Nestled in one of last week's news articles about outraged Republican state lawmakers trying to prevent Bill Ayers from coming to Millersville University was this quote from state Rep. Bryan Cutler:

"At the end of the day, the institution does utilize tax dollars," Cutler said to me Friday, "so there has to be a measure of accountability."

Accountability to taxpayers unhappy with MU's choice of speaker, a lauded education expert but formerly a radical during the Vietnam War ear, Cutler was saying.

Cutler touched on something that's hovering over this ongoing controversy. Mainly, what does accountability to the state Legislature look like for Millersville and the other state-operated universities?

The seven state House representatives from Lancaster County — Cutler, John Bear, Scott Boyd, Tom Creighton, Gordon Denlinger, Dave Hickernell and Katie True — have made it abundantly clear what they want from MU: cancel the Ayers event.

The Republicans object both to Ayers' controversial past and his theories on urban education which they consider too radical.

Republicans also are upset about the prospect of taxpayer dollars subsidizing the event, even though the university has said Ayers' speaking fee is covered by private funds, as is the cost of any security measures above what is normally spent for speaking events.

MU has remained defiant. The Ayers show will go on March 19.

Hickernell last week said he's going to a meeting with the rest of the Lancaster GOP delegation and John Cavanaugh, the chancellor of the State System of Higher Education, hoping to sway Cavanaugh to their side.

At this point, though, the story has taken on such a high profile that for MU to cancel the Ayers event would make it appear as if they're bowing to pressure from lawmakers.

There's a precedent there to consider.

Should MU cancel, the university surely would receive praise from local conservatives, but it would raise a serious question for the state Legislature: Where does it all end for Pennsylvania's higher education institutions?

What if East Stroudsburg University invited a controversial conservative celebrity and a small but vocal group of Democratic state lawmakers pressed the university to cancel? If the university caved, there would be serious ramifications to consider about the relationship of the state's higher education system and the body politic.

The same is true now.

Where's the line if the universities have to consider political pressure when booking speakers for their students and campus communities?

Donegal doings
The Donegal Area Republican Committee is seeking candidates for four open school board seats during the May primary.

To qualify, candidates must live in the Donegal School District and have been residents for at least one year.

Those interested should submit copies of their resumé by today to committee Chairman Keith Vogt, 1225 Colebrook Road, Marietta, PA 17547.

The committee will interview prospective candidates on Tuesday.

Quotes of the Week
"And as long as voters think he's honest and transparent, that he's working on their behalf, Americans will give him the benefit of the doubt for a period of time. We don't know, however, how long that will last."
— G. Terry Madonna, director of Franklin & Marshall College's Center for Politics & Public Affairs, speaking about President Barack Obama. In last week's F&M poll, 70 percent of those surveyed said they have confidence in Obama's ability to handle the economy.

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"The figures just don't add up."
— U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania about President Barack Obama's plans to cut the $1.3 trillion federal deficit in half by 2013.

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"Come to the lecture. Question me. Challenge me. But don't challenge me based on a cartoon character created ... to smear Barack Obama."
— Bill Ayers, a University of Illinois at Chicago education professor, to local House Republicans about his March 19 lecture at Millersville University.

E-mail: dpidgeon@lnpnews.com