Nerd News: State Colleges and the Campus Money Crunch

Here is an interesting news piece using as Arizona State University as a case study. Take a look at this "back to reality" comment on the once-lofty ambitions of some schools:

. . . plans have crashed into new budget realities, raising questions about how many public research universities the nation needs and whether universities like Arizona State, in their drive to become prominent research institutions, have lost focus on their public mission to provide solid undergraduate education for state residents.

Hmmmm. I could go on a rant about ambitious overreach, the forgetting of one's priorities and entire reason for existing in the first place, and how few campus bigshots seem to care about quality teaching anymore, but I'm short on time. You fill in the blanks.