<html><head><style type="text/css"><!-- DIV {margin:0px;} --></style></head><body><div style="font-family:times new roman,new york,times,serif;font-size:12pt;color:#000000;"><div>Boise fever<br><br>By Marty Trillhaase of the Tribune<br>September 10, 2010<br><br>JEERS ... to Boise Republican Dan Loughrey. Challenging Rep. Sue Chew, D-Boise, Loughrey has hit upon an idea: Boost Boise State University, nail everybody else.<br><br>Why?<br><br>Because BSU has a winning football team.<br><br>You can't make this stuff up.<br><br>"Boise State has one of the best football programs in America and, without question, the best in Idaho," he said in a press release. "Academically, there's a far different perception."<br><br>Higher education in Idaho "promotes mediocrity" but more money is not the answer, he says.<br><br>"It's abundantly clear that Idaho does not have the resources to fully fund all these four-year schools," he says. "It's high time to recognize that
success in higher education must revolve around Boise State University, where half the state's population resides."<br><br>What is it with these Boise politicians? Sure, they represent a third of the state's population. What about the other two-thirds who live out their meager lives beyond the incandescent glow of Boise's orbit?<br><br>Loughrey should read a book or pick up a phone before he takes the oath of office. Somebody ought to tell him how the system works. The Legislature doesn't allocate money among the college and universities. The State Board of Education has that authority, precisely to prevent the kind of blatant political parochialism Loughrey now advocates.<br><br>So what would the world according to Loughrey resemble?<br><br>Considering how well Boise State plays football, why not share the brand?<br><br>Rename every school in the state. You'd have Boise State University at Moscow.<br><br>Then Boise State University at
Lewiston.<br><br>Boise State University at Pocatello.<br><br>And, of course, Boise State University at Boise.<br><br>Not Boise enough for you, Dan?<br><br>OK. Let's just be done with it.<br><br>Petition Congress for a name change.<br><br>No longer would the great state of Boise be merely a jest.<br><br>Then, we can all live there.<br></div>
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