Last week, we received a letter from the university president to the governor on the subject of the budget cuts impacting education. Much as I appreciate President Richards and his advocacy on our behalf, I happen to disagree with him when he told Governor Gibbons that “no problems can be solved without adequate funding. While I believe education needs the money it needs, I happen to differ in my opinion with President Richards.
As a member of a university staff for many years, I have seen the kind of asinine waste that occurs because people are lazy. We buy things that we could make ourselves much cheaper, when I learned in industry that premade things aren’t necessarily any better. By contrast, ask Adam Smith, and he’ll tell you that hand craft almost always exceeds manufacture in quality.
I have taken it upon myself to some day show the President how we can still do what needs to be done without necessitating additional funds. The trouble is that people cannot abide finding real solutions- many professors are used to getting whatever they want whenever regardless of cost, when we can do the same or better in house from scratch for pennies on the dollar. This kind of reform will take mandates from above, from people who don’t know anything about science trusting in what I say. Meanwhile, I don’t feel bad using my time at work to try to save them money.
If they always get their wish for more money, politicians will come after the residents of the city for higher taxes. If departments always see increasing budgets, their expenditures will always expand to meet/exceed their budgets.
The real shame comes when I genuinely need something or offer an idea that can save money over the long term and due to someone else’s fiscal irresponsibility we cannot afford it. If you could invest $6000 one time to save $6000/semester in perpetuity, would you think that was a good idea?
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