In a January 24 column, Rocky Mountain News editorial page editor Vincent Carroll cited an Independence Institute study as part of his critique of diversity programs at the University of Colorado, but failed to identify the Independence Institute as a “free-market, pro-freedom” conservative policy research organization.

From Vincent Carroll's column, “A diversity of diversity,” in the January 24 edition of the Rocky Mountain News:

CU Chancellor Bud Peterson is an engaging fellow, so when he tells me that a high-paying new position he's creating -- “vice chancellor for diversity, equity and community engagement” -- won't necessarily fatten the University of Colorado bureaucracy, I naturally want to believe him.

So I throw out the obvious question: Will Peterson meantime eliminate the post of “vice provost and associate vice chancellor for diversity and equity” (readers are now free to come up for air) since those duties are being kicked upstairs?

He's not sure, he replies. It remains to be seen whether the new vice chancellor “is a net gain of a position or not.”

Uh oh. But give Peterson credit for interest in possible duplication and lack of oversight within the university's vast array of diversity and equity programs. “I have some concerns,” he says, “about how well coordinated those efforts are.”

The Independence Institute, which has examined CU's diversity programs, suspects they're hardly coordinated at all. “One year after \[the] CU Blue Ribbon Diversity Commission first met,” a recent report by the institute concludes, “CU-Boulder's diversity administration still houses an unknown number of programs that receive an unclear amount of funding for an uncertain number of employees who serve an unspecified number of students.” The authors believe these programs are costing a lot more than the reported $21.8 million.

As explained on its website, the Independence Institute “addresses a broad variety of public policy issues from a free-market, pro-freedom perspective”:

Unlike other organizations which see government intervention as the only solution, the Independence Institute seeks to explore all alternatives, emphasizing private-sector and community-based solutions. The Independence Institute is recognized by friend and foe alike as one of the most effective organizations at setting a freedom agenda for Colorado and the United States.

In a separate section of his January 24 column, about Cuban leader Fidel Castro (“The verdict on Castro”), Carroll cited the Index of Economic Freedom, jointly published by The Wall Street Journal and the Heritage Foundation, but failed to note that the Heritage Foundation's "mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies." Carroll wrote:

Most people are familiar with Castro's political repression. But to get a sense of how little economic liberty flourishes in Cuba, turn to the 2007 Index of Economic Freedom, published by The Wall Street Journal and the Heritage Foundation. There you'll find Cuba ranking a dismal 156th of 157 nations (29th out of 29 countries in the Americas), meaning things can't get much worse.

In short, Cuba is a tyranny from stem to stern, nearly as bad as the breed gets. There is simply no “on the other hand” about it.