Local lawmakers skeptical of proposal's practicality, benefit to state

State lawmakers expressed concern over the possible passage of a bill that will evaluate the feasibility and need to establish IUPUI as an independent state university.\nAfter a second try last week, state Sen. Lawrence Borst, D-Greenwood, saw his Senate Bill 51 passed by the Senate Rules and Legislature Procedure Committee.\nThe bill, if passed by the senate, will create a commission composed of IUPUI alumni, IUPUI students and Marion County residents. They will investigate the delivery of education at IUPUI, the feasibility of establishing an independent, state-run university at IUPUI and the potential benefits IU and Purdue can reap from severing association with the Indianapolis campus.\nIf Senate Bill 51 is passed, the University of Central Indiana will be established in place of the satellite campus of IU and Purdue. The new university will be set up as a third major research university based in Indiana. \nAll of Purdue's programs based in Indianapolis will become part of UCI. IU will have most programs go to the new university, except the School of Medicine, School of Dentistry, School of Nursing and School of Law-Indianapolis. These programs would remain associated with IU.\nAccording to a Jan. 17 article in the Indianapolis Star, "Borst thinks IUPUI could better serve the community as a separate institution not affiliated with either Indiana or Purdue universities."\nMany in the state government see this bill as an unnecessary step. Mary Dieter, spokeswoman for Governor O'Bannon, said this bill would create problems for the state university system.\n"It's important to remember that this bill only creates a study commission," she said. "However, Indiana University and Purdue University have served the state well at all of the campuses statewide. If IUPUI becomes an independent university, it would lose many of the efficiencies that exist due to the cooperation of IU and Purdue. There is no need to create a third major research university in this state."\nState House Representative Peggy Welch, D-Bloomington said she is opposed to the bill for numerous reasons. \n"I am a huge supporter of Indiana University, and I don't want to see the school taken apart," she said.\nWelch adds that the proposed university would suffer major drawbacks if created.\n"IUPUI is its own school with a reputation now," she said. "If the name is changed all of the prestige associated with the school is lost. I have talked to professors who don't want to lose their association with IU or Purdue. They work for world-class institutions, and they don't want that to change."\nState Representative Mark Kruzan, D-Bloomington, also feels that the new university would harm IU and Purdue.\n"Changing the name would have a huge, negative impact on enrollment," he said. "Without the name many students may choose to attend other campuses of IU or Purdue, or attend other universities with more easily recognized names."\nThe continuing budget crisis at the state level makes creating the new university a financial impossibility, Kruzan said.\n"The new university would create a huge drain on the state budget," he said. "Since IUPUI is a mainly commuter campus, dormitories would have to be built, new programs would have to be funded, and all of this with less tuition coming in. UCI would just drain monies earmarked for IU or Purdue."\nKruzan emphasized how unlikely the passage of Senate Bill 51 is.\n"Senate Bill 51 has been proposed every year for 25 years," he said. "If it makes it to the House, it will fail. And it always fails for the same reason; it is a mistake"