One of the most respected and well known universities in Latin America, the University of Buenos Aires (UBA), has requested 2.454 billion pesos from the government to continue running in 2009.According to La Nacin, the request is for a billion more pesos than for 2008 and is needed simply to keep the University operated under acceptable conditions.The push for so much more money comes in part from students, who over the past year have been active in expressing their discontent with the conditions in which they were studying.It seems unlikely that the University will actually receive these funds in full from the government; a major problem, since the UBA is a publicly funded school, free to any Argentine who wants to attend.

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Between January and June of 2008, the Buenos Aires government has repaired 15,000 potholes and 400,000 meters of sidewalks. According to the government website, this impressive undertaking is only the beginning, since the project is scheduled to go on for a total of four years and cost the city a total of 2,000 million pesos.The mayor, Mauricio Macri, said in a recent press conference that he wanted the people of Buenos Aires to see where their money was going.Nine barrios have benefited from these repairs in the past months, and more will follow.Anyone who has ever walked the sidewalks of the city and accidentally stepped in a hole must agree that this is needed work.

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