School's Darth Vader purchase questioned

TAMPA, Fla., Nov. 8 (UPI) -- Florida state lawmakers are questioning a university's decision to spend $10,000 on items including statues of Darth Vader and a Stormtrooper.

State Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, said University of South Florida Polytechnic regional Chancellor Marshall Goodman's decision to spend the money on the statues of the "Star Wars" characters, as well as a statue of the titular character from "E.T." and a replica of Captain Kirk's chair from "Star Trek" marks "another example of questionable expenditures at a time when we're trying to stretch education dollars across all the various needs that we have," the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times reported Tuesday.

Dockery and state Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, asked Goodman last week for an audit after he was accused of mismanaging the school's money. Dockery said Goodman has not responded to the request.

The university said the sci-fi items were purchased to "encourage inspiration beyond conventional thought" for business students.