"Just as we have funded roads and airports, we need to provide safe and open platforms for online community forming. As private systems proliferate, it's time for our publicly-funded institutions to jump on the Web 2.0 cluetrain and offer an alternative."

Well said. I'm glad you see some wisdom in offering publicly-funded platforms for the development of online communities. So far, over at my blog, the commenters don't agree. I think they bring up some good points, but I also contend that this is an idea worth pursuing. It concerns me that institutions of higher education are ceding such important ground to commercial sites that inevitably will come and go.