Moving right along…

7:46 p.m. After searching in vain for the past 20 minutes for a good Airbears location in Pauley Ballroom, I’ve determined there isn’t one. If my connection dies, I’ll take to the Clog’s twitter, so try there.

7:52 p.m. Will Smelko is introducing the panel, Chancellor Robert Birgeneau, Executive Vice Chancellor Breslauer, Dean of Students Jonathan Poullard and Erin Gore, assistant vice chancellor of the budget.

7:54 p.m. Definitely heard some boos and hisses for Birgeneau and Breslauer. Harsh.

7:58 p.m. “The funding per student (from the state) is exactly half of what it was twenty years ago” -Birgeneau

8:00 p.m. “What do you do when you find out you’re missing millions of dollars? … it ruins your summer vacation.” – Birgeneau. Oh, Bobby B.

8:03 p.m. Fee increases get booed.

8:04 p.m. Birgeneau says he hopes to cut tens of millions of dollars by improving administrative operations.

8:06 p.m. “This will impact significantly students from middle class families” -Birgeneau on fee increases

8:10 p.m. “We’ve called on the Obama administration … we’ve appealed to them to save public education,” Birgeneau said. “If the the federal government were to invest in public education half of what they spent on AIG, then that would be enough to permanently solve the problem for about the top 20 public research universities.”

8:11 p.m. March on Sacramento planned to demand investment in California public higher education.

8:12 p.m. “I’ve seen it all, but I’ve never seen it this bad”-Breslauer. I’m getting depressed.

8:15 p.m. Did I mention that I got one of those little golf pencils to write a question to the panel with? It was very exciting. If you’ve got a question you’d like me to ask, comment it.

8:20 p.m. Jonathan Poullard says they’re trying to keep campus housing costs stable.

8:30 p.m. “The idea of democratization of the Regents is a canard. The Regents did not bring this upon us.”-Breslauer

8:33 p.m. “I don’t understand the disinvestment by the state. I have some conspiratorial ideas, but they’re kind of paranoid and I don’t think I want to be quoted on them”-Birgeneau

8:35 p.m. “In a place like Berkeley, there’s a tendency to demonize the Republicans, and maybe it’s justified. Don’t quote me on that”-Birgeneau. Whatcha gonna do about it Birgeneau?

8:40 p.m. The Q&A portion started about 15 minutes ago, in case I forgot to mention that.

8:45 p.m. Bearcardo strikes again.

8:54 p.m. “With public funding disappearing at an alarming rate, we appealed to our alumni and our friends … once these funds come to us they in effect become public funding”-Birgeneau

8:56 p.m. “It’s very rare for an individual to come to you and say, ‘here’s a million dollars, what do you want to do with it?’” -Breslauer

8:57 p.m Will Smelko hasn’t said hi to me. Maybe he doesn’t remember me from my ASUC reporting days.

9:00 p.m. One student’s question: “Why does our football coach earn more than any other public employee?”

9:10 p.m. “There’s a certain amount of cynicism that goes along with this event … I ask for grace and patience as I hear things, and I will extend grace and patience back to you” – Poullard. People are getting a bit riled up.

9:15 p.m UC Berkeley’s budget will be going online before the end of the month, so you can play chancellor and try to balance it yourself. Fire up your Excel spreadsheets.

9:30 p.m. “One of my unhappinesses with the Regents is that there is not a single academic … I’ve nominated several people myself … but I have not been successful”-Birgeneau

9:33 p.m. Breslauer used the word “exigency.” Fancy.

9:36 p.m. “My own view is that fees should not get any higher”-Birgeneau. Again, shocking.

9:42 p.m. One student: “I don’t know how big the strike in November is going to be, but the one in March is going to be hella big. Be ready to be with us in the picket lines, to tell the Regents and to tell the president that we are not going to take it.”

9:45 p.m. Birgeneau does not plan to obtain emergency powers à la Yudof to try to redistribute the budget.

9:47 p.m. According to Birgeneau, there has not been a single executive pay raise on UC Berkeley campus.

9:48 p.m. Sounds like we’re wrapping up. Bye folks!

Image Source: ahisgett under Creative Commons

Ideas are flying left and right for how to get our UC system out of its current financial rut. Our chancellor has a couple of his own up his sleeve: raise and lower student fees according to the financial need of each respective campus.

The University of California Board of Regents traditionally imposes equal tuition for undergrads across all nine UC campuses (currently $6,571 per year). If Chancellor Birgeneau’s idea were to be set into motion, each campus would be allowed to raise or lower said asking price by 25 percent.

He writes in his proposal (titled “Access and Excellence”) several upshots to his propositions. Among these: provide incentive for students to attend UC campuses aren’t exactly first in preference for students (as these campuses would lower their student tuition) and provide sufficient funding for the schools to which students flock like madmen (i.e., UC Berkeley. Represent!). Additionally, Chancellor Birgeneau predicts that any gap between top tier UC campuses and leading private schools will be made smaller once our campuses are better funded.

Well, duh.

His idea might look nice on paper–too bad such an idea reeks of elitism. To what end is our world approaching when the chancellor of a highly ranked public university proposes an idea to commercialize and capitalize on its public services to students able enough to afford such a “commodity”? Three cheers for furthering an education gap in our state.

California students want a university that is competitive in their resources, not their resourcing. It’s time for the state to start doin’ what it does best (no, not eliminating same-sex marriages): putting California tax dollars to work.

Image Source: April Isabel Angeles
Chancellor suggests UC campuses set own tuition [SFGate]

So apparently we celebrate Constitution Day here at UC Berkeley. Perhaps you’re aware because Chancellor Birgeneau sent an e-mail about it. It began:

On September 17th, Cal will celebrate Constitution Day-the anniversary of the signing of our country’s founding document. Federal law requires all schools who receive federal funding to hold an educational program annually on this day.

We sort of wished the e-mail continued like this:

Well, it took a few wine coolers, but screw it. I suppose I’ll be candid with you guys. Hell, it doesn’t matter. You all instantly delete my e-mails anyway. What I meant to say in the first paragraph is that the government gave us cash, so we’re bound to feign Constitution love. Now, if you’re paying attention, which I know you aren’t (and by the way, aren’t marshmallows the softest thing a man can eat?), you might ask me a few questions about this.

You might say, “Hey, didn’t John ‘torture memo’ Yoo speak at our first C-Day celebration back in 2005? Isn’t that kind of weird since the 8th amendment forbids cruel and unusual punishment? Also doesn’t that guy, who still works here by the way, also advocate a system where the checks and balances cease to matter in a time of war?”

Look, enough with your hypothetical questions. Which you, again, won’t ask since you aren’t reading this (and by the way, isn’t the Campanile just a tad phallic?). It is a bit weird that the guy still works here. After his friend (we would have asked Al Gonzales to speak at our 2007 C-day, but he’s tied up in some sort of legal trouble) got ousted from the government, we kind of expected the Yoo to hit the fan. He’s been “controversial” for quite some time. I mean, just look at this old interview exchange:

bq. Doug Cassel: If the President deems that he’s got to torture somebody, including by crushing the testicles of the person’s child, there is no law that can stop him?

bq. John Yoo: No treaty.

bq. DC: Also no law by Congress. That is what you wrote in the August 2002 memo.

bq. JY: I think it depends on why the President thinks he needs to do that.

(Shaking my head in disbelief.)

One has to wonder if there is a tipping point with this fellow. The truth is this, kids: John Yoo is our canary in the mine. If you’re seriously clamoring for his ouster, we’ll know that you might start asking for textbooks that are actually affordable and exercise facilities that aren’t crazily overcrowded. Anyway, that’s when I decide to buy a house out in Napa and take an extended sabbatical.

Fortunately, your lack of entitlement and abundance of apathy has spared me such annoyances. I’ve even had time to get really, really good at Madden 2008 on Xbox 360. I can flip a Cheeto into my mouth while simultaneously throwing a screen pass. In short, I totally rule at life. But yeah, even though you obviously don’t care about your democracy, you’re welcome to enjoy our C-day events. In the meantime, feel free to wiki your favorite Boalt prof.

Love,

Rob

Image Source: Michael Smith, Daily Cal