Good Neighbor U

Remarkable article by Frank Ruggiero in today's Watauga Democrat, lots of happy HAPPY talk by ASU Chief of Staff Lorin Baumhover about the proposed new College of Education building that he says could get underway very quickly, just as soon as the UNC Board of Governors gives the go-ahead, with not one mention or acknowledgement on his part that

ASU has made NO application to the Town of Boone for a building permit for said project

Then the article ends with news that town and university officials are due to meet on August 20th, with Baumhover quoted as saying that he thinks "we'll find a common ground here."

Why are they even having a meeting, when their minds are made up, their plans are laid, and clearly town regs don't factor into anything the university intends to do?

New definition of "common ground" -- "you get the hell out of the way, because we've got $34 million, and our feces don't stink."

If this is ASU showing a new attitude of cooperation and abiding by the law, well then, university administrations have become even more a reflection of Bush era arrogance than we had previously thought.