visited the home in San Luis where he died. I arrived as a hearse was driving away with his body. A woman wailed from the crowd that had gathered, “No te vayas. No te vayas.”

Don’t go. Don’t go.

When the Citizen hired me in November 1993 to cover higher education, I was thrilled to be back home. I was also a nervous wreck, eager to do well or at least not mess up.

I took printouts of my stories home everyday and would triple or quadruple check them, underlining each sentence in red ink and circling things I wanted to change. I drove the night editors crazy, calling multiple times each evening to correct or improve the article before it was published the next day.

Despite my lack of confidence, my editors had confidence in me and offered me lots of opportunities over the years, allowing me to grow into the job.

I filled in regularly on the editing desk, which helped me become a better reporter. And I moved from covering higher education to the science beat and then to the medical beat.

I’d like to think that I occasionally made a difference. As a health reporter, I enjoyed writing about research and medical advances. But I also reported on the shortcomings in our medical system, from doctor shortages that affected the quality of care we receive to the lack of access to healthcare for many people in our community.

My coverage of the restraint-related death of psychiatric patient Wendy Gazda at Kino Hospital in 2003 helped to publicize the underlying deficiencies in patient care that existed at the hospital. When you shine a spotlight on such things, they get fixed.

It would be a lie to say I loved every minute of the job. But I’ve been part of a family here. And I’ve sure had a lot of fun.

In 1997, when the Citizen was flush with cash, it sent me to Roswell, N.M., for five days to cover the 50th anniversary of “the Roswell incident,” the alleged crash of a spaceship filled with aliens near the town in 1947.

When the University of Arizona men’s basketball team played for the national championship earlier in 1997, I was sent to Indianapolis to help cover the Final Four – mostly fluff pieces about the fans. During the championship game, in a space of less than one hour, I crossed paths with Sean Elliott, Steve Kerr, Gen. Colin Powell and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Heck yeah, I was star struck.

In 2005, then-Publisher Michael Chihak took a chance and promoted me, along with C.T. Revere, to the position of metro columnist. I think he knew from experience that I would speak truth to power.

I’ve tried to do that and I haven’t regretted any column I’ve written – just the ones I didn’t write.

I’ve ticked off a lot of people over the last four years, which means I’ve done my job.

The position, more than any I’d ever held before, opened up a constant dialogue with Tucson Citizen readers, who reached me though phone calls, e-mail and the Wild West that is our online comment community.

Thanks to the many of you who have been so kind and generous with your praise over the years. You gave me the courage to keep doing what I was doing.

And to my loyal following of folks who love to hate me, well, thanks for being regular readers.

Life will be a little less exciting without you.

Anne T. Denogean can be reached at adenogean@tucsoncitizen.com and 573-4582. Address letters to P.O. Box 26767, Tucson, AZ 85726-6767.

It’s about this time every year that I’m documenting the silly laws coming out of Phoenix. This year, our loony Legislature has left me bereft of material.

God bless them!

Before the session started, Senate President Bob Burns, R-Peoria, announced a moratorium on hearing any bills until the budget is passed. Despite grumbling from the rank and file, Burns has held his ground on the issue. No budget, no bills.

Burns announced Monday that Republican legislative leaders have agreed on a tentative budget. But I’m putting my money on legislators debating it for days or even weeks, with the moratorium on other bills remaining mercifully in effect.

Earlier this month, Matthew Benson of the Arizona Republic reported that there “is a logjam of more than 1,000 bills, policy proposals and ballot measures awaiting consideration by the House, Senate or both.”

Let me just say, if our Legislature adjourns this year without passing any bill into the law other than those related to the budget, I would be perfectly content.

Regular readers won’t be surprised to hear that I’m scared to death at what this Republican-dominated legislature might be able to get signed by our new Republican governor as regards the expansion of gun rights and the restriction of reproductive rights.

But even setting aside those issues, much of what passes out of our Legislature is plain dumb. Let’s just consider one doozy awaiting action.

Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Gilbert, is pushing a bill to allow Arizonans to legally purchase sparklers and fountain fireworks, both of which pose a risk of injury to the user and create a risk of sparking wildland fires.

Firefighters and others who don’t think it’s a good idea to play with fire oppose the measure, while Biggs has called his bill “a poke in they eye of those who have the nanny-state mentality.”

I call it a poke in the eye to those with common sense. Former Govs. Fife Symington and Jane Hull, both Republicans, vetoed similar bills during their time in office. At the time, Hull said she didn’t want to send the false message that fireworks are safe.

Some 9,000 people are treated each year in emergency departments for fireworks-related injuries. Sparklers account for up to one-third of the injuries to children under 5.

I don’t want to be unfair. Occasionally, a good piece of legislation is introduced and/or sneaks out of the Legislature.

Last year, Tucson lawmaker Jonathan Paton, a Republican, combined forces with Kirk Adams of Mesa to push through some significant reform of Child Protective Services.

The ongoing effort by Rep. Steve Farley, D-Tucson, to ban texting while driving, if it ever succeeds, would go a long way toward improving public safety on our roads.

And who could argue against a bill introduced this session by Paton and Rep. Nancy Young Wright, D-Tucson, to end a sick new trend of pitting dogs against hogs in staged fights?

But as often as not, our legislators do more harm than good.

One of the most infamous episodes of the last decade was a state law passed in 2000 giving scandalously huge tax credits to people who bought alternative-fuel vehicles. The loophole was the vehicles had to be capable of burning alterative fuels but also could run on gasoline. Many Arizonans used the credit to buy big trucks and luxury sport utility vehicles, getting up to half of the price of the vehicle back from the state.

The Legislature’s estimated cost of $10 million skyrocketed to a projected $680 million before lawmakers pulled the plug on the deal. The credit ended up costing the state about $140 million.

Think about it, folks. No new laws this session could save Arizona lives and money.

Anne T. Denogean can be reached at adenogean@tucsoncitizen.com and 573-4582. Address letters to P.O. Box 26767, Tucson, AZ 85726-6767. Her columns run Tuesdays and Fridays.

This was my absolute favorite sign from Wednesday’s Tucson Tea Party tax protest at El Presidio Park:

“Taxes are revolting and so are we.”

OK. I had to get that out of the way. The event, one of more than 700 anti-tax rallies held around the country, was well-organized and well-attended, with an estimated 3,000 Tucsonans showing up to oppose excessive government spending.

As such, I wanted to take the protesters seriously. But they all sang the same one-note – no, make that two-note – song: Taxes are bad and Obama is destroying America.

As to the second note, where were these folks for the last eight years as George W. Bush systematically destroyed America? If Obama fails, it will be because the damage of the Bush years will have proved too great to undo.

As to the primary note of the song, I couldn’t help, as I walked around Presidio Park, but to think about how each and every person in attendance benefits from government spending.

It’s not that I love paying taxes or that I don’t think that government is often wasteful. But, overall, our collective tax dollars are used to do some pretty amazing things.

Among other things, tax dollars are used to educate our children, to keep the public safe by putting police on the streets and keeping the bad guys they catch in prison, to pave the streets we drive on and to provide financial security for the elderly.

Many of those in attendance Wednesday were senior citizens. I doubt that any of them would forsake their Social Security and Medicare benefits or categorize those benefits as “wasteful government spending.”

I also saw parents with young children, at least some of whom are or will enroll in public schools paid for by taxes.

Star Elliott, 35, attended the event with her adorable young son Cash. She’s worried that he’s growing up in a country that is losing its values. She worries that excessive government spending is creating debt that his generation will have to pay off.

“My son already owes $35,000 and he’s 6-and-a-half months old,” she said because of government spending.

I asked if she plans on sending her son to public schools.

“We can’t afford private school. We live payday to payday,” Elliott said, adding, “Our public schools aren’t very promising.”

Fair enough. But I’d argue that’s exactly why taxpayers should be increasing the investment in public schools, rather than complaining about taxes. Quality doesn’t come cheap.

After Elliott and I said our goodbyes, I came across a little girl with a funny sign.

“Where’s my free pony?” it asked in big print. In smaller print, it added, “and laptop, lunch and healthcare.”

Her mother, as it turned out, is a public educator who doesn’t think our taxes should be paying for breakfast, lunch, basic medical care or laptops for schoolkids.

My conversation with the mother was pleasant, but our positions at polar extremes.

See, I don’t like the idea of an impoverished child sitting in class with an empty, grumbling belly. And I’m OK with my tax dollars being used to feed that kid if his parents can’t.

As far as computers for school kids, if we want kids to compete in a global economy, making sure they have laptops is as essential as providing them with papers and pencils.

Another thing I noticed at the protest was a sprinkling here and there of “Thank a cop” bumper stickers.

Hmm. How do these anti-tax advocates plan on showing their appreciation to our heroes in blue? With flowers and a smile?

City of Tucson police didn’t get a raise this year. If you want to “thank a cop” with a raise in fiscal 2010, it’s likely that the city will need more tax revenue.

Before I left the protest, I approached Beverly Hyatt, 52, who had a sign identifying her as “One Pissed Off Voter.”

What are you pissed off about? I asked.

“Where do I begin?” she said.

Socialism. The bailout. The stimulus plan. Taxation. Restrictions on the Second Amendment. Restrictions on freedom of speech.

Wait a minute. Has Obama proposed some new gun restrictions that I’m unaware of?

“Not yet,” Hyatt said.

Has he moved to restrict your freedom of speech?

“Not yet,” she said.

Has the administration imposed new taxes?

“Not yet, but they will.”

Back in the real world, Obama’s stimulus plan created a “Making Work Pay” tax credit of $400 for individuals and $800 for families making less than $250,000 a year.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’ve seen the difference in each of my last two paychecks.

Fox Network and conservative commentators, who combined to aggressively promote the “grass-roots” tea party protests, would have you believe the rallies are the start of a revolution or an indication of widespread discontent with the Obama administration, despite polls that say otherwise.

The protests around the country proved only that there are some ticked-off voters from the losing side, as there are after every election.

Maybe they should just settle in on the couch with a nice cup of chamomile tea and calm down.

Anne T. Denogean can be reached at adenogean@tucsoncitizen.com and 573-4582. Address letters to P.O. Box 26767, Tucson, AZ 85726-6767. Her columns run Tuesdays and Fridays.

Some comfort in knowing that what we did at the Citizen mattered

It’s the uncertainty that’s driving me and many other members of the Tucson Citizen staff batty.

Will there be a Tucson Citizen tomorrow? Will somebody buy the paper? How many staff members will the buyer retain? Will the paper the buyer puts out bear any resemblance to the current product? Will we still get our severance pay from Gannett if a new buyer fires us?

And for those among us fortunate enough to have secured other jobs, can we hang on long enough to get our severance pay? Or will this drag on for weeks and months?

The Tucson Citizen, for those who haven’t opened this paper in the past two months, is slated to be closed or sold. At the moment, the paper is operating day to day.

A day-to-day existence is no way to live. It’s demoralizing and exhausting.

But just when I thought I couldn’t take one more moment of it, I received something really special in my e-mail box.

Norma Sykes, a longtime Tucson resident and Tucson Citizen reader, shared her memories of the newspaper with me in an e-mail that arrived Monday afternoon. It reminded how much the Citizen has meant to this community. The newspaper has been a part of Sykes’ life for as long as she can remember and as she puts it, “that’s a loooonggggg time!!”

Sykes wrote the letter shortly after the possible closure of the Citizen was announced in late January. Here is the letter in its entirety:

“As I read the Tucson Citizen this past Saturday, I thought about sharing some of my memories with other faithful readers. The Tucson Citizen has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I grew up in Bisbee, Ariz., along with 10 brothers and sisters (her maiden name was Manjarres). Our parents had the Citizen delivered back then by a paperboy. This is a hint as to when I was growing up! My dad read the paper every day at the dinner table after eating his meal. Even with such a huge family to support, keeping up with news was apparently very important to him.

“As I entered my teen years I learned that the best time to ask my dad for permission to go somewhere (usually some place I knew he would say no to) was to ask him while he was engrossed in some important article he was reading. He would mumble, “uh, uh” or “yeah.” I would rush to get ready and return to the kitchen to say bye to my parents. He would look up and say: “Where do you think you’re going?” I would say, “You said I could go . . . He would say, “when?” I would respond, “a little while ago, you were reading the paper.” Then he would say, “Don’t ask me for permission when I am reading the paper!!!” But he would not renege on the permission and I would rush out to wherever before he changed his mind.

“Now I will be giving another hint of my age when I say that I, and all my siblings quoted articles we read in the Citizen for our research on varieties of subjects throughout our years of education. This was way before anyone had a computer or the Internet was such an integral part of our lives.

“My father passed away 21 years ago. My mother relocated to Tucson when my youngest sister came to the U of A. She lives in Oro Valley now. A few years ago my mother fell and broke her arm. Unable to be put in a cast, her arm was put into a sling secured to her body, which made it difficult for her to bend over. I called to explain the situation to customer service at the Citizen. From that day on, the delivery person placed her paper in a bag and hung it from the handle of her security door. Mom enjoys reading the paper daily and we often discuss news we’ve read. She also keeps all of us up to date on what is on sale from the Wednesday grocery fliers.

“As I read every paper that I still receive, I often think that it may be the last one. What a sad day that will be for many of us longtime Tucson Citizen subscribers. My best wishes to all the loyal and hard-working staff at the Citizen that have been an integral part of many lives. The loss of the Tucson Citizen will leave a void for many which no other can fill.’”

Sincerely,

Norma Sykes

The Citizen’s future remains uncertain. But for those of us who have been part of its past and present, there is some comfort in knowing that what we did here mattered.

Thanks, Norma.

Anne T. Denogean can be reached at adenogean@tucsoncitizen.com and 573-4582. Address letters to P.O. Box 26767, Tucson, AZ 85726-6767. Her columns run Tuesdays and Fridays.

Kris and Joe Jacober have fostered 11 children over the past eight years and are awaiting their next placement.

“We have met the most wonderful children,” said Kris Jacober, president of the Arizona Association for Foster & Adoptive Parents. “Really, it has been our honor to meet those kids and to be able to work with them, care for them when they most needed it and to hopefully send them on to a better life.”

The reward for being a foster parent is priceless. But taking on the responsibility isn’t cheap.

The association Jacober leads recently conducted a survey of nearly 600 foster parents to measure the impact of state budget cuts.

Fourteen percent of those surveyed said they may not be able to continue to provide foster care because of the 20 percent reduction in the daily reimbursement rate for foster care and other cuts in foster care allowances.

“I have said before that foster parents don’t do this for the money but it is difficult to do without the money. Now, it’s more difficult,” Jacober said.

Earlier this year, faced with a $1.6 billion shortfall for fiscal 2009, the governor and Legislature cut the Department of Economic Security’s budget by nearly $102 million. DES, when it added in another $51 million in unfunded caseload growth, was looking at a budget deficit of $153 million.

The cuts DES made in response touched virtually every population it serves, including the vulnerable children served by the foster care system and Child Protective Services.

As of March 1, foster care reimbursement rates for the nearly 4,700 children in family foster care were reduced by 20 percent.

The foster care camp and vacation allowance, which earlier had been reduced from $550 to $250 per child, was eliminated.

The emergency clothing allowance was cut in half, from $300 per year to $150 per year.

The emergency clothing extra allowance, provided in cases of fire, flood or theft, was cut from $200 per year to $100.

The allowance for books and other educational expenses was sliced from $165 to $82.50 per year.

The special needs allowance – for holidays, birthdays and special occasions – was cut from $45 to $22.50 a year.

And the diaper allowance, for children older than 2 with a medical need for diapers, was cut from $125 maximum per month to $62.50.

Jacober said foster families had to dip into their own budgets to provide adequate care even before the budget cuts.

“You can’t clothe a child for $150 a year,” she said.

“Every child who has come to my home has come only with the clothes on their back.That’s it. So, in the first three hours, we spend $150 to get them pajamas and a toothbrush and shoes and socks and underwear, just all that basic stuff,” she said.

DES spokeswoman Liz Barker Alvarez said the magnitude of the state funding cut to DES for 2009 left it with no good options.

The Legislature continues to negotiate the 2010 budget, which could include additional cuts for DES. Even a reduction of 5 percent would have a significant impact, Barker Alvarez said.

“Some of the reductions made this year – such as the 20 percent reduction in the foster family reimbursement rate – that we thought would be temporary until the end of this fiscal year, would instead become permanent,” she said.

Jacober said she understands the state is wrestling with huge deficits – $3 billion for 2010. But cutting funding for children should be the last resort, she said.

“In my opinion, this would be the last place you would go to cut because these are vulnerable children. They have no voice. They have no say. And they are in a situation that they didn’t create,” she said.

Jacober’s association is making three requests of the governor, legislators and DES.

One, it asks for the restoration of funds to CPS to investigate 100 percent of reports to the child abuse hot line, something that DES said would not be possible with the budget cuts.

Two, it asks for the restoration of the foster care daily reimbursement rate to what it was before March.

And, three, it asks that all foster care allowance payments be allocated as one lump fund to be used as the discretion of foster parents.

The state has trouble finding and retaining foster families because “it’s just difficult work,” Jacober said.

“And if you aren’t finding the support and the resources you need to do that work, it’s even more difficult.”

Anne T. Denogean can be reached at adenogean@tucsoncitizen.com and 573-4582. Address letters to P.O. Box 26767, Tucson, AZ 85726-6767. Her columns run Tuesdays and Fridays.

Examples of some of the items from the Berlin Airlift

The Berlin Airlift of 1948/1949 was many things. It was the first major clash of the Cold War. It was one of the greatest humanitarian efforts of all time. It was a clever solution to a problem that easily could have led to bloodshed.

“I think the alternative looked very close to World War III,” said retired U.S. Air Force Gen. T. Ross Milton.

The 93-year old resident of the Splendido retirement community in Rancho Vistoso was chief of staff to the general who organized the massive effort.

Starting Tuesday and lasting through May 10, the Pima Air & Space Museum, 6000 E. Valencia Road, is hosting a traveling exhibit commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Berlin Airlift. “The Berlin Airlift – A Legacy of Friendship” tells the story of the airlift through text and historical black-and-white photos.

“In 1948 and 1949, the United States and her allies saved more than two million men, women and children in West Berlin when the Soviets blockaded the city,” Bernard Otremba-Blanc, the German honorary consul in Arizona said in a written statement. “The Airlift created a legacy of friendship between the American and German people.”

The Soviet blockade began in June 1948 and ended May 1949. The airlift began in July 1948 and continued through September 1949.

Before the end of World War II, the Allies had agreed to split Berlin into four sectors, with the United States, the Soviet Union, France and Great Britain each controlling one quadrant. Berlin was deep in the Soviet-controlled part of Germany, but the Western allies expected to be allowed access to the city.

In May 1948, in an attempt to force the West out of Berlin and force the citizenry to accept communism, the Soviets blocked all rail, water and highway routes through East Germany to West Berlin.

The Americans weren’t going to leave, short of being of forced out by war, but the allied sectors of Berlin had less than two weeks of food and other necessities on hand to sustain its two million inhabitants.

With all other routes closed, the U.S. came up with the idea of bringing food and other goods into West Berlin by air.

According to a Pima Air & Space Museum media release, during the 11 months of the Soviet blockade, the U.S. Air Force and the British Royal Air Force flew a combined 277,569 missions over Berlin, delivering 2,325,570 tons of food, fuel and supplies.

Several Air Force veterans who played roles in the airlift now make their home in southern Arizona.

Retired Air Force Col. Bill Lafferty of Green Valley flew one of the earliest flights of the mission, although he didn’t know it until a superior told him so afterward.

“‘Congratulations. You just flew the first mission for the Berlin Airlift for the group,’” a colonel informed the young Lafferty.

Retired Air Force Col. Gail Halvorsen of Elephant Head is famous as the “the Candy Bomber” for his drops of gum and candy to the children of Berlin. Although the drops were initially unauthorized, the program got the approval of the brass and provided not only sugary treats but a morale boost to the people of Berlin. It was a sign that somebody on the outside cared about their plight.

“The candy represented hope,” Halvorsen said.

Milton, however, played an even more central role in the airlift. He served as chief of staff to Maj. Gen. William H. Tunner, who was put in charge of the airlift shortly after it began.

“Tunner was the guiding genius behind the way we got through that mission. I was his chief of staff, which I had been for three or four years, so I guess I was the number two fellow there,” Milton said.

The logistical challenges were enormous. At the peak of the airlift, planes were landing in Berlin at the rate of one every 45 seconds.

“We couldn’t have possibly done the tonnage that was required to keep Berlin alive without some innovative operational practices and we devised those as we went along,” Milton said. “You could look at the airlift as kind of a giant, endless belt of airplanes, all flying at the same speed, at prescribed altitude and if they missed their approach in Berlin, they had to come home. There was no tolerance for circling and making another approach. That would have broken the belt.”

The tremendous effort by American and British forces met the Russian challenge while avoiding all-out confrontation.

“I don’t know what would have happened if we had decided to force our way in on the ground,” Milton said.

Anne T. Denogean can be reached at 573-4582 and adenogean@tucsoncitizen.com. Address letters to P.O. Box 26767, Tucson, AZ 85726-6767. Her columns run Tuesdays and Fridays.

One of the hundreds of American planes like that flown by retired Air Force Col. Gail Halvorsen of Elephant Head lands in Berlin in front of children caught in the Soviet Union blockade.

Jim and Karen Kremsreiter, of Baraboo, Wis., look over the exhibits in the traveling Berlin Airlift exhibit at the Pima Air & Space Museum.

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ON THE WEB

Pima Air & Space Museum: www.pimaair.org

Phoenix: “Arizona’s urban heart.” That, my friends, is Phoenix’s new marketing slogan, its desired image or branding, if you will. The Downtown Phoenix Partnership actually paid some marketing firm $160,000 to come up with it.

I’d say that was a lunch hour well spent. For the marketing firm. Not so much for Phoenix.

What does it even mean? If Phoenix is the heart, does that make Tucson the groin and Yuma the armpit of Arizona?

And does the slogan make anyone want to visit or stay in Phoenix?

It’s supposed to be “aspirational,” according to the downtown partnership. Aspirational of what? When I think “urban,” I think traffic, pollution and crime. Does Phoenix want to be known as the Detroit of Arizona?

I don’t get it. But this is something that cities do. Every so often, some of Tucson’s best and brightest suggest that maybe it’s time we rebrand ourselves.

My position is that “The Old Pueblo,” Tucson’s longest-lasting nickname, doesn’t say much but at least it’s paid for.

The Metropolitan Tucson Convention & Visitors Bureau has been been promoting Tucson thusly for the past two or three years: “Tucson: Real. Natural. Arizona.”

“I think it helps identify what Tucson is,” said Kimberly Schmitz, the bureau’s director of communications.

A decade ago, the bureau’s slogan for the city was, “Tucson: Arizona’s Other Natural Wonder.” It was a play off of “Arizona: The Grand Canyon State.”

The runners-up for that marketing campaign included “Tucson: Amazing Space,” “Tucson: A Natural Selection” and “Tucson: The Attraction Is Obvious.”

Before that, the bureau branded our city as “Tucson: America’s Favorite Sun.”

A slogan contest held by the City Council in the early 1980s was won by the following: “Tucson: The Sunshine Factory.”

Just in case the Tucson Citizen has closed by the time a new slogan is needed, I’m writing down my suggestions for posterity. It should be noted for the history books that I came up with them after a co-worker delivered a rum cake to the newsroom that was heavy on rum and light on cake.

The slogans are free for the taking and worth every penny:

Tucson: We’re No. 2 and that’s OK.

Tucson: Forever stuck in 1980.

Tucson: Forever stuck in traffic.

Tucson: No jobs, but all the sunshine you can eat.

Tucson: A one-horse, one-newspaper kind of town.

Tucson: Don’t sweat it.

Tucson: Vaya con Dios.

Tucson: To Hell with the White Sox.

Tucson: Home of the Southwest’s finest aquarium. Oh no . . . home of the tortoise-shaped arena. Oops, home of the Rainbow Bridge to nowhere. Oh, never mind.

Tucson: Who needs a downtown anyway?

Tucson: Its dysfunction is incomparable.

Tucson: What happens in Tucson stays . . . Hey, wait, nothing happens in Tucson.

Tucson: Better days are ahead – and behind – just not in the present.

Tucson: Lee Marvin once lived here.

Tucson: Good enough for a former Beatle. Of course, you’d have to know that Paul McCartney once owned – and possibly still owns – a ranch here.

Don’t look at me that way. As a native Tucsonan, I can say these things. They’re all in jest, but, unfortunately, all hold a kernel of truth.

I love my hometown. But I’ve seen it grow much bigger in the last 40 years without growing much better. Today, the best thing about it is the inspiration for my final slogan:

Tucson: At least we’re not Phoenix.

Anne T. Denogean can be reached at 573-4582 and adenogean@tucsoncitizen.com. Address letters to P.O. Box 26767, Tucson, AZ 85726-6767. Her columns run Tuesdays and Fridays.

Burns

Not that I gave it much thought before, but I never realized until the economic crisis that the idea of “government as a safety net” was a controversial notion.

See, I naively thought that everybody agreed – even those who rail against big government – that times like the ones we’re experiencing now are precisely when government must step in to help its most vulnerable citizens. I thought it was accepted that such times are when government plays its most vital role and does its best work.

I guess that’s why I’ve had difficulty understanding the seeming indifference of Republicans in our state Legislature to the effect of the budget cuts they’re making. I don’t get their stubborn refusal to consider a temporary tax increase – or to even refer the matter to the voters – to preserve basic education, health care and social services.

But things became a little clearer to me earlier this month upon reading a commentary written by Sen. Jack Harper, R-Surprise, for the March 6 issue of the Arizona Capitol Times.

He outlined the reality of the budget crisis – the state has a $3 billion deficit for fiscal 2010. Fair enough. But there were no words of reassurance that government would help those citizens who find themselves unemployed and/or reeling from the economic crisis.

Instead, Harper ended his commentary with a message to those Arizonans who are “underemployed or overexpectant.”

“If you are relying on any services from the state that are not mandated by the federal government, I advise you that those services may end June 30, 2009.

“If you have children that require expensive experimental treatment or therapy that is not provided by the federal government, I advise that the state does not have the money for it after June 30.

“If you have been laid off from your job and are not willing to take a job that is available, unemployment benefits, food stamps and AHCCCS (Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System) for health care are going to fall short of what you could make by being employed.

“Arizona will not follow the country into socialism. If you feel you need greater assistance and are not able to move to another state, please turn to your local churches and give them the opportunity to show their generosity and love.”

That’s right, my fellow Arizonans, get off your lazy, free-loading unemployed butts and start digging some ditches or get out of town.

Geesh! Has Harper not read about the long lines at job fairs and, as just one example, the reports of thousands of people applying for a couple of hundred call-center jobs?

Sen. Scrooge – oops, I mean Sen. Harper – also argued that the state should reject the federal stimulus money that would allow Arizona to increase the maximum unemployment payment from $240 to $265 per week and extend the benefits to more jobless people.

“This would cause a tax increase on business to keep the fund stable and makes the provision unworkable,” he wrote.

I called to ask how much extra businesses would have to pay, but Harper didn’t return my call.

According to various media reports, accepting the stimulus money would require Arizona to extend unemployment benefits to an additional 10,000 people and the federal money for the new claimants would last about 11 years.

Meanwhile, Senate President Bob Burns, R-Peoria, like most other Republican legislators, is disinclined to follow Gov. Jan Brewer’s request that the Legislature either raise $1 billion in new taxes or send the issue to the people to vote up or down.

He expressed concern last week that such a ballot measure would turn into a lopsided affair, with groups that support the tax spending millions to persuade the voters.

In other words, he fears the voters will pass a tax increase that he doesn’t support. And, clearly, that could only happen if the gullible voters of Arizona didn’t really understand what they were doing.

Brewer, also a Republican, proposed the tax increase, along with another $1 billion in budget cuts and the acceptance of $1 billion in federal stimulus funds to plug the deficit.

“We cannot balance this budget on cuts alone, nor on taxes alone, nor on federal stimulus dollars alone,” Brewer said in a speech to the Legislature earlier this month. “We cannot place all of the burden on our children and their schools. We cannot place all of the burden on the parents that need day care so they can go to work and stay off welfare. We cannot leave the sick on the streets alone to fend for themselves, only to overload our hospitals and our jails.”

With those words, the governor separated herself from her Republican colleagues in the Legislature. They don’t get the concept of “government as a safety net.”

But she does.

Anne T. Denogean can be reached at 573-4582 and adenogean@tucsoncitizen.com. Address letters to P.O. Box 26767, Tucson, AZ 85726-6767.

Newspaper hawker Troy Corne uses signs to make his pitch at West Irvington and South Mission roads.

Newspaper hawker Troy Corne sets up shop every day on the median at West Irvington and South Mission roads, offering the Tucson Citizen and that other daily paper.

If you drive that way, it’s impossible to miss him because Corne doesn’t just sell the paper. He markets and promotes it.

Most hawkers stand on a corner with a stack of newspapers. Corne spends a half-hour each morning setting up an elaborate display.

He tapes the front page and other sections to milk crates and the traffic pole, so people can see what’s in the paper that day. He surrounds the pages with a collection of signs: “25 cents,” “Financing Available,” “Hot Off the Presses” and “All This Can Be Yours.” He decorates the display with small American flags.

I’ve always meant to thank Corne for the great job he does promoting the Citizen and interview him for a story. With the Citizen possibly closing March 21 after 138 years in business, there’s no time like the present.

Corne, 48, kept one eye on traffic for customers, never missing a sale as we talked for a half-hour on the median Wednesday afternoon.

The Tucson native and member of the 1978 graduating class of Rincon High School last worked as a cashier in a hardware store. In 2005, he lost his job, his wife left him and the bank foreclosed on his home.

Corne, who battles depression and migraines, said his health issues make it hard for him to get a regular job (although he’s open to offers). He had noticed the hawkers and thought that might work out for him.

“I had seen the guys out on the street and it didn’t seem like they were trying very hard,” Corne said. “I thought I could do better.”

He joined the hawker program, which provides the papers to vendors at 5 cents a paper. On a steamy summer day, about two weeks after he started selling the paper, he put out his first sign. It read, “Get yours before they melt.”

“It got a few smiles and it sold my papers,” said Corne, who eventually made Mission and Irvington his regular corner.

He has gained a cadre of regulars and his displays draw the approval of passing motorists. They usually give him more for the paper than his discount price of 25 cents.

“I love your corner,” one driver yelled as I sat talking to Corne.

Early on, Tucson police officers told Corne he couldn’t put his display up on the median or traffic poles. But that didn’t deter Corne.

“I called their supervisor and I was really respectful about it. I explained what I was trying to do,” he said, adding that the police have left him alone after the call.

The average hawker sells 20 to 30 newspapers each day. Corne sells 70 to 80 on Mondays and Tuesdays and about 100 Wednesdays through Sundays. He focuses on selling the Citizen, but sells about a dozen issues of the Arizona Daily Star each day and, of course, sells only the Star on Sundays.

Corne doesn’t have marketing experience but he has an innate understanding of how to sell the paper. He prominently displays the grocery ads on Wednesday and Calendar section on Thursdays. When sales are slow, he doesn’t pack up and go home. He just lowers the price to 10 cents.

Mark Torres, single copy sales manager for TNI, the company that prints and distributes the Citizen and Star, said of Corne, “He’s got to be one our top five salespeople.”

Corne’s income varies greatly. He makes anywhere from $30 to $100 in a day. He said his four children, all young adults, are embarrassed by his job. But he makes enough to keep a roof over his head and support a son who still lives with him.

“Ever since I lost my house, we haven’t had to spend a single day on the streets,” Corne said. ” I haven’t had to go to a shelter or get a food box.”

Once the Citizen stops publishing, Corne will get to his corner earlier in the day and focus his efforts on selling the Star.

I’ve often wished as I’ve driven past Corne on the median that people much higher in the Gannett food chain had his passion for and belief in our product. I told Corne I’m appreciative of his efforts.

I’ll share his response even though it will provide a cheap laugh for the Citizen’s harshest critics.

“My mother said, if all you do is shovel s***, be the best s*** shoveler you can be,” Corne said.

Folks, I can assure you from the sincere affection that Corne expressed for the Citizen that he wasn’t comparing this newspaper to excrement. He was exhorting the value of doing the best job you can, which is what the Citizen staff has strived for as long as I’ve been here and, I’m pretty sure, for the 100-plus years before that.

“I’ll be sad to see it go,” Corne said. “We got the Citizen when I was a little kid. My grandmother was a subscriber. It’s how I learned to read.”

Anne T. Denogean can be reached at 573-4582 and adenogean@tucsoncitizen.com. Address letters to P.O. Box 26767, Tucson, AZ 85726-6767.

Newspaper hawker Troy Corne sells about 100 papers per day from Wednesday through Sunday.

Newspaper hawker Troy Corne uses signs to help his sales.

State prison inmates work on a Habitat house near Westover Avenue and Bilby Road.

Volunteers come and go at Habitat for Humanity. They may not want to work when it’s too hot or too cold outside. They may have families and other obligations that limit how much time they can give.

But one set of Habitat Tucson workers is consistently reliable. It’s the women in orange that you’ll see on almost every Habitat work site at some point during construction.

“We rely on volunteers for sure. But these women will come out when it is superhot. They will come out when it is raining. They are there. They are our backbone.” said Barbara Brown, community development director for Habitat for Humanity. “We couldn’t do it without them, because for each house it takes 2,200 hours of volunteer labor beyond our staff people. So, we need these ladies.”

Just last week, an Arizona Department of Corrections crew put the finishing touches on a house on South Park Avenue for Darlene Brent, her three children and three foster children. The crew members were present and beaming during a dedication ceremony as Brent, a teacher’s aide, cut the ribbon over the door of her first home.

I was unaware of the prisoners’ longtime contribution, probably like many others in this community, until recently, when it was brought to my attention by a co-worker who drove past the Brent home on the way to work for weeks and wondered why prisoners were on a construction crew.

The partnership between ADOC and Habitat for Humanity started in 2001 at the South Wilmot Road facility, Brown said. On the prison grounds, inmates would build a house to about 60 percent completion. The house would then be moved to the foundation at its permanent site and completed by Habitat staff and volunteers.

About five or six years ago, Brown said, the program changed to a work-release program using only female inmates from the Southern Arizona Correctional Release Center, 1275 W. Starr Pass Blvd.

Every Monday, the women take a half-day construction technology class provided by Pima Community College at the prison. Their coursework and training cover all aspects of construction, from roofing and electrical to carpentry and plumbing.

Those who complete the yearlong PCC program can earn a certificate for direct employment in construction technology, qualifying them for entry-level construction jobs once they get out of prison.

On Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, the women hone their skills at a Habitat for Humanity construction site.They are paid 35 cents to 50 cents an hour for their work. The program provides Habitat with two 12-person crews.

“They are excellent students,” said Michael Treacy, PCC’s advanced program manager for prison education. “To be picked to work with the Habitat crew is an honor for them and they are very motivated to stay on their crew.”

Brown said over the years Habitat for Humanity has hired four women from the program after their release.

Among them is Joann Bon, 47, who was part of crew from June 2007 to March 2008 while serving time on drug charges. After her release from prison in May, she was hired as a cashier for the HabiStores.

Being on the crew taught her how to work well with other people, Bon said. She was happy to be a part of something bigger than herself.

“From my point of view, I tried to build properly and do it right, knowing that these people would appreciate it,” she said.

Bon said she’s now considering putting in an application for a Habitat for Humanity home.

“I would be proud to own a Habitat for Humanity home,” she said.

Wouldn’t that be a fitting example of how the cycle of doing good for others always comes full circle?

Anne T. Denogean can be reached at 573-4582 and adenogean@tucsoncitizen.com. Address letters to P.O. Box 26767, Tucson, AZ 85726-6767.

These are five words I never thought I’d write: I support Gov. Jan Brewer.

The Republican governor-by-default gave her quasi-State of the State address Wednesday afternoon.

She outlined a multipoint plan for addressing the state’s roughly $3 billion deficit in the fiscal year that begins July 1. Her suggestions were reasonable, even courageous, but are not likely to get much support from members of either party in the Legislature.

At the top of the Republican’s list are spending cuts of another $1 billion and, uh oh, a tax increase of a like amount. Federal stimulus funds would make up the third billion of the deficit.

“I will match my 27 years of anti-tax, conservative credentials with anyone in public office,” Brewer said in the written version of her speech. “But as a very last resort, after considering every other option, and after doing a truthful and honest assessment of our economic situation, we must be willing to consider the passage of a temporary tax increase – approved by you and signed by me – or approved by the voters at a special election, of roughly $1 billion per year.”

The response from Republican legislative leadership was predictable, panning the tax increase proposal as “an economic downer” and all but dead on arrival.

Senate President Bob Burns of Peoria, as reported by The Arizona Republic, said, “I’m not in favor of a tax increase and I’m not prepared to vote for one.”

“Read my lips: no new taxes,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Gray of Mesa told the Republic.

The Associated Press reported that GOP Sen. Ron Gould of Lake Havasu City walked out of the House chamber when Brewer proposed the tax increase.

“I was disgusted that the governor went to a tax increase this early in the legislative session,” Gould said, according to the AP. “We’re not that deep into the game. We can fix it with cuts and stimulus money. We don’t need a tax increase.”

I’m disgusted that a member of her own party would show such disrespect to a governor who, at the very least, is taking an honest approach to dealing with a difficult problem that isn’t of her making.

The Arizona Economic Council, in a media release, denounced Brewer’s plan on the grounds that it doesn’t have a plan “to create a single job during her term.” The Arizona chapter of Americans for Prosperity blasted the increase and said the $1 billion in planned budget cuts isn’t enough.

Legislative Democrats criticized Brewer’s tax proposal as short on details.

Well, that much is true. I wish she had put together a balanced plan for increasing tax revenues. Perhaps she thought that legislators, particularly the Republicans in charge, might find a tax increase more palatable if they crafted it themselves.

Brewer showed fairness and savvy by giving a political out to her GOP colleagues, many of whom have signed a pledge to oppose any tax increase. If they are unwilling to pass a tax increase, then send the matter to the voters, she said. Let Arizonans decide if they are willing to pay a little bit more in taxes to preserve critical state services.

Earlier this year, Sen. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, dismissed residents opposing the university budget cuts as “whiners.” The “whining” has only increased as the Republican-dominated Legislature has sliced and diced funding for the K-12 system, state parks and services for children and families, all the while claiming there are no alternatives.

I’d argue this is a chance to let those so-called “whiners” – I’m sure Pearce would include me among them – put their money where their mouths are.

The other elements of Brewer’s plan include reforming and modernizing the state tax code, doubling the state’s rainy day fund and limiting the use of “fund sweeps.” Sweeps are raids on funds that have been designated for a specific purpose and, usually, built up with a specific fee or tax.

Brewer also wants to ask the voters to modify the Voter Protection Act, which blocks the Legislature from meddling with voter-approved initiatives. She said the law, passed by voters in 1998, was well-intended but paints state government into a financial corner.

Can’t back this one. I wouldn’t vote for any changes to the law. But, go ahead, ask the voters if they want to undo a measure that has done exactly what it was intended to do – keep lawmakers from undoing the will of the voters.

Brewer said she wouldn’t sign a budget that relied only on stimulus funds and state debt to close the deficit. Nor would she sign one with “unrealistic spending cuts.”

The governor sprinkled her speech with calls for “courage” and “wisdom” and asked that God bless the Legislature’s efforts.

Given the response that followed from members of our loony Legislature, I’m starting to think it may take an act of God – or an outright miracle – to solve this state budget crisis.

Anne T. Denogean can be reached at 573-4582 and adenogean@tucsoncitizen.com. Address letters to P.O. Box 26767, Tucson, AZ 85726-6767.

Three stories about unplanned pregnancy and reproductive health care caught my attention this week.

The first came as an e-mail from the mother of Kaitie Noland, a senior at Desert Christian High School.

Noland, who is firmly against abortion rights and in favor of abstinence until marriage, has organized a baby fair for teen mothers. It starts at 8:30 a.m. Saturday at Trinity Presbyterian Church, 400 E. University Blvd.

“As a Christian I believe that Jesus had grace for me and that I can show that grace to others,” said Noland, 18. “And my heart is for teen moms.”

She said she had a friend who became a teen mom and it really opened her eyes to how much help teen moms need.

“I have admiration for her. It’s amazing how well she does with a child,” Noland said.

The fair will provide information on the proper use of a car seat, who to contact if your baby accidentally ingests a poison, drowning and fire safety, shaken baby syndrome, the developmental stages of children and health relationships.

Truth be told, I wasn’t going to write about Noland’s fair because I feel that any program for teen moms that doesn’t address how to prevent future pregnancies is woefully inadequate.

Also, I was more interested in a second story I’ve been following – the anti-abortion bill working its way through the Legislature. One of its key provisions would allow pharmacists to refuse to dispense emergency birth control on moral grounds.

I say, keep your morals off my uterus.

Then, on Wednesday afternoon, news broke of the arrest of a University of Arizona sophomore accused of attempting to murder a baby she had just birthed in a dormitory.

Sarah E. Tatum allegedly gave birth in a dorm shower, put the newborn in a plastic bag with her dirty clothes and tied the bag shut. Police called to the scene found the baby in the bag “gasping for breath.”

A hallmate, who described Tatum as nice and brilliant, told the Daily Wildcat that Tatum tried to conceal the pregnancy and denied it to anybody who asked.

The details are still emerging, but, so far, fit the pattern of other cases of this nature.

A young women gets pregnant and keeps it a secret, most likely for fear of disappointing her family. Paralyzed into inaction, she neither ends the pregnancy nor acknowledges it by seeking prenatal care.

She gives birth alone, which has to be a terrifying experience. And there she is, physically and emotionally exhausted, with a baby she hasn’t told anyone about and isn’t prepared to mother.

She imagines the shock, disappointment and anger of her family when she appears with a baby. It must seem, in the moment, that the only course of action left is a desperate one.

Let’s be clear. There’s no justification for abusing a baby. It’s a heinous crime.

But I can only imagine that Tatum must have been very confused and scared if she did what she’s alleged to have done.

And I think when the story is known in its entirety, it will only underscore the need for society to stop fighting about women’s choices and, instead, support women in making wise decisions about using birth control and dealing with unplanned pregnancies.

Frankly, I wish social conservatives would stop hindering women’s access to birth control and abortion. But I couldn’t disagree with Noland when she told me that lecturing young women who are already pregnant isn’t productive and we should instead help them get what they need to become good mothers.

If Tatum had the benefit of society’s unconditional support, perhaps she wouldn’t be facing charges for the attempted murder of her son.

If all women had society’s unconditional support for their choices, perhaps we wouldn’t keep hearing this same story.

Anne T. Denogean can be reached at 573-4582 and adenogean@tucsoncitizen.com. Address letters to P.O. Box 26767, Tucson, AZ 85726-6767.

Almost everybody in the small, crowded room raised a hand when the host asked who present was a Republican.

No big surprise there. The event was Saturday’s invitation-only meeting between Republican legislators and the GOP members of the left-leaning state teachers association.

I crashed the Arizona Education Association’s party, unaware until later that it wasn’t open to the public and Democrats were specifically not invited. But, really, in the interest of transparency, I’m not sure that it’s a good idea for public officials to take part in quasi-public forums that are closed to certain people.

It gives the impression that something sneaky is going on, even when, as with Saturday’s meeting, there’s nothing to hide.

John Hartsell, the union’s director of public information, said one Republican legislator said he hears often from union members who always turn out to be Democrats, despite the union’s claims that Republicans account for 40 percent of its membership.

The union hosted the meeting to allow Republican lawmakers, who are considering sizable cuts to fiscal 2010 K-12 funding, to hear from those Republican members of the union, people who share their philosophy of governance.

“There are some teachers and core professionals who are registered Republicans and share the values of the Republican legislators and have the ability to have a conversation with each other about why public education is important and why a continued investment in public education is important,” Hartsell said.

I don’t think the union erred in gathering together its GOP members, but specifically closing it to the odd Democrat who might have attended was a disservice to both the union and the legislators.

The meeting itself – attended by GOP state Sens. Al Melvin and Jonathan Paton, Reps. Frank Antenori and Vic Williams, and Tim Bee of the governor’s Southern Arizona Office – was innocuous and largely nonconfrontational.

Several of the questions focused on charter schools and the observation that Republican legislators have a bias toward charter schools over traditional public schools. One math teacher, who said he was losing his best students to charter schools, asked legislators to address the perception that they are trying to destroy traditional public schools in favor of charter schools.

All the legislators repeatedly expressed their support for traditional public schools. And Paton responded, in a line that got a big laugh, that there’s a perception in the Legislature that the union is trying to destroy Republicans.

He urged the teachers to become more involved with the party, perhaps to run for precinct committeemen, as a way of making sure they have their legislator’s ear.

After the meeting, Tatiana Lown, a Rincon High School French teacher, said she thought the event was productive even though she didn’t get an answer to her question about how schools can attract professionals from outside of teaching if they don’t improve the compensation.

“I heard things about what they are thinking that you don’t always hear in the newspapers,” she said.

Such as?

Lown said she had the impression beforehand that Republican legislators were more interested in taking funding away from traditional schools and putting it into charter schools. She was somewhat impressed by the support they expressed for traditional schools.

“I hadn’t heard that level of commitment,” Lown said.

But, she added, what happens with funding is also important. She said she was affected by statistics presented by the union showing that Arizona is 49th in the country in per-pupil spending, down from being in the top third of states just 20 years ago.

“I still have questions,” Lown said.

Anne T. Denogean can be reached at 573-4582 and adenogean@tucsoncitizen.com. Address letters to P.O. Box 26767, Tucson, AZ 85726-6767.

Expecting all teenagers to remain abstinent “is not realistic at all.”

Don’t yell at me if you don’t like the message. I’m quoting Bristol Palin, who became the poster girl for teen parenthood last year, perhaps unfairly, when her mother’s vice presidential candidacy thrust the Palin family and Bristol’s pregnancy into the national limelight.

Earlier this week, Palin, 18, gave her first interview since the birth of baby boy Tripp Johnston on Dec. 27.

The unwed mother seemed sincere and unscripted when she told Fox News interviewer Greta Van Susteren that she wants to be an advocate for teen pregnancy prevention. But since she wouldn’t even discuss birth control, it’s not clear how effective she’ll be.

And that in a nutshell describes the whole problem with the abstinence-only sex education programs promoted by the federal government under former President George W. Bush and other social conservatives, including Bristol’s mom, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

Teenagers are having sex but they aren’t being taught what they need to know to protect themselves.

Meanwhile, back on the ranch in Arizona, state Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Phoenix, is sponsoring a sex education bill that will never see the light of day.

Earlier this month, just as state Rep. Nancy Barto, R-Phoenix, filed a sweeping anti-abortion bill that would hamper women’s access to reproductive health care, Sinema quietly filed House Bill 2544.

The bill would mandate that if sex education is taught in a public school, the program must be medically accurate and comprehensive. “Comprehensive” means teaching about abstinence, contraception, disease prevention and human development, as well as relationships, and decision-making.

Parents who object could have their child excused from the classroom.

“I introduced it knowing it probably wouldn’t get a hearing because I think it’s important for us, during this time of attacks on a woman’s ability to make these important life decisions, that we also talk about the prevention aspect of this,” Sinema said. “One of the best ways to prevent unwanted pregnancies is to ensure that people have the information they need to make informed decisions about their lives.”

Abstinence clearly prevents pregnancy and STDs. But the research just doesn’t back up abstinence-only education as a way of preventing teenage sex.

In late 2007, the nonpartisan National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy released a report on the quality of sex education in the United States. Researchers reviewed the scientific evaluations of 115 sex ed programs of both the abstinence-only and comprehensive (addressing both abstinence and contraceptives use) variety.

Two-thirds of the comprehensive sex ed programs showed a positive effect on teen sexual behavior, either delaying the initiation of sex or increasing the use of contraceptives, or both. And debunking the myth that such programs encourage teens to become sexually active, there was no evidence that any of the programs hastened the initiation of sex or increased the frequency of it. Even making condoms available at school clinics didn’t make teenagers more likely to have sex.

The researchers found that the most effective programs send clear and consistent messages about sex and contraceptive use. They talk explicitly about sex and contraceptives, identify specific situations that might lead to unwanted or unprotected sex, and involve practicing saying no to sex or insisting on contraceptive use.

Regarding abstinence-only programs, the researchers found that very few of the programs that receive millions in federal dollars have been subject to a rigorous scientific evaluation of their effectiveness. Of those that have, there’s no strong evidence that the programs delay the initiation of sex, lead sexually active teens to return to abstinence or reduce a teen’s number of sexual partners.

Despite the lack of evidence for it, the federal government has cold-shouldered comprehensive sex ed and primarily funded abstinence-only sex ed since 1996. States that want the money get it by providing matching funds that also are restricted to abstinence-only programs. Arizona became the 16th state to reject the federal money in January 2008 after spending millions on abstinence-only eduction.

Sinema’s bill isn’t going anywhere in a Legislature dominated by social conservatives. In fact, Barto chairs the health and humans services committee that would have to hear it.

But this issue isn’t going away just because we refuse to address it honestly.

Arizona has the fifth highest teen-birth rate in the nation. Clearly, what we’re doing now isn’t working.

Anne T. Denogean can be reached at 573-4582 and adenogean@tucsoncitizen.com. Address letters to P.O. Box 26767, Tucson, AZ 85726-6767.

The state’s budget crisis is forcing its universities to make tough decisions as each cuts tens of millions of dollars in spending.

One will cripple southern Arizona’s ability to provide social services.

The coordinator and supporters of the Arizona State University School of Social Work Tucson component say ASU will do great damage to our community by closing the satellite program. The plan to shut it down by December was announced by ASU President Michael Crow this week as one of many cuts needed to meet an $88 million budget reduction imposed by the Legislature.

The savings will be minimal and the impact huge, said Ann Nichols, coordinator of the Tucson component.

The local program began more than 30 years ago and is the pipeline for agencies needing professional social workers in southern Arizona.

“We have more demand than we have openings every year,” Nichols said. “We are the only social work program in the community. U of A does not offer any social work courses, bachelor’s or master’s level. When we disappear, that’s it for the preparation of Child Protective Service workers, for any kind of social work education.”

ASU first offered social work courses in Tucson in 1972. It opened a full-fledged program in 1978.

The satellite has graduated 76 to 78 students in each of the past three years and 1,025 since 1978.

The program’s 191 current students (53 undergraduates and 138 graduate students) take classes at 340 N. Commerce Loop and complete their field work at agencies all around southern Arizona.

The ASU School of Social Work will help current students finish their degrees. But, from here out, southern Arizonans with an interest in social work will have to earn their degrees in Phoenix or perhaps seek a master’s in counseling at the private and pricey University of Phoenix.

W. Mark Clark, president and CEO of CODAC Behavioral Health Services in Tucson, said most people seeking social work degrees are nontraditional students with families and obligations. Moving or commuting to Phoenix isn’t an option.

“It’s pretty ironic that at a time like this, when there’s even more need for the kind of work that social workers do, that we are talking about eliminating the only social work graduate training program outside out of Maricopa County,” he said.

Both Clark and Nichols questioned how much ASU will actually save by eliminating the Tucson program. The component’s four tenured faculty members would be placed in Phoenix, Nichols said. The only savings are the salaries of four staff members, rent and incidentals.

In turn, ASU loses grant money the program receives and tuition from Tucson students.

The component’s students, graduates and local social workers have been calling the media, legislators and the members of the Board of Regents since the cuts were announced Tuesday. The protests may be in vain.

The action doesn’t require Board of Regents’ approval because it’s an elimination of an off-site branch of an academic program, not an entire program.

ASU spokeswoman Terri Schafer said ASU doesn’t want to make any of the cuts. She said ASU administrators “tried to minimize harm to students, tried to minimize effects on our core mission and core programs.”

But neither Schafer nor a second spokesman she referred me to Thursday could say how much ASU saves by shutting the Tucson campus.

I’ve been asked by readers, when I’ve criticized other budget cuts as unwise, “Well, what would you cut?” I asked the same of the Tucson campus supporters.

Clark, while acknowledging the enormity of the deficit, said, “The reality is that this state’s tax system is structured to make it impossible to fund an adequate level of state services.”

The state is overly dependent on the sales tax, he said. A modest increase in gas taxes, a tax on services or, as a last resort, a small increase in the sales tax would go a long way toward protecting necessary state services.

He also said it’s time to dust off the 2004 report of the Citizens Finance Review Commission, a board created by former Gov. Janet Napolitano to study Arizona’s tax system. The commission’s recommendations for major changes to the tax structure were largely ignored.

Nichols, noting that ASU’s hand was forced, said the Legislature should look elsewhere for cuts, perhaps the prison system. Nonviolent offenders could be released to community supervision and GPS monitoring, she said.

She said that even as legislators are cutting hundreds of millions from education, they are seeking to make permanent what was supposed to be a three-year suspension of the state equalization tax, a property tax that could generate $250 million.

Nichols believes Arizonans would pay a little more in taxes for the public good.

“Ordinary citizens have begun to understand that when we cut taxes, we cut services,” she said.

Anne T. Denogean can be reached at 573-4582 and adenogean@tucsoncitizen.com. Address letters to P.O. Box 26767, Tucson, AZ 85726-6767.