Check out this addition to the Eli Judge Communication Center Board attendance controversy story

Looks like Sam Clegg has been doing some investigatory journalism:

But what makes this letter even more suspect is its connection with Ashok Kumar, a fervent political enemy of Judge’s whose behind the scene campaign tactics some years ago led to allegations of race baiting and mudslinging that have not been seen since in student politics. In an interview last week, Kumar claimed that he did not sign the letter because he did not want to politicize the issue. The glaring problem with his statements is that Kumar admitted to editing the letter!

When pressed he grew indignant and claimed that there was nothing wrong with constituents asking that their representatives be held accountable. Kumar went on to say he did not sign the letter because he found it “harsh,” but edited it as a favor to some friends. If Kumar – whose name will live in alternate infamy and renown for some time in the city of Madison – did not want to politicize the issue, why in God’s name would he edit it? Kumar seemed shocked that I had phoned him to ask about the letter, and wassomewhat offended by my implication that he was involved with it. “However, it is difficult to see why Barbash-Riley absolutely had to turn to Ashok Kumar – possibly the most divisive figure on campus – to edit the letter. It’s just as hard to understand why he accepted.

The UW Board of Regents meetings

When the UW Board of Regents meets this Thursday and Friday at the UW-Milwaukee Union, most of the meetings will consist of guest speakers, like the Mayor of Milwaukee, or authorizing things like a B.A. in Design Arts at UW-Green Bay. There are, however, a couple of noteworthy items on the agenda.

The most high profile one is the approval of Biddy Martin as chancellor.

Another item that I have already talked extensively about, that will affect UW-Madison, is differential tuition for the College of Engineering.

One decision that will affect every student in a very direct way will be the setting of tuition rates for next year

The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents is scheduled to approve an annual operating budget and set tuition rates for the 2008-09 academic year at this week’s meeting in Milwaukee. The recommended tuition increases mirror those approved for the current academic year.

Another proposal being discussed is a resolution on tuition benefits for veterans.

University of Wisconsin System leaders want lawmakers to pay the full cost of tuition benefits they’ve given to veterans.

Wisconsin veterans can attend the UW System and Wisconsin Technical College System for free under a 2006 law.

The benefits are popular, but lawmakers and Gov. Jim Doyle have not given the schools enough tax money to cover them.

A resolution that could be voted on this week by the UW System Board of Regents says that’s creating “a significant and increasing fiscal burden on UW institutions.”

The resolution would call for full funding for the benefits and a change in the law to require veterans to use their federal benefits before they would be eligible for the state program.

At first glance the lack of funding of tuition benefits for veterans appears to be just another case of the state not sufficiently providing financial support for the UW. However, some deeper reading into the first article on the tuition increase, reveals exactly how the state legislature’s failings affect students:

The 5.5 percent tuition increase will fund many of the university’s ongoing financial and operational commitments. Of the total 5.5 percent proposed increase, 3 percent will go toward the state-mandated veterans’ tuition remissions program, and 1.6 percent will fund Growth Agenda Initiatives, including those designed to increase enrollments and enhance graduation rates. Other contributing factors include increased costs for employee salaries and health insurance benefits (0.5 percent), student technology fees (0.2 percent) and utilities for the UW System’s 59 million square feet of facilities (0.2 percent).

Now this is not just about how the quality of education took a hit because we lost a couple of political science professors as a result of the inferior salaries we offered them. Lack of state support is now directly costing students financially, to the tune of $190 a year.