As I have said, I'm not Alaskan but I do know politics. I strongly disagree with the picture painted by regent Dale Anderson (who sounds like a smug little pr!ck) that "this is what the people of Alaska want." No, the people of Alaska want a school system. The people who want to destroy the university and social safety net are a handful of wealthy businessmen and oil executives. To that end, the regents, faculty and even some of the politicians in that room are living in Fantasyland if they think the governor is going to give an inch. There are no more negotiations. People who watched or listened heard how confident the governor has been in their meetings. The budget was vetoed and the veto held. If the legislature tries anything he'll veto again and it will hold. If people want to get mad, then by all means. I would advise them to direct their anger at the Wasilla 22 - in particular the six state senators who voted for the budget but then wouldn't cast a vote to override. Whatever the board of regents decides the education system in Alaska will look much different than it did before and it will never recover. I'm very sorry but those are the political realities.
For the purposes of this site and this forum, it sure looks like the hockey teams are done. The UAA chancellor basically said as much today. Looking at the financials, in the past seven years, Fairbanks and Anchorage have cost the university an average loss of $14.25M/year on athletics. There is no way that can be sustained. Not when they are talking about closing campuses and eliminating redundancy. There isn't any good news coming. There may be some bad news that isn't as bad as other bad news but this is what the governor and his friends want and they have the power to make it happen. Elections have consequences.
