Minnesota Asks State for $74.5 Million

As private and public colleges across the country are slashing their budgets, imposing hiring freezes, and halting unnecessary construction, the University of Minnesota has requested from its state legislature an extra $74.5 million for a number of construction projects, the Star Tribune reports. The Board of Regents voted for the capital request, which includes $39.5 million for construction of a new Bell Museum of Natural History and $35 million for "critical" repair and renovation projects, saying that "doing repair or renovation projects that are labor-intensive...will help the economy."