Threats and promises

That a great governor we have in Indiana. Is he going to spend more on higher education? Nope. Is he concerned about the quality of education? Nope. Is he concerned about the cost? Yep. Last week Gov. Joe Kernan sent a letter to the presidents of all public universities telling them not to raise tuition more than 4 percent next year. \nI wish there was more substance to our governor's plan, but it is apparently pretty simple: all universities will keep tuition increases under 4 percent and must hold at least one public hearing if they choose to raise tuition. In announcing the plan, the governor stated, "You've got families who are struggling in how to deal with college education. I think notice of what kinds of increases they're looking at would be fair." \nWhat a great idea. Next week the governor should lower the cost of government and lower taxes. After all, we have "families who are struggling." Maybe after that he should just make everything free. Am I missing something here? Colleges need money to run. If there is no new money from the state, and no new money from tuition, where will it come from? \nA "tuition cap" has been floated as an idea several times in the past, most recently by Noblesville state senator Luke Kenley. During the past legislative session, he proposed a 3 percent cap on all new tuition increases. His legislation died as a result of heavy lobbying by state universities; yet he warned universities to develop a plan by next year to keep tuition low or face budget cuts. What a motivating threat: don't try to get more money or else I am going to take away the money I give you. With inflation averaging 3 percent per year, Kernan and Kenley would have state universities operating in a rendition of "Groundhog Day." Every year would have the same budget with the same amount of funding and the same number of students. \nKernan and Kenley are basing their plans on the assumption universities are wasting money and are inefficiently run. By taking away funding options, Universities will be forced to streamline. The plans will successfully reduce some forms of waste. \nFor instance, two years ago I was shocked to see every single person in Bryan Hall, down to the desk clerks, had just received a brand new Pentium 4 with an LCD flat screen -- this was when flat screens were very expensive. Had a tuition cap been in place then, the university might have reconsidered whether or not a Pentium 4 and flat screen were needed to run Word and Outlook. \nHowever, the Kernan plan fails to solve problems like those facing the School of Music.\nThe School of Music is in a class by itself. It ranks with Julliard as one of the greatest arts schools in the world. However, due to the way the University allocates funds, the school has been cut to the bone in recent years. Individual schools receive funds based on the total number of credit hours students enroll in at that school. \n This makes sense for most schools, but it's absolutely ridiculous for the School of Music. The School of Music has no 500-person intro classes like COAS, Business or SPEA. This has resulted in a lack of funding and the dismissal of several instructors (not to mention a serious lack of security). Kernan's plan does nothing to fix this situation.\nTuition has increased too much in recent years. Universities still have inefficiencies and have room to improve. Yet our governor needs to remember good professors and quality research cost a lot of money, and no tuition cap is ever going to change that.