Time to build another world-class institution

The recent hullabaloo over the Iowa Board of Regents decreasing subsidy for the University of Iowa exposes an irritating single-mindedness radiant from some UI graduates.

Simply put, money previously allocated to UI is better spent as an investment in the University of Northern Iowa. Arguments against the revised formulae include simply increasing funding to all three universities, which is a non-starter as there is only a finite amount of tax dollars the Regents has at its disposal.

Other arguments allude to UI's status as a world-class institution, again a non-starter because the university will not be diminished by a loss of revenue as, undoubtedly, a world class institution has a community of alumni and corporate partners to make up the difference.

Writers often omit that, unlike other states of similar size, this state has two world-class institutions that complement each other (the State University of Iowa and Iowa State University of Science and Technology).

There was a time when someone had to reallocate UI moneys to Iowa Technical College; similarly, we have an opportunity to reallocate money from a robust world-class institution to a fine - but hitherto undistinguished - University of Northern Iowa.

It is time to use the finite resources of the Iowa taxpayer to build a third world-class institution in the state of Iowa.

David Sheets

Cedar Rapids