Arizona voters are set to flock to the polls — or mail in their ballots — at this year. This surge in voter turnout comes amid a once-in-a-century pandemic that has taken the lives of more than 220,000 Americans and counting, and delivered tremendous economic turmoil.

It took years for the Great Depression to elevate domestic unemployment to near 20%. It took a month for the virus to bring unemployment from record lows hovering around 4% to just short of 20%.

Our economy is struggling, and not just in the abstract. Working- and middle-class folks are suffering as their wages are cut and the bills keep piling up. Students have been affected, too.

As a result of these socioeconomic conditions, students are cracking under the burden of mental, physical, and monetary pressures. USA Today, many students are simply choosing to drop out. This will have a sustained downward effect on future economic productivity and wage growth, something policymakers will have to contend with sooner rather than later.

At a time when Arizona’s economy needs an accelerant, some special interests are attempting to throw cold water on any chances of a recovery.

Here in the state of Arizona, teachers unions and out-of-state activist groups worked hard to get Proposition 208 on the ballot. Drafted in Portland, Oregon, Prop. 208 aims to dramatically increase income taxes and route the revenues to teachers and classrooms. Full of good intentions, 208 fails the test of good policy: results.

The initiative raises Arizona’s top income tax bracket by 77.7% — from 4.5% to 8% — to increase K-12 spending.Only 50% of revenues generated will even make it to classrooms and, even then, the exact allocation is specious since the definition of who’s eligible for funding is incredibly broad. Further, there is not a cent headed directly towards our state universities, save for 3% of revenues assigned to the Arizona Teachers Academy Fund. 

Worse yet, and critical to understanding the negative impacts of the proposition on Arizona students, the additional taxation applies to pass-through entities like LLCs, sole proprietorships, and more. This is primarily how small businesses, which employ 58% of Arizona private sector workers, are organized. Chances are, many of us will go to work for one of these job creators after we graduate.

It’s also not even clear if this tax would increase revenues at all. A published by the renowned Goldwater Institute concluded that Prop. 208 would cause Arizona to lose a “minimum of $2.4 billion in state and local tax revenues”.

In other words, Arizona voters are being asked to kneecap small businesses amid a public health crisis and economic disaster in order to deliver minimal results for students, families, and workers.

As college students, we’re all on board for increasing funding for education and ensuring that students, families, and teachers are fully accounted for. But this isn’t how we do it.

We are entering one of the worst job markets in decades. If Prop. 208 passes then small business will be crushed, wage growth will decline, and career opportunities will shrink. Don’t force us, the next generation of educated Arizonans, to move out of state after graduation. Now is the time to gas up and go, not slam on the brakes.

Sincerely, Arizona students

Joe Pitts is a sophomore at Arizona State University.

Jack Piekarz is a freshman at Northern Arizona University.

Alton Zhang is a sophomore at the University of Arizona.

Abhinav Kolli is a freshman at Duke University, registered to vote in his home state of Arizona.

Justin Groth-Roberts is a junior at Northern Arizona University.

Stephen Matter is a sophomore at Arizona State University.

Alyssa Kihoi is a senior at Arizona State University.

Matthew Martinez is a sophomore at Grand Canyon University.

Clay Robinson is a sophomore at Arizona State University.

Mackenzie Kirby is a senior at Northern Arizona University.

Allen El is a sophomore at the University of Arizona.

Cameron Decker is a sophomore at Arizona State University.

Taylor Hersch is a junior at Arizona State University.

John Touhey is a junior at Northern Arizona University.

Saular Rahimian is a freshman at Arizona State University.

Arjun Rondla is a sophomore at Arizona State University.

Jessica Carpenter is a senior at Arizona State University.

William Noll is a freshman at Arizona State University.

Cooper Ashton is a freshman at Arizona State University.

Ryne Bolick is a freshman at Arizona State University.

Frank Pauls is a freshman at Arizona State University.

Diego Píña is a junior at Arizona State University.

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Individually, Arizona’s public universities are among the most innovative, entrepreneurial and visionary in the country.

Together, they are an unstoppable force for student success, economic growth and cutting-edge research capable of solving society’s greatest challenges.

The Phoenix Biomedical Campus is a crown jewel in downtown Phoenix and a leading catalyst in transforming our community into a nationally renowned hub of research, discovery and economic development. It is also a shining example of the power of partnerships through collaboration among the Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR), Arizona’s public universities, the City of Phoenix and private sector partners.

This state-of-the-art medical and bioscience facility in the heart of downtown Phoenix was established in 2004 in partnership with ABOR, Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, the University of Arizona and the City of Phoenix.

The campus has evolved into a leading destination for medical research and education — creating jobs, spurring economic activity and positioning Phoenix as a global health-care leader.

Fifteen years after its inception, what started as a single six-story building has expanded into a dynamic 30-acre campus. World-class science and medical programs for Arizona’s three public universities, as well as the highest concentration of research scientists and health care professionals in the region, prepare students for in-demand careers.

To continue maximizing the vast potential of the campus, leaders from ABOR, the universities and the City of Phoenix are developing a comprehensive master plan, which includes a dozen future projects as well as the enhancement of campus synergies through strategic academic, research and business partnerships.

The board has engaged the leadership of former Regent Rick Myers to help spur development of the master plan and identify opportunities for further collaboration between the universities at the Biomedical Campus. I’m confident Regent Myers’ extensive experience in strategic planning and business development will catalyze our collaboration and advance us toward a robust master plan.

A UArizona-commissioned credited PBC with creating 9,355 direct and indirect jobs and generating $1.3 billion in annual economic impact for Arizona in 2013. By 2025, the campus is expected to generate $3.1 billion in annual economic impact for the state.

The campus currently includes 1.6 million square feet of laboratories, classrooms, lecture halls and other physical space — with plans to reach 6 million square feet.

Here are some recent developments at the universities:

• A partnership between ASU and Wexford Science and Technology is building a new facility at Fourth and Fillmore streets that will include lab and clinical research space for the Biodesign Institute and ASU’s colleges of Health Solutions and Nursing and Health Innovation, as well as space for health and bioscience innovation and entrepreneurship. The $77 million, 225,000-square-foot project represents the first public-private partnership on the campus and is expected to generate new jobs in the health care and bioscience industries. This project, and the expansion of health fields downtown will enhance opportunities for students who major in a wide range of health care degrees from nursing to kinesiology.
• NAU has grown its programs at PBC to approximately 400 graduate students enrolled in professional health science programs. NAU at PBC educates students to fill high-demand positions in the health care field, including physician assistants, physical therapists, occupational therapists and athletic trainers. Both the physical therapy and physician assistant programs are highly-ranked by U.S. News and World Report. NAU will offer a clinical mental health doctorate program beginning fall 2020 to serve Arizona’s need for additional mental health providers, pending approval from the Higher Learning Commission.
• Pharmacy, public health, nursing, telemedicine, occupational therapy and physical therapy represent a portion of the programs at PBC through UArizona. With the UArizona College of Medicine – Phoenix training future physicians, the university is answering the need for additional doctors in the state. A new medical technology accelerator center called will provide students with a space to quickly take ideas from mind to market through new devices, businesses or health policies. Future plans include growing graduate medical education programs to meet health-care needs, developing multidisciplinary centers of excellence and leveraging clinical partners to expand training opportunities.

Based in the heart of downtown, the Phoenix Biomedical Campus is a leading catalyst in the transformation of the city’s downtown into a vibrant metropolitan center, training health care professionals of tomorrow to care for future generations of Arizonans.

Karrin Taylor Robson is a native Arizonan, attorney and business leader. She is the founder and president of Arizona Strategies, a land-use strategy firm in Phoenix. Robson was appointed to the Arizona Board of Regents in 2017.

Photo by BenjaMurph via .

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The University of Arizona was recognized recently as one of the top universities in the world by U.S. News & World Report.

UArizona was listed No. 85 among 1,500 higher education institutions across 81 countries in U.S. News & World Report’s Best Global Universities ranking in October.

“The University of Arizona is recognized throughout the world as a premier academic research institution,” UArizona President Robert Robbins said in a statement. “That reputation is due entirely to the consistently excellent work of our faculty and research staff and the university’s long-standing commitment toward supporting world-class scholarship and research across all fields of study.”

The report also ranks institutions among 28 distinct subject areas, and UÂ鶹´«Ă˝Ół»­ade the list for 26 categories.

UArizona tied for No. 11 in the space science category because of its research reputation and frequency of publication, according to U.S. News & World Report.

“This research reputation comes from a long history of astronomers and space scientists who came to this place in Arizona where they could see farther and more clearly,” said Elizabeth Cantwell, senior vice president for research and innovation at UArizona. “That vision has helped propel the University of Arizona and our people to stellar achievements.”

Currently, UArizona holds leadership positions in the OSIRIS-Rex mission to retrieve and analyze particles from asteroid Bennu and is working to capture the first direct image of a black hole, according to the university.

UArizona’s overall score in the rankings increased from 69.7 in 2018 to 70.6 this year.

Arizona State University ranked No. 146, with a global score of 65.7. Northern Arizona University ranked No. 688, with a global score of 42.9.

The Best Global Universities list aims to provide insights about how U.S. higher education institutions stack up globally.

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