[Vision2020] Universities, university presses, and Titanic folly

[Ron Force]

I have to make a correction. The UI Press has never made a profit. They ran
up almost an $800,000 deficit by 2001. That was written off, and the press
was given a chance to start over on a "break even" basis.  They were
$382,000 in the hole by December 03.  Ivar had some good ideas, but it was
"too little, too late".

One may argue that a university press is a good thing to subsidize in
comparision to athletics, community education, 4H, or any of many things the
university does for the state.  In fact, most university presses are heavily
subsidized. For obvious reasons, the university is not in a postion to
continue to subsidize many of the wonderful things it now does.  The Press
may be only the first of these to go.

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Ron Force          Moscow ID 83844
rforce@moscow.com
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