The Squealing Begins

Excuse me for not being overly sympathetic to the various and sundry institutions of higher education here in NJ complaining about Governor Corzine’s budget cuts.

First, as a general rule, when an adult receives something, he should expect to pay the costs of same. College is certainly expensive, but those who receive the benefits are ADULTS, and they are owed nothing by society. The taxpayers already subsidize the costs of higher education; compelling the beneficiaries to give something back is hardly an odious requirement.

Second, the universities could use a little introspection about the appropriate role of a university.

A PUBLIC university, funded by the taxpayers, should not serve as a farm club for professional sports teams. There is simply no excuse for paying a coach

"... $191,000 in salary this year. Under the new deal, he will earn $250,000 in salary next year, increasing to $350,000 by 2012. The contract also increases his guaranteed income from private sources from $325,000 this year to $625,000 next year and $750,000 by 2012."

A football coach? More than the Governor? More than the President of the United States? More than the President of UMDNJ (who, himself, is hugely overpaid)? Do not, Mr. University President, come pleading poverty to me with salaries like that for COACHES.

Or consider: whole departments devoted, apparently, more to indoctrination than education, boasting courses such as "Queer Contexts: Same Sex Desire, Culture, and Representation"; "Racism and Sexism in the United States"; "Lesbian Issues"; etc. (each of these is a real course at a publicly funded college; the list, obviously, could be infinitely longer) . Eliminating departments such as Black Studies, Africana Studies, Women and Gender studies, etc., and replacing them with real scholarship – as opposed to "Introduction to Victimology and Political Correctness 101" – could save millions while, at the same time, ensuring that people who attend college actually receive an education. Do we really need public money funneled to people who are proud of writing "Heterosexism in the Classroom" and who consider a "research project ... on the influence of the Barbie doll on the socialization of college students" worthy of their time? Folks who wish to engage in such frivolity should do it on the private sector’s nickel – assuming they could find someone willing to underwrite it.

So, let’s not hear any whining about budget cuts at state universities until such time as they take a good, long, hard look in the mirror and spare the taxpayer the burden of funding farm league sports franchises, political indoctrination, and tenured radicals. And if, as the President of Rutgers noted, the budget cuts will produce a "different Rutgers", that might not be such a bad idea.