By Jeff Goldman, NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
UNION — The president of Kean University dismissed critics of his school’s decision to spend $219,000 on a high-tech conference table, according to a report on NorthJersey.com.
The school did not put the project out to bid and picked a company in Shanghai to strengthen ties with the Chinese government. Kean recently opened a branch campus in China.
Kean didn’t need get other price quotes because the “acquisition of artifacts or other items of unique intrinsic, artistic or historic character” don’t require bidding.
The table is oak with a cherry veneer and seats 23. Among its features are an illuminated map of the world in a glass panel, microphones and data ports, the report said. It also has a motorized, two-tiered glass turntable.
Conference tables for other universities in the state have been built at about a tenth the cost.
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