Board extends property lease for development to Sundt Plaza

PHOENIX – In their meeting yesterday at Arizona State University, the Arizona Board of Regents approved a lease extension for a property at 1946 E. Speedway Blvd. to Sundt Plaza LLC.

The property, which is near the parking garage of the Four Points Sheraton Hotel, has been leased to Sundt Plaza LLC since 1970 and was approved for a renewal good for the next 57 years following development plans that Sundt has for the area, according to the Board of Regents agenda.

The lease payment will be $6,372 annually plus applicable taxes.

Sky View gets lease extended 2 years

The Arizona Board of Regents voted yesterday to extend its lease with Sky View Apartments for the next two years.

The lease, spanning July 1, 2008, to July 31, 2010, will cost approximately $932,200 annually. This cost will be funded through Residence Life, according to the Board of Regents agenda.

Three named regents professor

Malcolm Hughes of the dendrochronology lab, Michael Marcellin of the electrical and computer engineering department and Ofelia Zepeda of the linguistics department were all promoted to the rank of regents professor yesterday.

This title is the highest of its kind in academia and carries with it a $5,000 annual salary increase.

Regents hear from textbook taskforce

A taskforce on textbooks presented some of its findings to the Arizona Board of Regents yesterday, saying it will send the board a plan of action to lower textbook prices for a vote at its next meeting in June.

The taskforce, headed by student regent Ed Hermes, presented data showing that the average price of school books and supplies per year at the UA was $735 in 2003, but has since jumped to $816.

Prices for individual textbooks at each of Arizona’s three public universities are largely the same, the taskforce’s report said. The report said that 51 percent of the specific textbooks had less than a $1 difference between the university’s different bookstores.

Hermes said the taskforce concluded three factors were primarily to blame for the high cost of books for class: the timing of orders, new editions and textbook bundles.

At their next meeting in June, regents will vote on possible action based on the taskforce’s recommendations.

The Associated Students of the University of Arizona is hosting a gala tonight at the University Marriott, where the organization will host public officials and faculty members in an effort to reduce prices.

Regents approve technology upgrades, extensions

Regents yesterday approved a measure to buy research management software for the Arizona Cancer Center that will help the center maintain its affiliation with the National Cancer Institute.

The new software, called Oncore Oncology Research Management System, is the only product that satisfies the NCI’s criteria for reporting clinical research, according to documents provided to regents.

According to the documents, the software will cost $575,054 during a five-year period.

The UA will also change the way it houses computer data now that the board has given the go-ahead to purchase new hardware and software to store information.

The changes will cost $503,625 and are necessary because the UA only has two employees capable of managing the databases, according to the regents’ documents. In addition, the documents say the UA isn’t planning to continue using its current operating system.

But for the time being, regents approved $1.5 million to pay for one year of maintenance and technical support for the current system, called Oracle, which is used in areas like Parking and Transportation Services and Employee Link.

If the Oracle system is done away with before the year-long term is finished, regents’ documents say some of the $1.5 million will be refunded.

– compiled by Matt Andazola and Kelly Lewis