OLYMPIA — Gov. Jay Inslee downplayed any conflict between the state's two research universities over operations at the new joint medical school facility in Spokane, saying he wouldn't even call it a disagreement.

“I'm confident that we can find a way that Huskies and Cougars can work together on this,” Inslee said during a press conference this afternoon.

As to whether the state would build a new, complete medical school in Spokane if the two universities can't come to an understanding, Inslee said that is “getting a thousand miles ahead of ourselves.”

As reported in this morning's Spokesman-Review, Washington State University President Elson Floyd said the University of Washington is not sending enough second-year medical students to the new program at the Riverpoint campus in Spokane that the two are jointly operating. The school will have only 17 students for the 20 slots approved by the Legislature for a pilot program, and Floyd criticized UW for not recruiting enough students to fill the slots.

If UW won't cooperate, WSU will “plow our own way” and explore setting up its own four-year med school, Floyd said.

UW President Michael Young said only 17 students were interested in the Spokane program. To the suggestion that WSU would set up its own med school, Young said, “Good luck.” Floyd doesn't understand how a med school is run.

Inslee said he talked to people about the med school when he was in Spokane over the weekend and “I'm confident in our ability to work through this.”

Governor-elect Jay Inslee named a three-person transition team today comprised of a school superintendent, a software executive and a university president as he put out a call for talent “every single place we can find it.”

Inslee appointed Washington State University President Elson Floyd, Microsoft corporate counsel Brad Smith and Renton Schools Superintendent Mary Alice Heuschel to lead his search for a new department heads when he takes office in July. The trio of “change agents” represents the kind of state government he said he wants to develop, from both sides of the Cascades, from different industries and from public and private sectors.

Floyd said he welcomed the opportunity to help position the state for economic growth: “We have an incredible talent base here in our state.”

At the same time, he put out a call for Democrats, Republicans and independents who want help the state address what he called its great challenges. The state has struggled since the recession with declining revenues that don't cover its planned programs, and now faces a court mandate to increase spending on public schools to meet its constitutional obligations.

In responding to questions that followed his announcement . . .

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Not sure how often this happens, but over the weekend, a guest column by a Washington State University professor was featured in the New York Times.

Matthew Sutton, an associate professor of history at WSU, writes about the prospect that the apocalyptic beliefs of some fundamentalist Christians might help knock Barack Obama out of the White House and elect the GOP nominee.

It's called “Why the Anti-Christ Matters in Politics.”

It's an interesting premise, whether you ultimately believe it or not.

Conservative student groups from Washington State University and University of Idaho say they plan to put up a chain-link fence on Terrell Mall today to protest illegal immigration.

The groups include College Republicans, Young Americans for Liberty and Youth for Western Civilization. (The last sounds like a group that's a big fan of the college survey course that studies history, art and literature from Ancient Greece and Rome up through modern European and and American history…what a previous generation rather cavalierly used to call “dead white guys studies”. Probably not what they mean, though.)

Their press release says they expect a counter-demonstration from liberal student groups, although liberal groups have yet to announce any such activity with a press release of their own.