Blagueur

• Maginnis is wrong on this score

  I'm usually in Maginnis' corner, but this time he's siding with the jihad against regional universities on the mistaken presumption that it's too easy to get into college these days. But read the article and my comment. [...]
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  Posted: November 25, 2009, 10:18am EST
  by Joseph

• First, create the crisis. Then solve it with your pre-ordained agenda.

  Number of comments: 1
  2theadvocate.com | News | State colleges may lose some degree programs — Baton Rouge, LA
  Commission member and former LSU Chancellor James Wharton pushed three other recommendations approved Tuesday.
  
  “There may be graduate programs that don’t have anything to do with that region of the state,” Wharton said. [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 11:06am EST
  by Joseph

• This is big. Real big.

  Number of comments: 0
  BBC News - US Army Corps blamed for Katrina floods
  A US judge has ruled that negligence by the US Army Corps of Engineers led to massive floods in parts of New Orleans as Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005.
  
  The court upheld complaints by six residents and a [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 10:56am EST
  by Joseph

• Consequences: Intended or Unintended?

  Number of comments: 0
  2theadvocate.com | News | Lawyer: Jindal ‘crippled’ La. ethics — Baton Rouge, LA
  ouisiana’s ethics system has been “crippled” as a result of legal changes made during Gov. Bobby Jindal’s 2008 special session on ethics, the chairman of the Louisiana Board of Ethics said Monday.
  
  “This is a [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 9:40am EST
  by Joseph

• Some sense enters the dialog, but it will not last in the Legislature.

  Number of comments: 0
  Expert: Focus on La. universities | theadvertiser.com | The Advertiser
  Instead of worrying about whether it has too many state universities, Louisiana needs to concentrate on making the ones it has the best they can be, says an out-of-state expert who is serving on a state review panel.
  
  [...]
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  Posted: November 02, 2009, 3:44pm EST
  by Joseph

• Vitter waffles.

  Number of comments: 0
  Vitter Confronted By Rape Victim Over Franken Amendment Vote
  At a town hall meeting this past weekend, meanwhile, the Senator was confronted by a constituent who, after recounting her tale of being raped, demanded to know why he opposed Sen. Al Franken's (D-Minn) amendment.
  
  The exchange was contentious,' [...]
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  Posted: November 02, 2009, 10:46am EST
  by Joseph

• Maginnis understands -- we're going to cut expenses by denying more students the opportunity to go to college.

  Number of comments: 0
  Louisiana Politics by John Maginnis
  Path Set to Change Colleges
  
  On its surface, a policy recommendation from the higher education advisory commission to increase graduation rates seems like a nice idea with little real future impact. But if implemented the way the Jindal administration seems to want, it [...]
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  Posted: October 30, 2009, 1:47pm EDT
  by Joseph

• Kathleen Blanco defends higher education in Louisiana.

  Number of comments: 0
  Don't give up on Louisiana | HoumaToday.com | The Courier | Houma, LA
  Because of financial problems caused primarily by short-sighted fiscal decisions last year, state government is faced with budget shortfalls. This answer leads to penalizing our people when capable students are denied access to four year degrees.' [...]
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  Posted: October 26, 2009, 10:05am EDT
  by Joseph

• Ethics. Jindal style.

  Number of comments: 1
  Jindal Fires State Employee Day After She Criticized Him
  Gov. Bobby Jindal fired a state worker, Melody Teague, one day after she publicly condemned his plans to privatize state services. The worker's attorney claimed Teague was told that she was terminated for poor performance in the wake of Hurricane' [...]
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  Posted: October 12, 2009, 12:28am EDT
  by Joseph

• Jindal vs Cao on high speed rail.

  Number of comments: 0
  Jindal rejects $300 million in stimulus money for high-speed rail | DailyComet.com | The Thibodaux Daily Comet | Thibodaux, LA
  BATON ROUGE — Gov. Bobby Jindal is at odds with a fellow Louisiana Republican over the governor's decision not to seek $300 million in federal stimulus money for a' [...]
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  Posted: October 06, 2009, 5:48pm EDT
  by Joseph

• A good, snarky letter to the editor

  Number of comments: 0
  No brain, no drain - NOLA.com
  Curt Eysink, appointed by Gov. Bobby Jindal as executive director of the Louisiana Workforce Commission, has found an easy way to fix Louisiana's brain drain, and his logic is impeccable: If there were no brains, there would be no drain.
  
  So Louisiana,' [...]
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  Posted: October 06, 2009, 5:37pm EDT
  by Joseph

• Incredible! Too many graduates???? So create more jobs!!!!

  Number of comments: 1
  4-year college graduates a surplus in Louisiana - NOLA.com
  BATON ROUGE -- Louisiana has a "surplus" of college graduates getting traditional four-year degrees and needs to steer more people into community and technical college programs to meet future job demand, the state's top labor official said Monday.
  
  Curt' [...]
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  Posted: October 06, 2009, 5:32pm EDT
  by Joseph

• Kennedy draws line againse LSU head.

  Number of comments: 0
  Treasurer, LSU System chief at odds on higher education | theadvertiser.com | The Advertiser
  BATON ROUGE — Treasurer John Kennedy believes the state's public four-year universities should be governed by one board to help cut costs, but he said Monday he opposes any suggestion to limit spending under the' [...]
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  Posted: October 06, 2009, 5:14pm EDT
  by Joseph

• Blanco takes on idea that we have too many college graduates.

  Number of comments: 0
  BRIEFING BOOK - NOLA.com
  She took aim at state officials with the Economic Development and Labor departments who have said the state has a surfeit of four-year college graduates and not enough workers with two-year degrees, considering the demands of Louisiana's job market. "I don't think there's a soul'" [...]
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  Posted: October 06, 2009, 5:13pm EDT
  by Joseph

• Jindal endorses Democrats’ health care reform bill

  Number of comments: 0
  The Political Carnival: Jindal endorses Democrats’ health care reform bill
  8 out of Jindal’s 10 are already in the President’s plan and the variations wending their way toward a merge process. [...]
  
  Jindal’s article makes it clear that conservatives agree with how we’re proceeding on health care reform. [...]
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  Posted: October 05, 2009, 7:24pm EDT
  by Joseph

• Vitter has a challenger.

  Number of comments: 0
  2theadvocate.com | News | Melancon to take on Vitter — Baton Rouge, LA
  WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Charles “Charlie” Melancon announced Thursday that he will challenge incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. David Vitter next year in what is expected to shape up to be a political donnybrook.
  
  The Napoleonville [...]
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  Posted: August 31, 2009, 7:11pm EDT
  by Joseph

• Return of the Dust Bowl.

  Number of comments: 0
  Small Midwestern States To Be Hit Hardest By Climate Change: Report
  
  The map included in this article shows the worst effects will be on the old Dust Bowl states, so the Dust Bowl will return, but worse, and bigger.
  
  
  [...]
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  Posted: August 27, 2009, 3:19pm EDT
  by Joseph

• Tucker commission gets free advice from consultant. "Graduate MORE students."

  Number of comments: 0
  From the Advocate: "La. higher ed to get consulting assistance"
  
  “Both of these foundations will tell you the most important thing that Louisiana can do is graduate 10,000 additional students,” Jones said.
  
  But how do you do that while cutting the budget? It looks like the governor's' [...]
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  Posted: August 27, 2009, 10:25am EDT
  by Joseph

• New consultants for Tucker commission.

  Number of comments: 0
  2theadvocate.com | News | La. higher ed to get consulting assistance — Baton Rouge, LA
  “Both of these foundations will tell you the most important thing that Louisiana can do is graduate 10,000 additional students,” Jones said.
  But how do you do that while cutting the budget? Seems that [...]
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  Posted: August 27, 2009, 10:23am EDT
  by Joseph

• Another commission heard from. Abolish boards, not colleges.

  Number of comments: 0
  2theadvocate.com | Legislature & Politics | Panel: Put colleges under Regents board — Baton Rouge, LA
  The ex-governor told the advisory group that putting all public colleges under the Board of Regents would force the institutions to work together without closing a single university.
  
  Roemer unsuccessfully pushed a similar idea in [...]
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  Posted: August 27, 2009, 10:21am EDT
  by Joseph

• Another commission heard from. Abolish boards, not colleges.

  Number of comments: 0
  2theadvocate.com | Legislature & Politics | Panel: Put colleges under Regents board — Baton Rouge, LA
  The ex-governor told the advisory group that putting all public colleges under the Board of Regents would force the institutions to work together without closing a single university.
  
  Roemer unsuccessfully pushed a [...]
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  Posted: August 27, 2009, 10:20am EDT
  by Joseph

• New consultants for Tucker commission.

  Number of comments: 0
  2theadvocate.com | News | La. higher ed to get consulting assistance — Baton Rouge, LA
  “Both of these foundations will tell you the most important thing that Louisiana can do is graduate 10,000 additional students,” Jones said.
  But how do you do that while cutting the budget? Seems that [...]
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  Posted: August 27, 2009, 10:16am EDT
  by Joseph

• For the poor, we're Burundi.

  Number of comments: 0
  By T.R. Reid -- Five Myths About Health Care in the Rest of the World
  In many ways, foreign health-care models are not really "foreign" to America, because our crazy-quilt health-care system uses elements of all of them. For Native Americans or veterans, we're Britain: The government provides health' [...]
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  Posted: August 26, 2009, 6:40pm EDT
  by Joseph

• Politics? Graft? or just Incompetence?

  Number of comments: 1
  Probe: New Orleans flood control pumps not reliable - USATODAY.com
  WASHINGTON — Huge flood-control pumps installed in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina don't protect the city adequately and the Army Corps of Engineers could have saved $430 million in replacement costs by buying proven equipment, a federal investigation finds.[...]
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  Posted: August 26, 2009, 12:42pm EDT
  by Joseph

• Another commission heard from on higher ed.

  Number of comments: 0
  Interesting -- I'm not sure what the guv with think of this -- perhaps not in his instruction set?  Is this a "rogue commission"?
  
  
  Commission focuses on job cuts and education - WAFB Channel 9, Baton Rouge, LA |
  The commission passed a plan to abolish all' [...]
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  Posted: August 25, 2009, 8:14pm EDT
  by Joseph

• Harry Shearer: Obama neglecting New Orleans, playing politics.

  Number of comments: 0
  Harry Shearer: Playing the Inside Game -- A Cautionary Tale
  Experiment officially over. To be clear, I'm not upset I wasn't treated like a celebrity or given ego-satisfying access. Frankly, the inside game creeps me out, the flattery that you're "connected" can bring out the late Bob Novak in' [...]
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  Posted: August 25, 2009, 7:04pm EDT
  by Joseph

• Obama will visit New Orleans this fall.

  Number of comments: 0
  Rebuilding New Orleans still a priority, Obama says - Louisiana Politics | State Legislature News - NOLA.com
  "I think that Katrina was really a wake-up call for the country -- about our need to fulfill our commitments to our fellow citizens, a recognition that there but for the grace" [...]
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  Posted: August 23, 2009, 12:03pm EDT
  by Joseph

• State drops rail plan -- not because Jindal was taking heat.

  Number of comments: 0
  State drops proposed Baton Rouge-New Orleans line | News for New Orleans, Louisiana | Top Stories | News and Weather for New Orleans | wwltv.com
  The state has dropped a plan to seek about $300 million of federal aid to launch passenger railroad service between Baton Rouge and New [...]
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  Posted: August 23, 2009, 11:32am EDT
  by Joseph

• Letter: Jindal's real agenda.

  Number of comments: 0
  2theadvocate.com | Opinion | Letter: Funding favors research schools — Baton Rouge, LA
  By his statements and his actions, Gov. Jindal has done nothing but provide another platform to those who want to shut down Southern University, Baton Rouge, Southern University at New Orleans and Grambling, by hook or [...]
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  Posted: August 20, 2009, 10:01pm EDT
  by Joseph

• Excellent summary of what the Tucker Commission means to higher ed.

  Number of comments: 3
  Higher ed needs major overhaul : Politics and People
  Too many students attend four-year universities and fail to finish. More students should be encouraged to attend community colleges where tuition is less expensive and they wouldn’t have to go into deep debt to get an education.
  
  One [...]
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  Posted: August 17, 2009, 2:11pm EDT
  by Joseph

• Brits do not pull the plug on grandma, Senator Grassley.

  Number of comments: 0
  2theadvocate.com | Opinion | Our view: U.K. experts assail myths — Baton Rouge, LA
  “It is neither true nor is it anything you could extrapolate from anything we’ve ever recommended to the NHS,” Dillon said.
  
  Several experts told The Guardian the distortions of Britain’s experience verge on lunacy. [...]
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  Posted: August 17, 2009, 1:24pm EDT
  by Joseph

• Vitter and the Tea-baggers.

  Number of comments: 1
  The GOP's Sex Scandal Dodge - Page 1 - The Daily Beast
  Many of those attending Vitter’s town halls have been shepherded to the events by local chapters of TeaPartyPatriots.org, a supposedly grassroots network of national activists that happens to “partner” with the health-care and insurance industry-funded lobbying firm [...]
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  Posted: August 15, 2009, 7:20pm EDT
  by Joseph

• Oh, yeah, that's what higher ed needs -- a two by four to the head.

  Number of comments: 1
  2theadvocate.com | News | Goal: Improve education — Baton Rouge, LA
  Tucker: “We need you to take a 2-by-4, if that’s necessary, and smack us across the head.”
  
  According to this article in the Advertiser, the commission has not a single new idea. It's all the same [...]
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  Posted: August 12, 2009, 11:03am EDT
  by Joseph

• Louisiana voting machines hacked.

  Number of comments: 1
  Raw Story » Computer scientists reveal new voting machine hack successfully changed votes
  While the voting machines were older and had been discontinued by North Carolina, where they were originally used, the voting apparatus are still in use in Louisiana and New Jersey.
  
  [...]
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  Posted: August 12, 2009, 10:11am EDT
  by Joseph

• Even nuttier than I thought.

  Number of comments: 1
  Bush saw Iraq war as fight against Gog and Magog.
  
  Council for Secular Humanism
  Now out of office, Chirac recounts that the American leader appealed to their “common faith” (Christianity) and told him: “Gog and Magog are at work in the Middle East…. The biblical prophecies are being [...]
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  Posted: August 06, 2009, 2:35pm EDT
  by Joseph

• Vitter, Craig, Sanford: Core conservative values.

  Number of comments: 0
  Vitter Responds To Voinovich: I'm For "Core Conservative Values," Not For Straying From Them | TPMDC
  
  See the comment at the end from Kevin Franck.
  
  
  ' [...]
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  Posted: July 30, 2009, 11:15am EDT
  by Joseph

• Maybe this will give her senate campaign the bump it's been needing.

  Number of comments: 0
  Stormy Daniels Arrested for Domestic Violence: News Station
  
  I hear from WWL that she didn't like the way her husband was doing the laundry.
  
  
  
  ' [...]
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  Posted: July 29, 2009, 8:30pm EDT
  by Joseph

• Good grief!

  Number of comments: 0
  Stormy Daniels' Political Advisor May Have Been Hit By Car Bomb: Reports
  Porn star Stormy Daniels' potential senatorial campaign was rocked yesterday by an explosion that blew up her political advisor's car in New Orleans, according to local news reports.
  
  [...]
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  Posted: July 29, 2009, 12:07am EDT
  by Joseph

• MSNBC nails Jindal as "phoney stimulus elf."

  Number of comments: 0
  Countdown:Stimulus is Jindal’s secret source
  
  Jindal called the stimulus plan a failure, and tried to stop it. But "big fat checks" to local officials are funded in large part by stimulus money. In a word, hypocrisy. No local papers gave any credit for the checks to Obama's stimulus [...]
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  Posted: July 23, 2009, 9:13pm EDT
  by Joseph

• Next time some idiot politician says we shouldn't give money to Louisiana because of its corrpution, show them this.

  Number of comments: 0
  There's also the allegation that they were selling human body parts -- no joke.
  
  Mayors, rabbis arrested in corruption probe - CNN.com
  

  Among those arrested in the public corruption portion of the investigation are Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano III, Secaucus Mayor Dennis Elwell, New Jersey Assemblyman Daniel [...]

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  Posted: July 23, 2009, 8:33pm EDT
  by Joseph

• Jim Tucker continues to diss higher ed.

  Number of comments: 0
  Somehow, those most familiar with the workings of higher education in Louisiana, those with the most experience and expertise, those who have worked in actual classrooms, are not trusted because they have "vested interests."  Now we know.
  
  2theadvocate.com | News | Compromise puts college systems on Tucker panel [...]
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  Posted: July 23, 2009, 8:30pm EDT
  by Joseph

• Clausen: Tucker has won, batten down the hatches.

  Number of comments: 0
  It looks like Tucker, who has expressed his contempt for higher education, is in the driver's seat now.  Colleges and universities in the state will prepare themselves for the onslaught if they have any sense.  Clausen's acceptance of "a complete overhaul" of higher ed, is an admission of defeat.
  [...]
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  Posted: July 23, 2009, 8:25pm EDT
  by Joseph

• Raymond Blanco tells it like it is.

  Number of comments: 0
  The Independent - House speaker doesn’t get it
  I understand the need for cuts given the current budget forecasts, but it was Speaker Tucker’s angry tirade against the state’s colleges and universities that revealed how little respect our purported leaders hold for higher education in Louisiana, and how little [...]
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  Posted: July 09, 2009, 8:42am EDT
  by Joseph

• Catastrophe avoided, but the problem will return.

  Number of comments: 0
  2theadvocate.com | News | Late-hour compromise reduces cuts in budget — Baton Rouge, LA
  Lawmakers put an additional $100 million toward higher education, reducing the $219 million in cuts that Jindal proposed amid state budget problems.
  
  They also found money for projects in their districts, firefighter training at [...]
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  Posted: June 27, 2009, 9:17pm EDT
  by Joseph

• We still don't know. But there may be a larger purpose in view by the administration.

  Number of comments: 0
  2theadvocate.com | News | Higher ed fund cuts still unclear — Baton Rouge, LA
  Officials from the state’s top college oversight board, the state Board of Regents, are predicting 15 percent budget cuts of state funding for colleges could be reduced by at least $70 million to $80 million [...]
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  Posted: June 25, 2009, 12:21pm EDT
  by Joseph

• Melancon's statement on running for the senate.

  Number of comments: 0
  Rep. Charlie Melancon considering challenge to Sen. David Vitter - Louisiana Politics | State Legislature News - NOLA.com
  "For the past five years, I have been honored to serve the people of Louisiana's 3rd District as their Congressman. The challenges we have faced in the wake of four hurricanes" [...]
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  Posted: June 19, 2009, 1:22pm EDT
  by Joseph

• Maginnis says Melancon will challenge Vitter.

  Number of comments: 0
  Louisiana Politics by John Maginnis
  Melancon Set to Run
  
  While he is not ready to make a public announcement, Congressman Charlie Melancon is said to have decided to run for the U.S. Senate next year, according to multiple political sources. The congressman has made no comment about challenging [...]
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  Posted: June 19, 2009, 1:12pm EDT
  by Joseph

• Interesting buried lede.

  Number of comments: 0
  Apparently the Senate is slowing down pet House projects in an effort to salvage funding for higher education.  The article buries the news on the second page.
  
  2theadvocate.com | News | Senators jab House in budget bill dispute — Baton Rouge, LA
  The bills are the Senate’s biggest [...]
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  Posted: June 17, 2009, 9:26am EDT
  by Joseph

• PAR weighs in on higher ed cuts.

  Number of comments: 0
  2theadvocate.com | News | PAR urges lawmakers not to make hasty cuts — Baton Rouge, LA
  The session ends June 25.
  
  PAR said there still is time to agree on a plan to buy higher education time to make changes.
  
  The group said the state’s public colleges [...]
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  Posted: June 17, 2009, 9:23am EDT
  by Joseph

• PAR weighs in on higher education cuts.

  Number of comments: 0
  2theadvocate.com | News | PAR urges lawmakers not to make hasty cuts — Baton Rouge, LA
  The session ends June 25.
  
  PAR said there still is time to agree on a plan to buy higher education time to make changes.
  
  The group said the state’s public colleges [...]
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  Posted: June 17, 2009, 9:22am EDT
  by Joseph