ATLANTA -- Good-natured ribbing by alumni of rival colleges isn't unusual, but it's not often that governing bodies set aside time in official meetings for it the way the University System of Georgia's Board of Regents did today.

Chairman Robert Hatcher called on Regent Felton Jenkins for a "report on the value of a quality college education," to the snickers of senior system administrators who knew what was coming.

Jenkins revived an old joke about a University of Georgia graduate watching the late television news with a University of Alabama alumnus. The program shows a University of Tennessee grad on the ledge of a building threatening to jump.

The Alabama grad offers to bet the Bulldog $20 that the Volunteer takes the plunge, and the Georgia alum accepts. Moments later, the man indeed dives off the ledge into the waiting net of fire fighters below, landing unhurt.

The Crimson Tide man pushes his money over, conceding the bet. But the Georgia man turns it down, Jenkins said.

"I can't take your money. I saw this on the 6 o'clock news, and I knew what he was going to do," Jenkins quoted the Georgia graduate. "The Alabama guy says, 'I saw it, too, but I didn't think he was dumb enough to do it twice."

After the punch line, Hatcher joined the fun.

"You can see the value of a high-quality education," he said.

A spokesman for the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees declined to respond.