Ashamed beyond words

SALARIES. All of a sudden, everybody’s talking about how much academics, especially academic administrators, get paid. On Saturday, the OC Reg (UC salaries: How much university employees earn) declared that

There were more than 250,000 people employed by the University of California system in 2007. Of those, 3,018 earned a gross pay of $200,000 or more.

Wow, I guess. Meanwhile, we’ve been hearing a lot lately about college and university presidents refusing raises, what with the hard economic times and all. On Saturday, the New York Times joined in the fun (Presidents of Colleges Give Back Some Pay). Big bucks, baby.

Garsh, I wonder if the world knows that the Chancellor of the SOCCCD, the worthless and execrable Raghu P. Mathur, makes about $300,000?

Do you suppose he plans to give some of it back?

That seems unlikely. It turns out that UCI’s Chancellor, Michael Drake, makes $387,000 (plus the use of a fancy schmancy house at the university). Raghu occasionally hobnobs with the Drakester.

My guess is that Tom Fuentes will arrange for another raise for Mr. Goo.

DOUBLE DIPPING AGAIN. Inside Higher Ed reports this morning that

The University of California plans to review the pay arrangements of hundreds of double dippers — retirees who are collecting their pensions while also having been rehired into jobs, in some cases at salaries that are higher than they received before retiring, The San Francisco Chronicle reported. The paper reviewed a university database and reported that it found “widespread violations” of guidelines that limit retired workers to no more than one year of post-retirement employment and generally only for part-time work. At least 440 people were identified as violating the one-year limit and 181 were found to be working full time.

BOB JONES SAYS SORRY. IHR also reports that “Bob Jones University has issued a formal apology for its past racist policies, such as refusing to admit black students until 1971 and banning interracial dating until 2000.” Oh good. Back in 2000, Bush spoke there.

YOUNG REPUBLICANS. Then there’s this:

John Fike has resigned as faculty adviser to the Young Conservatives chapter at Texas A&M University at College Station after student members put up posters attacking four professors at the university who had signed a petition defending William Ayers, the one-time Weather Underground leader who is now an education professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, The Bryan/College Station Eagle reported. Fike said he was “ashamed beyond words” at the attack on colleagues. The posters suggest that the A&M professors who signed the petition back his Weather Underground views. The petition actually defends his work as an education professor and criticizes the way Republicans attacked him during the presidential campaign. Student leaders of the Young Conservatives responded to Fike’s resignations by questioning whether he really is conservative, and one alleged that he had an Obama sign outside his house.

Did you know that Raghu used to advise the Young Republicans here at IVC? Yeah. Plus he's the president of the Indo-American Republican Club of California.

I bet it has no members, though.