Last December, when Bernie Madoff's victim list was made public, we learned about Daily News publisher Mort Zuckerman's "significant exposure" to the swindler's Ponzi scheme, about $30-million in "significant exposure" to be exact. Now the pain is really setting in.

Zuckerman had been the benefactor of "The Zuckerman Forum," a debate competition at NYU that annually awarded thousands of dollars in scholarships to undergraduate students. Tonight Victoria Keenan, the in-term Administrator of Student Affairs at the school, sent out the following email to Zuckeman Forum participants announcing the termination of the competition and scholarship money.

Dear Students:

As many of you are aware, the economic downturn and the Madoff scandal had a particular impact on our benefactor, Mr. Mortimer Zuckerman. Unfortunately, funding of the Zuckerman Forum Scholarship Program was one of the casualties in Mr. Zuckerman's necessary reduction of charitable giving. I regret that I must inform you that the Zuckerman Forum will not be held for the foreseeable future, including the 2009-2010 academic year.

It has been a great pleasure working with all of you throughout this competition. This has been a truly unique experience at NYU, and I want to thank you all for your dedication and enthusiasm over the past four years. I hope to see you at other events around the NYU campus; and I would be happy to put you in contact with other campus organizations that focus on debate, public speaking, and advocacy issues if requested.

Best of luck in all of your future endeavors.

-VIK

Sad. But will that won't stop the Post from taking a cheap shot at Zuckerman over this? It's doubtful.