This was pretty much writing on the wall after the email issued in November to faculty and staff.

Nine years and five presidents, I think he decided to make a stand and accept the consequences.

The politicians won this one.

Peterson is not coming up with these power plays on his own, he's got enough issues to deal with of his own, this is the agenda which has been hashed out the the university's board of trustees, which is now begining to absorb a number of Bredesen appointees, for better or worse. The old Sundquist board let the system wallow in mediocrity struggling through the Gilley/Shoemaker scandals and now the Bredesen board may put UTK in the corner, leaving it without input/management/operation of the additional developments/opportunities which will present themselves in the Knoxville area. UTK will be trimmed down to function as UTChattanooga, UTMartin, UTMedical, and UTSpace, however, the new stuff and the management of same will rest with the "system" office headed by Peterson.

UTK has benefitted greatly by having the university's overall administration located on the Knoxville campus, however, with new ways of thinking and new ways of doing things being the mandate from above, having the university's administration located in Knoxville may now be a curse.

I'd bet the new chancellor for utk will be former Dean of Students Jerry Askew, whose wife is a business partner of Bob Talbott, UT board member and general confidant and wag of Governor Bredesen.

"Talbott as in HOLROB real estate developers?"

Yes.

This has me more than a bit concerned.

Another South Doyle mtg? ;>)

This is an ecclectic group of 25 members which oversee the UT System.

This is not the board that once belonged to Jim Haslam, Bill Sansom, Thunder Thorton, and the rest of the folks we used to know.

See for yourself.

(link...)

What caught my attention was Talbott's supposed relationship with the Governor. A perceived very connected developer with even more connections. In a region where developer actions and influence have seemingly reached significantly undesirable levels.

Pulled from MetroPulse from 2002, spoken like a true developer:

Wood, one of the few Democrats among prominent Knoxville business leaders, would be expected to favor Bredesen. But Bob Talbott, the president of the Knoxville real-estate firm Holrob Investments, supports Bredesen and has even hosted a fundraiser for the former Nashville mayor, even though he almost always supports Republicans. "I didn't even support Ned McWherter," Talbott says.

Talbott cites Bredesen's experience in managed care, his record as mayor, and his ability to recruit businesses to Tennessee as reasons he is supporting him. "I think that Mayor Bredesen accomplished a lot for Nashville," says Talbott. As far as how much money Nashville spent to bring pro sports and other Bredesen dynamos to town, Talbott says, "I'm sure that the people in Nashville paid a lot of money for the things that they have accomplished. But my sense is that they really got a lot back for what they spent."

Don't be dissin' the governor or anybody just yet, but you need to see why these things often happen in the manner in which they do. Askew is an administrator at St. Mary's Hospital right now and with the merger, they may need to lop a few St. Mary's heads along the way or Askew may just be ready to move on back to big orange country (Talbott rolled off the St. Mary's board a couple of years ago).

Let's just see how it all plays out.

Maybe they can reincarnate Jack Reese or maybe Andy Holt.

Of course, Jack Reese and Andy Holt are both long dead, but if they could find someone similar to either one of them in personality and depth of character most would be happy.

The character thing might be problematic though in today's climate (hard to find people of character now-a-days).

We can always hope for better, can't we?