Gomers: What's going wrong

ONE WEEK'S PAY: With all due respect to Nick Nurse's abilities, how can Iowa State University justify paying him $175,000 for one week as an assistant men's basketball coach? Nurse had a two-year agreement at $130,000 per season. But four days after the deal was announced head coach Greg McDermott left to take a similar post at Creighton. Two days later, ISU hired former Cyclone star Fred Hoiberg as head coach and Nurse was not offered a job on his staff. A courtesy payment was in order but the $175K gives the impression that ISU's athletic department - which gets several million dollars in taxpayer subsidies - is loose with cash.

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STAMPS FOREVER, OR NOT?: In 1919, the price of a first-class stamp was 2 cents. It's 44 cents now and the U.S. Postal Service proposes an increase to 46 cents in January. Increases have been steady and steep since the mid 1970s. The USPS continues to lose billions annually as it struggles to adapt to ever-declining mail volume as people and businesses increasingly use the Internet for communication and advertising. Makes one wonder a bit whether USPS, as we know it today, will be around long enough for customers to use all those Forever stamps they buy to avoid price increases.