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Crow was dealt a bad hand, if a very good salary: The Legislature had been cutting general-fund appropriations to the universities since the 1980s and was virulently anti-education. The state constitution mandated that ASU, especially, take virtually every qualified in-state student without giving it the means to pay for this obligation.
Crow made peace with the Mormon Church, which had been feuding with the university about a plan to replace/relocate a stake building on campus. Soon LDS money was flowing to ASU, most notably from house-builder Ira Fulton who endowed the engineering school and Decision Theater, among other gifts.
Meanwhile, Crow worked the federal research grants levers, with little help from the useless congressional delegation, to build the Biodesign Institute. He even pried money from the Legislature, always looking for "the key," as he put it, to reach the Kooks (I'm not sure he ever found it; witness the attempt to put a Kook blogger with a know-nothing, anti-higher ed agenda on the Regents).
I was surprised by Crow's stumble with an honorary degree for Obama too, but I now think it was a savvy move that pandered to the Kooks and greased the skids for future lobbying/plans (altho the snub of the President is now long forgotten by the Kooks). The UofA v. ASU rivalry is the same kettle as Tucson v. Phoenix -- we're just raised that way -- there's no rhyme or reason to it. Wonder if I could mix up some more metaphors on this? Posted by: eclecticdog | April 10, 2012 at 10:19 AM
Whatever you think about Patterson, it's easy to admire this straight-speaking: * * * On his blog, Patterson recently imagined himself delivering a welcome address to the 2015 freshmen at Arizona State University's Barrett, the Honors College: "I will assume that since you are here, you don't aspire to a job at Starbucks. That means that you will spend four years and likely borrow $80,000 in an effort to acquire skills that will allow you to be 'future leaders.' Let's be clear about a couple things. First, many of you are unlikely to acquire the skills that will enable you to pay your $80,000 in loans back. Second, by 'future leaders' we mean 'middle management.' Third, while one or two of you may become Rhodes Scholars or CEOs, some of you will also become homeless or go to prison." www.azcentral.com... Posted by: Emil Pulsifer | April 11, 2012 at 08:45 PM
Emil, Let me put my cards on the table re Patterson. He was a consistent complainer about my columns at the Republic, and the bosses took him very seriously. He was one reason I lost my job. Thanks. The problem with the Patterson mindset on this issue is several. First, it never pushes into the headwaters of why tuition is so high that it requires such loans: Repeated tax cuts and funding cuts to the state universities by "conservatives." (His peeps). Second, it avoids identifying the venal private sector driving the student loan bubble and profiting lavishly from it, from for-profit "universities" to Wall Street. Third, it ignores the "conservative"-created contemporary economy, where wages are stagnant, young people enter the labor force with poor pay and little chance to gain ground in the years ahead, and an anything-goes approach by corporations that degrades American workers and living standards. Put this into the commencement speech, and you'll have some credibility. Posted by: Rogue Columnist | April 12, 2012 at 10:22 AM