Governor Christine Gregoire of Washington State is considered a friend of public higher education, someone who has backed universities during tough fiscal times. But in the last month, she found herself frustrated by one of those universities. So much so that the Democratic governor recently wrote a strongly-worded letter to Bruce Shepard, president of Western Washington University, criticizing a decision by the university to give raises to faculty members as part of a new contract. It was clear from the governor's letter that she expected little or no raises this year for state employees,...