Ehrlich to make rare campus stop

Gov. Bob Ehrlich will visit the campus Monday to tour the business school and talk with students — his first appearance in university classrooms since pledging an increased commitment to state higher education in January.

Ehrlich (R) will join business school Dean Howard Frank, university President Dan Mote and 54 masters of business students in touring the school’s teaching and research laboratories in Van Munching Hall. He will also hold a 30-minute question-and-answer session.

Some have criticized Ehrlich for straying from publicly addressing all university students about tuition and funding issues and placing most of his attention to the university’s football and basketball programs. Monday’s program will not be open to the public.

In January, Ehrlich announced that his budget for fiscal year 2006 included $800 million for the University System of Maryland, including a $43 million more — a 5.7 percent increase — than last year. University and system officials have since pointed out that minus $6 million in earmarked funds, the boost is actually a 4.8 percent increase.

In October, Ehrlich gave a pep talk to a downtrodden Terrapin football team, and a Diamondback columnist reported that a spokesman for Ehrlich said it was because it was the university’s most recent request. However, Ehrlich refused to appear on former Student Government Association President Tim Daly’s radio show on campus station WMUC 88.1 FM last year after Daly called him “public enemy No. 1.”

In November, Ehrlich did grant an interview via telephone on SGA President Aaron Kraus’ radio show on WMUC. It was then that he hinted at giving a “bump” to higher education’s budget.

Ehrlich also visited College Park in December when he announced a $20 million pledge to Prince George’s County development including public safety improvements at and around the College Park Metro Station.

He also visited a Towson University communication class in December, answering touchy questions on his thoughts on multiculturalism and media freedoms.

Higher education has been a key issue in Annapolis since deficits left by former Gov. Parris Glendening (D) forced Ehrlich to cut more than $120 million from the system’s budget in 2002.

Since then, tuition has risen about 30 percent and higher education supporters have lobbied in the state’s capital for a permanent fix for the system’s budget woes. There are no statutory requirements for public higher education’s funding and tuition levels in the state.