The Cheese Stands Alone...

From the Pioneer Planet:

The U is now officially alone, and an influential lawmaker says arrogance has landed them there.

The University of Minnesota cast the lone dissenting vote this afternoon against a Central Corridor route through campus along Washington Avenue at a meeting of a key advisory panel.

The 11-1 vote is likely to be affirmed by the Met Council later today.

University Vice President Kathleen O'Brien insisted today — as she has all along — the institution is "pro-transit," pro-Central Corridor and a dedicated partner in the effort.

But after the vote, state Rep. Alice Hausman, DFL-St. Paul, ripped the U as none of the above.

"All the issues" raised by the university have been dealt with, said Hausman, who, as chair of the House Capital Investment Committee, authored the bill authorizing the U to borrow $233 million for a series of bioscience labs — some of which will be repaid by taxpayers. "The university has suddenly raised itself to the top while all the others fall by the wayside.

"To say they've been collaborative defies history. ... These last few years, I have not seen them as a team player, and suddenly, now that this is happening, they say it has to be exactly like they want."

Hausman described the U's continued opposition as the "ultimate in carelessness and possibly arrogance." She went on to say the U might face ramifications at the Capitol when seeking funding from lawmakers in the future. "The sense of many is the U is simply accustomed to getting their own way," she said.

She related a conversation with University President Robert Bruininks in which he expressed concerns about the "aesthetics" of the light rail line through campus.

"It's an insult to Minneapolis and St. Paul to assume only the university cares about aesthetics," Hausman said.