So with my extra field in the database i figured out how to do it. now i know for sure this is not the best or easiest way to do this, but this is what works and it's pretty stable.

if( !empty( $current_User ) )
{
if( $current_User->level > 1 ) { $userlevel = 1; }
else { $userlevel = 2; }
}
switch( $userlevel )
{
     case 1:
	echo '<li class="widget_core_coll_category_list"><h2>Personal Message</h2>';
	$result = mysql_query("SELECT user_message FROM evo_users WHERE user_ID='$current_User->ID'");
	$row = mysql_fetch_array($result);
	echo '<textarea readonly cols="20" rows="10">', $row['user_message'], '</textarea></li>';

	echo '<li class="widget_core_coll_category_list"><h2>Edit Messages</h2>';
	echo '<form name="msgMessage" method="POST" action="msgaction.php"><select name="usertoedit" id="usertoedit">';
 	$result = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM evo_users ORDER BY user_login");
	$before = '<option value="';
	$after = '">';

	while($row = mysql_fetch_array($result))
  	{
  	echo $before ;
	echo $row['user_login'];
	echo $after ;
	echo $row['user_login'];
	echo '</option>';
	echo "\r\n";
  	}
	echo '</select><br><input type="submit" name="choose" value="Choose"></form></li>';

     break;
     case 2:
	echo '<li class="widget_core_coll_category_list"><h2>Personal Message</h2>';
	$result = mysql_query("SELECT user_message FROM evo_users WHERE user_ID='$current_User->ID'");
	$row = mysql_fetch_array($result);
	echo '<textarea readonly cols="20" rows="10">', $row['user_message'], '</textarea></li>';
     break;
     default:
}

then i have msgactionphp with an editable textarea so you can change the message which in turn runs to msgupdate.php which sets the message in the database and returns to the blog.

Is this something that might be better as a plugin? You can create tables with a plugin that will not be at-risk when b2evolution upgrades and changes details about the db that you are taking advantage of is what I'm thinking.

most likely. i used b2evo a long time ago, but i just started to use it for the company at which i work. i'm not too worried about upgrading, but if i decide to play with b2 tables on my personal blog, i'll definitely consider that.