In today’s Rappin’ with Robert segment, President Bruininks says that “it’s not about ranking” when asked about the University’s goal to become a top three public research institution. That goal is spelled out in the U’s strategic positioning initiative. Strategic positioning, and becoming top three in particular, has taken up a substantial amount of the University’s planning discussions in recent years. So the question is: How important is this goal? And how meaningful are Bruininks’ comments? One side could argue that with all the attention focused on this goal, saying it’s not important is not a wise move. However, the flip side to this would be that rankings aren’t that substantial in the first place and reaching top three isn’t really so important. What seems apparent is that the goal is lofty and reaching it might be harder than originally anticiapted, at least judging from what Bruininks said. What is less apparent is whether the top three goal remains a primary target of the University. Mike Rose City editor