A CEO announces 10,000 jobs are being cut to make up for a revenue shortfall. He then goes home to his ,2.5 million mansion where his private chef prepares him a meal that would cost hundreds of dollars in a restaurant. Life is rough at the top.
This is the picture in my mind as I read about Gov. Charlie Crist's proposed 6.2 percent budget cut from the State University System's funding. While Crist may not be directly cutting jobs, there is a real fear that his proposed cuts will do just that. The first round of budget cuts left many UF staff members wondering if their jobs were in jeopardy. While departments were spared that time, how much more can be cut from the budget without cutting out salaries? As Anuradha Pandey pointed out in Tuesday's Alligator Speaking Out column, UF has the highest student-faculty ratio of any university in the country, classes are harder to get into and advising offices are swamped. It's hard to imagine that any faculty positions, which are already overloaded, would be lost due to funding cuts, which leaves staff positions.
The first round of budget cuts caused a reduction in services, which I'm sure has been felt campuswide. The hiring freeze left many departments undermanned. Any further cuts would leave several departments unable to function in the manner they should to provide the students, faculty and staff the services they need to carry out their jobs.
The lead article of Tuesday's Alligator read, "Crist's proposed cuts to cost Fla. students." While students may feel the result of the cuts, it won't be financially. These proposed cuts could potentially cost state university employees their jobs. Part of the reasoning behind the state budget shortfall is due to the decline in the housing market. A loss of jobs will do nothing to help that. Unemployed people can't buy houses nor pay their mortgages, which would only increase the number of foreclosures and further reduce the state's property tax income.
I urge all of you to write your state representatives and let them know that our state universities can't afford these proposed cuts by Crist. The representatives in Alachua and Marion counties include Charles S. "Chuck" Chestnut IV, Larry Cretul, Kurt Kelly and Joe H. Pickens, You can find a complete list of legislators, as well as their addresses, on the Florida House of Representatives Web site.
Ed Salsberry is a UF Preventive Maintenance Coordinator.
