I can't comment on the rest of your post, but I think you're barking up the wrong tree here. I don't know how you're counting it, but if you consider hiring six adjuncts instead of two tenure track profs an increase in staffing then you're looking at the wrong set of numbers. It is a lot cheaper to hire the six than the two--and a lot more flexible which the corporate CEOs in charge of these institutions love to tout. On the other hand, if we are just talking about non-faculty staff I would be surprised if there has been some 800% increase (or what ever # Doug cites in the article) in their number since the midcentury boom in research funding in higher education. If there is new funding supporting research staff, I'd be very surprised if it was directly tuition funded--more likely its outside grants etc. But in any case, what you're talking about seems way too anecdotal to pass the sniff test.
s