According to this piece in the Raleigh News & Observer, UNC has run up a tab of $782,000 for the services of Edelman, the big public relations firm.

Defensively, the university’s spokesman tells us that it isn’t state money being used and that many universities buy PR expertise. Where the funds come from, it seems to me, is not as important as recognizing that there is an opportunity cost. Spending money on PR stuff means less to spend on things that might have something to do with education for the students.

Not all of that 782K relates to the big athletics scandal, but apparently a large chunk does. For $7.82 I’d have gladly written the memo saying what the university needs to say: This was a disgrace and it will not happen again.”