Advertisements

Weather

Currently:

,

Tomorrow:

,

Photo by Maura M. Jess. Bryan Brown, left,  portrays UC President Mark Yudof as Aaron Jones, right, presents him with the "2009 Bad Business of the Year Award" in Santa Barbara on Thursday.

Cube Ad

Protesters want Yudof out of UC

By RAY ESTRADA — Aug 6, 2009

Chanting “lay off Yudof,” about 100 protesters in Santa Barbara gave a “Bad Business of the Year Award” Thursday to University of California President Mark Yudof for his budget-slashing plan because they claim it will further hurt the South Coast economy.

Ironically, Yudof was speaking at Fess Parker’s DoubleTree Resort to about 200 area small business owners and their friends who were receiving awards.

“His plan will hurt small businesses in this area,” said Elizabeth Robinson, spokeswoman for University Professional and Technical Employees Local 9119, a labor union that represents many workers at the University of California, Santa Barbara, which is the South Coast’s largest employer.

Many of California’s educational institutions area facing serious cuts because of the state’s $26.3 billion deficit that lawmakers and the governor decided to confront by slashing spending with layoffs and furloughs. Many state workers are furloughed without pay three Fridays each month.

Protestors also blasted Yudof for taking more than $800,000 a year in annual salary and other compensation while the UC system is facing a loss of $813 million from the state.

“I don’t care what you write about how much I get paid,” Yudof said at a news conference after his speech. “I had to take a 10 percent  cut.”

Robinson, who works at UCSB, said by cutting jobs and imposing furloughs, Yudof’s plan will mean fewer dollars will be spent in the area. She also questioned why someone like Yudof would speak at a small business awards luncheon.

The Pacific Coast Business Times’ seventh annual Spirit of Small Business Awards luncheon honored eight business owners and Cal State Channel Islands University professor Rudy Estrada and enticed most of them to buy advertising in the 2,000-subscription tri-county publication while paying $440 for a table.

Across the street, union supporters grilled hot dogs and presented a Yudof look-alike with “the First Annual Bad Business Award for 2009.”

In remarks to the media, the UC president admitted the embattled economy will suffer even more as UCSB employees have less money to spend. And, he said, “The students will really take it on the chin.”

Yudof said the UC will offer fewer classes, which will have more students in them, and might lose some senior faculty because of pay cuts.

Meanwhile, protesters blasted a report that the UC system has agreed to lend the state almost $200 million.

The state will pay the UC back over three years with 3.2 percent interest and use the money to help UC get construction moving again on several stalled building projects at eight of its 10 campuses. UCSB won't get any off the funds.

Yudof dismissed criticism of the loan by saying, “It’s all arbitrage,” referring to the process of buying an asset at a low price then immediately selling it on a different market for a higher price.

Comment on this article

captcha 3638b6da6a9b4613a520367041d90ada

Ridiculous : 8/7/2009

Sure, nobody likes the cuts, but where the heck do these folks suggest we get the money? By taking still more from some other group that's facing cuts too? What makes the UC so special that it can't be touched?


these people are idiots : 8/9/2009

so where's the money supposed to come from you morons? just keep spazing out like spoiled children.


we are all in the same boat : 8/12/2009

Nearly everyone has taken a pay cut -- but the good news is the cost of living has also gone down. Suck it up and get back to work.

tax payer


The threat to UC is President Yudof : 2/13/2010

Current Threats to University of California Don’t Come From the Outside - $3 Million Extravagant Spending by UC President Yudof for University of California Berkeley Chancellor Birgeneau to Hire Consultants - When Work Can Be Done Internally & Impartially
During the days of the Great Recession, every dollar in higher education counts. Contact Chairwoman Budget Sub-committee on Education Finance Assemblywoman Carter 916.319.2062 - tell her to stop the $3,000,000 spending by Birgeneau on consultants.
Do the work internally at no additional costs with UCB Academic Senate Leadership (C. Kutz/F. Doyle), the world – class professional UCB faculty/ staff, & the UCB Chancellor’s bloated staff (G. Breslauer, N. Brostrom, F. Yeary, P. Hoffman, C. Holmes etc) & President Yudof.
President Yudof’s UCB Chancellor should do the high paid work he is paid for instead of hiring expensive East Coast consults to do the work of his job. ‘World class’ smart executives like Chancellor Birgeneau need to do the hard work analysis, and make the tough-minded difficult, decisions to identify inefficiencies.
Where do the $3,000,000 consultants get their recommendations?
From interviewing the UCB senior management that hired them and approves their monthly consultant fees and expense reports. Remember the nationally known auditing firm who said the right things and submitted recommendations that senior management wanted to hear and fooled the public, state, federal agencies?
$3 million impartial consultants never bite the hands (Chancellor Birgeneau/ Chancellor Yeary) that feed them!
Mr. Birgeneau's accountabilities include "inspiring innovation, leading change." Instead of deploying his leadership and setting a good example by doing the work of his Chancellor’s job, Birgeneau outsourced his work to the $3,000,000 consultants. Doesn't he engage UC and UC Berkeley people at all levels to examine inefficiencies and recommend $150 million of trims? Hasn't he talked to Cornell and the University of North Carolina - which also hired the consultants -- about best practices and recommendations that eliminate inefficiencies?
No wonder the faculty, staff, students, Senate & Assembly are angry and suspicious.
In today’s Great Recession three million dollars is a irresponsible price to pay when a knowledgeable ‘world-class’ UCB Chancellor and his bloated staff do not do the work of their jobs.
Pick up the phone and call: save $3 million for students!


Yudof's UCB Chancellor Birgeneau Loss of trust : 5/1/2010

The UCB budget gap has grown to $150 million, and still the Chancellor is spending money that isn't there on expensive outside consultants. His reasons range from the need for impartiality to requiring the "innovative thinking, expertise, and new knowledge" the consultants would bring.

Does this mean that the faculty and management of a world-class research and teaching institution lack the knowledge, impartiality, innovation, and professionalism to come up with solutions? Have they been fudging their research for years? The consultants will glean their recommendations from interviewing faculty and the UCB management that hired them; yet solutions could be found internally if the Chancellor were doing the job HE was hired to do. Consultant fees would be far better spent on meeting the needs of students.

There can be only one conclusion as to why creative solutions have not been forthcoming from the professionals within UCB: Chancellor Birgeneau has lost credibility and the trust of the faculty as well as of the Academic Senate leadership that represents them. Even if the faculty agrees with the consultants' recommendations - disagreeing might put their jobs in jeopardy - the underlying problem of lost credibility and trust will remain.

Transparency


UCB Chancellor Birgeneau loss of Credibility : 5/3/2010

UCB Chancellor Birgeneau Loss of Trust
The UCB budget gap has grown to $150 million, and still the Chancellor is spending money that isn't there on expensive outside consultants. His reasons range from the need for impartiality to requiring the "innovative thinking, expertise, and new knowledge" the consultants would bring.

Does this mean that the faculty and management of a world-class research and teaching institution lack the knowledge, impartiality, innovation, and professionalism to come up with solutions? Have they been fudging their research for years? The consultants will glean their recommendations from interviewing faculty and the UCB management that hired them; yet solutions could be found internally if the Chancellor were doing the job HE was hired to do. Consultant fees would be far better spent on meeting the needs of students.

There can be only one conclusion as to why creative solutions have not been forthcoming from the professionals within UCB: Chancellor Birgeneau has lost credibility and the trust of the faculty as well as of the Academic Senate leadership that represents them. Even if the faculty agrees with the consultants' recommendations - disagreeing might put their jobs in jeopardy - the underlying problem of lost credibility and trust will remain.

UCB Chancellor Birgeneau loss of trust


Transparency : 5/9/2010

UCB Chancellor Birgeneau Loss of Trust, Credibility
The UCB budget gap has grown to $150 million, and still the Chancellor is spending money that isn't there on expensive outside consultants. His reasons range from the need for impartiality to requiring the "innovative thinking, expertise, and new knowledge" the consultants would bring.

Does this mean that the faculty and management of a world-class research and teaching institution lack the knowledge, impartiality, innovation, and professionalism to come up with solutions? Have they been fudging their research for years? The consultants will glean their recommendations from interviewing faculty and the UCB management that hired them; yet solutions could be found internally if the Chancellor were doing the job HE was hired to do. Consultant fees would be far better spent on meeting the needs of students.

There can be only one conclusion as to why creative solutions have not been forthcoming from the professionals within UCB: Chancellor Birgeneau has lost credibility and the trust of the faculty as well as of the Academic Senate leadership that represents them. Even if the faculty agrees with the consultants' recommendations - disagreeing might put their jobs in jeopardy - the underlying problem of lost credibility and trust will remain.


Contact Us!

411 E. Canon Perdido, Ste 2
Santa Barbara, CA 93101

Phone (805) 564-6001

Fax (866) 716-8350

Tile Ads



Copyright © 2009 NODROG Publications, LLC and The Daily Sound
Part of the MediaSpan Network (Privacy Policy)
Privacy Policies: MediaSpan Messenger  |  MediaSpan