Woodhouse: Trustee material

Excellence may have a price, but trustee-hopeful Allen Woodhouse doesn’t need to be reminded.\nPlacing direct action ahead of recycled bureaucracy, Woodhouse emphasizes the University’s future without slighting its present and is thus the election’s most progressive and creative candidate. \nHe doesn’t have to cram himself down your throat for you to believe him, either. \nWhile agreeing that Bloomington has a special role in the University system as the flagship campus, he acknowledges it is only the “first among equals” and “there must be no contest between parts of the whole.” He also believes in the power of outside funding to solve budget crises. \n“Tuition increases are not the answer,” Woodhouse said. “This is an especially important ... opportunity for much greater work on private donations.”\nYet Woodhouse’s finest quality is his forthrightness. \nHe doesn’t play it safe with aim-to-please answers when asked about outsourcing plans.\nAlthough many in the University oppose the practice, he asserts “There has been a national bias in higher education (against outsourcing) ... (But) It often generates more university funds and improves service to students.”\nHis most telling answer, however, simplifies the “excellence-versus-affordability” debate: “Money is not always the answer. Teaching and the student should always come first.” Trustees of today, take note.