Not surprisingly, budget cuts really piss people off. Mark Yudof, President of the University of California, is the current target for those protesting budget cuts in the UC system. He’s president of all ten UC schools, but lives in Berkeley as he also holds a faculty appointment at UC Berkeley’s School of Law.
I’m a California native, and I know two things to be true about UC Berkeley: (1) no one calls the school UC Berkeley or UCB, it’s Cal or it’s Berkeley; and (2) of all the UC schools, the one most likely to protest anything is and always has been, Berkeley.
I realize that Berkeley has the best intellectual reputation of the group, but if I were in Yudof’s position, I would have chosen to park my life near one of the more beautiful and less angry UC campuses. Los Angeles, San Diego and Santa Barbara are gorgeous, smart, and a lot less likely to yell at you or make your life a living hell.
Also, I would have thought twice about accepting the $824,000 annual salary, especially if my hiring date (March 2008) happened to be within a few months of the first wave of budget cuts hitting the fan. I’m sure that being in charge of an entire university system in the State of California right when the recession is sucking the State down the toilet is a hard damn job. But have a soul for crying out loud. Or at least pretend to be vaguely human on the inside and quit laying people off and forcing retirement while bringing home enough cash to pay the salaries of at least sixteen staff.
Exploding cars is a terrible plan, and I do not commend violent protesting in any way, shape or form. Everyone watching will just think that your cause is pointless and that your group consists of infantile ***holes, and you will only bring the wrath of the police force down upon your heads.
So, protestors, use your smart-ass, Berkeley-educated noggins to come up with a better way to tell Yudof he’s screwing up. As for President Yudof, stop being an inhuman schmuck and if you can’t figure out a way to avoid tightening UC’s belts so horrendously, then take a damn pay cut so people will stop focusing their anger on you and your wife.
Further Reading:
UC Regents Appoint a New President for the 10-Campus System
Mark Yudof—The First 100 Days
Higher Ed Budget Cuts in California and Washington
Car Torched Outside UC President’s Home
Posted by Alexa Harrington
