MAY GM LETTER

posted to From the General Manager by Laura McKee

Spring in the desert means new programs are in full bloom

Thanks to the outstanding support of our listeners, AZPM completed another successful spring radio membership drive by exceeding its goal of $235,000. The campaign renewed the pledge of support from 1,734 current members and attracted 626 first-time supporters! This is a testament to our community’s desire for the best in local, national, and international news and some of the most entertaining classical and jazz music on the radio. Each campaign we receive an increasing number of contributions through our website, which is a safe and fast way to pledge or renew your support. Member dollars are reinvested right back into the NPR and classical music programs you expect from AZPM. Additionally, your support helps to make possible, increased local news coverage and special classical music performances that are presented throughout the year.

I am pleased to acknowledge the dozens of volunteers from our community who came to our studios to demonstrate their passion for public radio. More 117 people from across Southern Arizona gave their time as on-air talent or by staffing the pledge phones during the drive. We simply could not have succeeded without their time and dedication. Thank you.

All month long, tune in for great programs on PBS-HD Channel 6. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the civil rights “Freedom Rides” in the south. To mark this historic event, AZPM has compiled an emotional local memoir of the era in the original documentary production, Barrios & Barriers: The Tucson Civil Rights Era. This half-hour special will premiere on Monday, May 6 at 9 p.m. One week later, on Monday, May 16th at 9 p.m., we will present a two-hour long special, American Experience “Freedom Riders.” For a video sample and interesting details, click here. Arizona Illustrated will also feature local stories on civil rights all month long.

Every Thursday in May at 8:30 p.m. tune in for WaveLengths, AZPM’s original science magazine series. Host Vicki Chandler from UA’s Bio5 will take you on a scientific journey during each program, exploring the human brain or learning about the Galapagos Islands. Chandler makes science and technology accessible and fun. Her expertise is conveyed in a way that everyone from the most experienced researcher to the science enthusiast can learn something new.

Closing out the month of May is the National Memorial Day Concert, which we will present on PBS-HD at 5:00 and 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 29th and then again on Memorial Day at 9:00 p.m. As always, please accept my sincere thanks for your continued support of AZPM.

JOB ACTIVITY FOR CLASS OF '11 LOOKS STRONGER

posted to AZ Week Notebook by Michael Chihak

The numbers on college campus job recruitment in Arizona this year are looking good so far, but the final and most significant numbers -- how many grads got job offers -- aren't in yet.

But there is higher hope this year than for any in the last thee years, UA Career Services Director Eileen McGarry told Arizona Week.

McGarry said the Eller College of Management has reported soon-to-graduate business majors getting three times the offers that came in the last couple of years.

She also said unique job listings on campus were up 12 percent from the previous year, internships rose 55 percent and campus interviewing was up 26 percent.

Businesses looking to hire are attracted to the UA because of the quality of students, McGarry said. They have well developed skills, leadership abilities and a well-rounded education, she said.

Business, engineering and the hard sciences are most attractibve, but social science majors also receive attention because of the broad nature of their education and the thinking skills it develops in them, McGarry said.

Her interview will be part of Friday's Arizona Week broadcast, at 8:30 p.m. on PBS-HD and at www.azweek.com.

COLLEGE RECRUITING ACTIVITY POSITIVE ECONOMIC SIGN

posted to AZ Week Notebook by Michael Chihak

Arizona's three public universities will graduate more than 21,000 students next week, sending the vast majority of them out in search of work.

Some have jobs waiting for them, many in the state. For others, the future is no more certain than the shaky state of the economy, both in Arizona and nationally.

However, campus career service officials at all three universities report increased business recruitment activity this school year, and at least one is calling it better than in the last two years. That is clearly a sign of economic improvement.

A report last week from the state Department of Commerce projected that the state will add 17,300 jobs in 2011, not nearly enough to absorb this year's graduates.

Next year is projected to be better, at 34,000 new jobs, but how many of those will be at the level to sustain college graduates or to pay them enough so they can begin climbing out of their educational debt is uncertain.

We will review the prospects for Friday's Arizona Week broadcast, speaking with university career services officials, recruiters and students.

READY TO TAKE ON OTHER ISSUES

posted to AZ Week Notebook by Michael Chihak

Arizona Week is poised to take on a wide range of topics in the coming weeks and months, now with the official business of the state Legislature having been concluded.

A brief rundown on some topics under consideration. We are open to viewers' ideas and guidance on these and other topics as we move forward planning our programming.

-- College graduation is upon us. What are job prospects for Arizona grads this year? Can the state retain its best and brightest with meaningful and well-paying jobs?

-- Wildfire season has begun with a big fire on the Arizona-Mexican border near Nogales. Forecasts are for a worse-than-normal fire season in the southern half of Arizona and other parts of the West.

-- Arizona foreclosures and malaise in the housing industry continuje. What's the trend line, and can we expect to see improvement -- in fewer foreclosures, construction uptick and reduction of inventory -- any time soon? What's the impact on the commercial real estate market.

-- Water supply in the desert remains an issue. Lake Mead and Lake Powell, which supply Phoenix and Tucson with water via the Central Arizona Project, are being slowly refilled after a special allocation approved by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation because of a big spring snow melt. It delays for five years the need for stricter rationing.

-- Two dozen young, ambitious Arizonans are nearing completion of work in the first Arizona Civic Leadership Academy. We will look at this effort to educate and encourage future state leaders with "the commitment, knowledge and skills to carry out creative, long-term solutions to pressing problems."

-- The Arizona Commerce Authority is diving into its work to reinvent the state's economy by attracting businesses that offer high-paying jobs that contribute to economic growth and stability. How is business recruitment going? What are the opportunities and obstacles?

-- We're approaching budget season for Arizona's counties and municipal governments. What's the big picture and how will they balance their budgets going into fiscal 2011-12?

VIEWER QUESTIONS AND GOV. BREWER'S ANSWERS

posted to AZ Week Notebook by Michael Chihak

Gov. Jan Brewer gave Arizona Week a 30-minute interview at the Arizona Capitol Executive Tower this week. In preparation for it, we asked viewers to submit questions to be asked of the governor. Here are viewer questions that we were able to ask and obtain responses to:

From Leslie Lee: I would like to ask the governor if the state will be losing Federal Medicaid funds due to Arizona reducing AHCCCS benefits? As a follow up, has the state computed what the taxpayers will be paying for emergency room visits to treat those who will not have access to a doctor's office or urgent care clinic because they are no longer covered by AHCCCS?

Brewer said she didn't know how much matching federal money the state would lose. Other sources estimate it to be approximately twice what the state cuts will be; state cuts will be about $510 million, meaning federal matching fund reduction would be about $1 billion. Brewer acknowledged that increased emergency room visits likely would drive taxpayer and insurance rate costs, but she did not say by how much.

From Martha Conyne: As the 100th anniversary of Arizona statehood approaches in 2012, I would like to ask that Governor Brewer, as our leader, give us a motto to celebrate and look to the future. Something short, simple and optimistic that we can use to sum up our pride and solidarity as Arizonans. What would you say, Governor, that we can repeat and build on the “can do” spirit of Arizona?

Brewer said she is optimistic about the state's future and said Arizonans "have wind beneath our wings, and Arizona is going to get out of this economic crisis ... and we will be prosperous again."

From Maria Swartz: If AHCCCS health care for Arizona’s poor adult citizens is eliminated, these people will end up using the emergency room for health care. These costs will then be passed by the hospitals to Arizona citizens who have health insurance, who will have to pay higher costs for their medical expenses. What exactly does the state expect to gain by moving this expense from all tax payers to only tax payers with health insurance?

We asked Brewer questions related to this, and she responded as above, adding that the state simply doesn't have the money to cover what she called some of the most generous health-care benefits in the nation.

From Matthew Knatz: Do you see higher education as a luxury or a necessity? If the former, why do you see it as luxury? If the latter, what are you doing to ensure that higher education remains available to students from lower income communities?

Brewer said she recognizes that education is absolutely necessary to support job growth and economic development. She said that for low-income students, "there are still scholarships, there are still grants, there are still loans -- different ways to make that possible ... And, they can get a job just like a lot of the kids going to the universities do to help out themselves."

Watch the full interview at www.azweek.com to see and hear Brewer's responses to these nd other questions that were similar to what viewers proposed.

ZUBIN IN THE TREES

posted to Cue Sheet by James Reel

On KUAT-FM, we're celebrating two April 29 occasions: Zubin Mehta's 75th birthday, and Arbor Day.

Mehta was a glamor boy in his Los Angeles Philharmonic Days--and you thought that started with Gustavo Dudamel--and made a few recordings there that caused quite a stir in the years on either side of 1970. When he moved on to the New York Philharmonic, though, his performances were often criticized as shallow and glib, although they were never less than professional. Since he left New York, Mehta has continued to perform and record elsewhere, notably with the Israel Philharmonic. Through the day, we'll be sampling each phase of his career, via the music of Liszt, Ravel, Smetana, Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky, Richard Strauss, Beethoven, Bruckner, Verdi, Mozart and Stravinsky.

But it's not all Mehta all the time. The rest of the schedule is devoted to music in honor of Arbor Day, including tree-hugging pieces by the likes of Johann Strauss, Dvorak, Sibelius, Wagner, Hovhaness, Byrd, Bax, Shostakovich, Elgar, and many composers of lesser repute.

And in one case, we're getting double duty out of a piece: Zubin Mehta conducting Smetana's From Bohemia's Woods and Fields.

While you're listening, check out this online slideshow of the most famous trees in the world.