<p>Food for thought: An interesting comparison is provided by two opinion articles published in the Chronicle of Higher Education.</p>
<p>The first ([Think</a> Tank: The ‘Veritas’ About Harvard - Commentary - The Chronicle of Higher Education](<a href=“http://chronicle.com/article/Think-Tank-The-Veritas/48590/]Think”>http://chronicle.com/article/Think-Tank-The-Veritas/48590/)) uses Harvard as an example to critique the financial practices and priorities of elite universities.</p>
<p>The second ([On</a> Hiring - More Bad Economic News - The Chronicle of Higher Education](<a href=“http://chronicle.com/blogPost/More-Bad-Economic-News-/8455/?sid=oh&utm_source=oh&utm_medium=en]On”>http://chronicle.com/blogPost/More-Bad-Economic-News-/8455/?sid=oh&utm_source=oh&utm_medium=en)) illustrates the financial plight of public universities using Iowa institutions as an example, which (the author claims) historically have been financially “lean and mean”.</p>
<p>As students, parents, taxpayers and donors, could the power of our purse be better used to create incentives for public and private universities to serve their constituencies more effectively? Worth thinking about the next time we get a phone call asking us to donate to our favorite university.</p>