POCKET CHANGE What's $400,000 to a university with a multi-million dollar annual budget??Apparently, too much. The North Dakota State Board of Higher Education rejected a request from North Dakota State University for a tuition increase of one-half of one percent. The board did approve maximum tuition hikes of 2.5 percent at the state's four-year universities, but froze NDSU's tuition. The increase would have meant another $400,000 for NDSU, and President Dean Bresciani said the university is at "a breaking point" and would have to cut services and academic programs without the additional funding. We've heard the same argument from Bresciani before, usually whenever NDSU doesn't get what it wants tuition-wise. Let's not forget that NDSU did get an 8.8 percent tuition increase just last May. Board president Grant Shaft said he worried that giving NDSU another tuition hike, even a small one, after the 8.8 percent hike last year would bring backlash to the university, and perhaps the entire higher education system, from legislators. He also should have mentioned that another tuition increase would not be popular with members of the public, some who already think the university system receives too much state money. Despite NDSU's claims, we doubt $400,000 will harm the quality of education at the university or the school's long-term growth.
LOOK, UP IN THE SKY A planned air show, including a performance from the Canadian Snowbirds, will be a welcome addition to the area's events July 4. The Snowbirds provided an impromptu air show last fall when they stopped in Minot, and wanted to return for an official show this year. The show will be free, and will be a partnership between the city and Minot Air Force Base. Other scheduled acts for the Minot air show include Minot pilots Warren and Kent Pietsch, and the Texas Flying Legends, a museum based out of Ellington Field in Houston, whose pilots maintain and fly one of the world's largest collections of World War II planes. The city of Minot looks forward to hosting the event, and we expect the air show to be a huge success.