ARIZONA BUDGET UPDATE: The Arizona Star story about Vernon Smith leaving only last year for George Mason is now here. Newspapers move their articles off-site or to archives eventually. Meanwhile, there's a follow-up here with this ending:

"The UA has had to become a lean, mean, high-achieving machine in the face of massive budget cuts, and many other institutions with better resources have already begun luring top researchers away, [Lunar and Planetary Laboratory Director Michael] Drake said.

"After dealing with severe budget cuts in the early '90s, the UA has again had to endure an 8 percent cut followed by this year's 10 percent cut. If such cuts continue, the UA has nowhere to go but down, said Michael Cusanovich, director of Arizona Research Laboratories.

'If the state were to allow us to raise admission standards, charge a more reasonable tuition, that may be a signal that the environment here is worth staying at,' Cusanovich said. 'But if all we can look forward to next year is another 10 percent cut, I mean forget it. It's hopeless'."