The Idaho Way: Why the Arkansas deal with University of Phoenix fell apart
By Scott McIntosh, opinion editor
The Idaho Way is a weekly roundup of opinions, commentary and letters to the editor to encourage conversation on topics important to Idahoans. If you like this newsletter, forward it to a friend, and they can sign up here.
I listened to three hours of University of Arkansas System board deliberations so you don’t have to.
You may recall that just three weeks before the Idaho State Board of Education approved a deal to purchase the University of Phoenix for $550 million, the University of Arkansas board turned down a similar deal for $535 million.
I was curious as to what the reasons were. I noticed that one of the “no” votes was from a lawyer who specialized in business law, Kevin Crass. He was kind enough to call me back and speak with me about it. He and fellow board member Nate Todd, who voted “yes,” were the only board members to call me back, by the way.
Crass gave me great background and patiently explained his position to me. Without any other board members, though, I still didn’t feel like I had a complete picture. I reached out to the University of Arkansas system’s communications director and asked if, by any chance, there happened to be a recording of the meetings.
Lo and behold, they did have recordings, and the communications director emailed them to me right away. I think it would be better if they just posted them online, which the Idaho State Board of Education does on YouTube, but I got the recordings nonetheless.
Wow. What a difference between the University of Arkansas’ debate about the deal and the Idaho State Board of Education’s 90-minute meeting.
University of Arkansas board members met for two-and-a-half hours for the first time on April 19 and tabled their decision so they could look over documents and spend more time thinking before making a decision. They met five days later for another half-hour of debate before voting.
Over the two meetings, Arkansas board members heard extensive testimony from local, regional and national experts. They asked lots of questions. They shared their thoughts, their reservations. They weighed the benefits. They talked among themselves. They disagreed. They agonized. They debated before coming to their decision.
Idaho board members, meanwhile, met for only an hour-and-a-half in public, most of which was a rapid-fire, cursory slide presentation, and asked very few questions. When they did ask questions, some didn’t get answered. They didn’t debate. They didn’t even address the reasons and serious reservations that University of Arkansas board members had just a month earlier.
After watching the University of Arkansas meetings, I came away feeling much more confident about the University of Phoenix and that perhaps Arkansas’ loss is Idaho’s gain.
I wrote the story in two parts:
Here’s what I heard from Arkansas that I didn’t hear in Idaho. Read Part 1 here.
Here’s why Arkansas board members voted against it, and why Idaho’s deal is different. Read Part 2 here.
Trees along Highway 55
The Idaho Transportation Department has known for nearly two years that dead and dangerous trees should be removed along a stretch of Highway 55 near Banks. But most of the trees haven’t been removed until the last couple of weeks. It’s coming too late for 13-year-old Coltin Jones, who was killed by a dead tree whose top snapped off in a windstorm on June 7 and hit the car Coltin was a passenger in.
Read our full editorial here on why this was a tragedy that should have been averted.
Patriot Front sentencings
By Bryan Clark, Idaho Statesman opinion writer
A handful of the men who planned to pour out of a U-Haul van to disrupt a North Idaho Pride celebration received their sentences last week. The five were sentenced to $1,000 fines and a few days in jail.
Though the penalty they will face is not great, it is important.
Read Bryan’s full column here.
Public lands
By Jim Roscoe, guest opinion
A new public lands rule, the Conservation and Landscape Health draft rule, proposed by the Bureau of Land Management will bring balance to the agency’s management of federal land across Idaho and the West.
Read Jim Roscoe’s guest column here.
Risch supports keeping the dams
By U.S. Sen. Jim Risch and Jason Mercier
Hydropower is an important source of reliable and clean energy for everyone in the Northwest, especially Idahoans. However, with the recent debate surrounding the Snake River dams concentrated on the benefits for and support in Washington state, the authors want to emphasize just how significant an effect these dams have on Idaho and why we must continue to protect them.
Read the full guest opinion piece here.
I’m listening
Send me your story ideas, news tips, questions, comments, or anything else on your mind. You can reach me via email at smcintosh@idahostatesman.com.
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What you’re saying
This week, we received letters to the editor on cannabis, verbal abuse, women’s health, Branden Durst, power bills and dam breaching. You can read these and more letters by clicking here.
You can submit a letter to the editor or guest opinion by clicking here.
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