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Tribune readers may have been fascinated to learn Monday just how important it is to universities — such as the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque — to make best use of their real estate holdings these days.

As Tribune reporter Carrie Seidman showed in the front page article, "Land development often used for economic gain for schools such as UNM": The controversial proposal to develop a portion of UNM's North Golf Course as a retirement complex is part of a long history of universities and colleges using their land-holdings to generate revenues to supplement sagging or stagnant budgets and the rising costs of higher education — including ever-rising student tuition.

Minimizing the increasing cost "burden" of public higher education on students is always a worthy endeavor - and, comparatively, UNM does a far better job than most public universities. This is among the reasons UNM is recognized as one of the unsung bargains in American higher public education. Those who want to preserve the golf course should realize that doing so could have long-term financial impacts on UNM's objective of keeping costs down.

Currently, UNM is at least demonstrating good faith by putting the retirement project on hold, while UNM's new President David Schmidly organizes a citizen task force to gather feedback and determine what alternatives might be acceptable.

It's an admirable step. But how will UNM respond, if the citizens say that "no development" on the golf course tract is the best or even only option?

UNM is fortunate to have a "luxury of land" and a record of using it to financial advantage, said David Harris, UNM's executive vice president for administration and UNM's most recent former acting president.

UNM has done a pretty good job of maximizing the value of its land assets — from the land under Winrock Mall, which UNM sold to create a $33 million endowment, to its current 15 percent interest in the research park at Mesa del Sol.

Harris makes good points both about the long heritage of such practices, as well as the inherent differences in community acceptance between developing tracts distant from the campus, compared to ones on campus or its edge — such as the conflicted golf course.

In the case of the golf course, it's not only proximity or change that have folks riled. It's also that the land is being highly and regularly used by the university community, the local neighborhood and many across the city who relish this open space for golfing and other recreations, primarily walking and running, but also for land's restorative qualities, including bird- and wildlife-watching.

That's why its important that UNM's administration and Board of Regents, which ultimately will make the decision on the golf course, understand that this parcel can be viewed as already "developed."

As UNM consults development experts, including a Chicago firm it recently hired, UNM must consider that while there may be far-more-lucrative revenue-producing uses, the North Golf Course may well be serving its optimum value, just as it is — at least in terms of community values that best serve and integrate the university with its immediate neighborhood and the surrounding community.

No doubt, a retirement complex is a good and worthy use. But perhaps it belongs better on one of those other parcels UNM holds that, as Harris so aptly describes them, are less-near the core campus and "mission goals of the university."

What does the North Golf Course have to do with higher education? For those who use it every day and feel a connection across communities, that's like asking what the much-fabled Pit has to do with higher education.