Richard Prince, whose column appears on the Maynard Institute web site has has this take on the Boston Globe's decision to fold its National operation -- while retaining its Washington bureau -- in an effort to cut costs at the paper. He notes, among other things, that the decision affects National Editor Ken Cooper, one of the paper's highest ranking African-Americans. There are a number of journalists on that staff including Cooper, Tatsha Robertson, Brian MacQuarrie, Matthew Brelis and Kevin Galvin who must be wondering what the future holds in store.

I first met Cooper 19 years ago when he was covering the high-profile race in the state's Eighth Congressional District to succeed the retiring Tip O'Neill. He has been a diligent, no-nonsense journalist who took his responsibilities very seriously. (In one scary moment back in October 2001, Cooper was tested for anthrax exposure and his office locked after he opened a suspicious letter and complained of a low-grade fever during those frightening post 9/11 days.)

In another move designed to adjust to the new cost-cutting realities on Morrissey Boulevard, the Globe is also getting rid of its stand-alone 25-year-old Life at Home section and instead folding it into an expanded Thursday Living/Arts section. Life At Home editor Michael Prager, who has done a nice job with the section, is now among the increasingly large number of Globe staffers in professional limbo.