Perry-UT power struggle intensifies
"On the weekend of Super Bowl Sunday, Gov. Rick Perry's chief of staff called Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, to share some disturbing news. The University of Texas regents planned to meet in a special telephone emergency session to discuss a new report that assistant football coach Major Applewhite had sexual relations with an adult student during the team's trip to the 2009 Fiesta Bowl.
When Zaffirini questioned the need for such an extraordinary meeting to discuss a 4-year-old incident, she recalls, former Perry chief of staff Ann Bishop told her the regents were resolute.
"The regents don't want this to become another Penn State situation," Zaffirini recalls Bishop telling her.
To those who have followed the mounting tempest between the University of Texas and the Aggie-graduate governor, the inflammatory comparison provided more evidence that Perry - and his appointees - are on a mission to fire William C. Powers, the well-regarded president of the University of Texas at Austin. To spotlight Applewhite's indiscretion would undermine the man at the helm of the institution that employs him. After all, Jerry Sandusky cost the president of Penn State his job.
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The Perry-Powers dispute mirrors a nationwide debate about balancing higher education affordability with the traditional university-level research.
At Wednesday's board meeting, Hall defended his call for a renewed investigation as responsible oversight of his alma mater. Likewise, Cranberg asserted that he had legitimate concerns about the handling of the law school foundation - and rejected the "witch hunt" characterization. In his email, Powell said the regents would have no further comment until the new investigation is concluded."
(HT: EJ)
Read more: http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/kilday-hart/article/Dispute-over-UT-s-Powers-rooted-in-governor-s-4379796.php#ixzz2OTh2AVaC
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