I’m presently waiting for class to start, but this post wont be -well- posted until I get home. A curious fact, really; particularly when one considers the fact that a major propaganda ad campaign for this particular California State University surrounds around the fact that “we have FREE Wifi”. They don’t lie because, I mean, they do have WiFi and it is certainly free. Of course, the only place you can get a dedicated WiFi connection is on the first (of five) floors within the Library. Anywhere else on campus? You’re S.O.L. because the connection will be sketchy at best.
Today is the first annual Board of Trustee meeting for the California State University system. First thing on the agenda? A pay raise for the Chancellor of the CSU system, amounting to about an 11% increase. Do you know how much that person will make, assuming the motion will pass (the most likely scenario)? $421,000 a year. All campus Presidents and Chancellors also receive a free house to live in and $1000 a month for vehicle expenses. The Presidents of the campuses will also receive a raise, making the President of California State University Bakersfield’s annual salary about $280,000 a year. Oh, and he already drives a big, beautiful, shiny Cadillac. So does his wife, since she has a matching one she regularly parks in tow away zones.
The argument for the raise is the idea that supposedly we have to maintain competitive salaries for the executives, lest they run screaming for the private sector. Let me be the first to say: bye! Certainly there are good people that would take those jobs for a considerably lesser amount of money, let alone have the audacity to ask for a second pay raise in a year (they got one in January).
Throughout all of this, our professors aren’t allowed to print things, because paper supplies are dwindling. The budget doesn’t allow for paper, but the President and his friends need an(other) 11% raise.
Trash cans on campus are emptied once a week, while floors and white boards are cleaned maybe once a quarter. The budget doesn’t allow for full time janitorial work, but the President and his friends need an(other) 11% raise.
For some reason, I can’t help but notice that the administrative offices are spotless, while our classroom floors are covered in dust, dirt, and grime.
Classes have been cut, so those that are offered are full to the brim. Hell, I had a class where during the first class, a few folks had to be seated on the floor (people ended up dropping, due to class size). The budget doesn’t allow for more classes, but the President and his friends need an(other) 11% raise.
Assuming you get a desk, it’s likely to be cracked, creaking, and falling apart. Actually, most of the desks are those tiny lil’ half desks, which most certainly aren’t anywhere large enough to balance a laptop on. The budget doesn’t allow for new desks, but the President and his friends need an(other) 11% raise.
Higher up classes aren’t being offered because tenured professors are forced into teaching 100 level classes. Why? Because the traveling lecturers and part timers were fired. The budget doesn’t allow for more professors, but the President and his friends need an(other) 11% raise.
Our tuition has gone up 90+% over the last four years. The budget doesn’t allow for tuition cuts and extra scholarships, but the President and his friends need an(other) 11% raise.
The budget is tight, they say, yet the campus police added a brand-spankin’-new Ford SUV that retails for at least $30,000 (and that is before all the “police” additions they surely made). Now they have an SUV, at least 3 or 4 pickup trucks, and 3 or 4 golf carts. . . all for our campus that has no roads that run through it and that you could leisurely walk across in 10 minutes. Oh, and apparently they plan on getting a few more SUVs. When my roommate called the campus police to ask if this is the only SUV they plan to buy or if there are more, she was told by the girl who answered, “who are YOU to ask?” Only one of the people whose tuition bought that SUV, you dumb bitch.
Greed is a disgusting thing, particularly when your greed comes at the cost of young adults (and some older, of course) who are doing nothing but trying to educate themselves. One does wonder how they can drive themselves to work every day in their luxury cars, only to face students struggling to keep their heads above the water in the face of high tuition, books, and a shittily run campus. I sure hope they all sleep well in their free houses every night.
And even though I’m paying somewhere around 90% more than I did 4 years ago, we still don’t have decent WiFi. Assholes. :mad:
