A coordinated push by Wayne State, Michigan State and the University of Michigan for more state funding is being seen as a hostile move by the state's other public universities, according to this article. "It's a bad idea whose time has come," former WSU provost and current president of Western Michigan University Diether Haenicke said in testimony before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Higher Education in Flint Friday. Oakland University President Gary Russi also was critical of the plan. He said the proposal by the state's three research universities "has the very real potential to be divisive and counterproductive, and damaging to Michigan's economy." In testimony before the committee in Detroit Wednesday, President Irvin D. Reid pointed out that research conducted by the three universities remains the state's primary means of producing new talent and bringing Michigan residents a stronger quality of life. It is unclear how the funding debate will affect the Presidents Council, State Universities of Michigan, but Executive Director Mike Boulus said he doesn't expect any spillover from the situation. "The issues of distribution methods relative to funding are not new," he observed.