February 25, 2005

Grants to Improve Teaching

To the Editor:

As The Chronicle noted on January 7 ("Pork Crowds Out the Competition"), Rep. Ralph Regula, chairman of the House subcommittee that recommends appropriations for the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education, thinks members of Congress are, in your reporter's paraphrase, "more in tune with the needs of colleges and universities in their districts than the fund's program managers."

However, Fipse grants are not intended to serve the local needs of