The economic outlook may be sour for Wall Street's investment banks and for homeowners who took out mortgages they could not really afford, but campus planners and architects say that--so far, at least--colleges' construction plans are largely unaffected by the downturn. Some colleges, in fact, are trying to speed up projects to limit the damage done by rising construction costs. Arizona's three public universities have pitched a creative "economic stimulus" plan in which the institutions would spend $1.4-billion on construction and renovation projects over three years, creating what the universities say will be 31,000 jobs and helping the state weather the downturn. State officials, who would pick up much of the cost of the plan, say they are considering it. Only a handful of institutions have postponed construction projects--among them California Baptist University, which put a parking garage and a 662-bed residence hall on hold. Public institutions in a number of states, including California and Colorado, are keeping a close eye on their legislatures. Colorado recently made headlines by pulling $37.5-million in state funds out of a $120-million science-building project at Denver's multi-institution Auraria Higher Education Center, leaving a hole in the ground that center officials said they were determined to fill with a building, whether or not the state contributed.