Welcome to Jeb's and Charlie's idea of a top flight education! Great letter!

[Sancho]

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20080228/OPINION/802280485/1008

Budget cuts professors' phones
Published Thursday, Feb. 28, 2008 at 9:31 a.m.
I'm an assistant professor at the University of South Florida, and I think it important for the public to know just how much legislative budget cuts are impacting our state institutions of higher learning. No doubt you have read that cuts have decreased the number of in-state student acceptances to public universities. In addition, those students who would expect a transition from a two-year community college now have to worry about continuing to complete a four-year degree at a Florida public university.

Here, however, is a cut that you might not expect: Professors at USF-Sarasota/Manatee have been asked to voluntarily have their office phones removed as a budget-saving provision. This provision is going forward. Imagine for a moment, as a professional, having your office phone removed, and being asked to use and pay for your own cell phone during office hours. It would mean giving out your personal phone number and inviting your clients to use it to call you.

This is just one of numerous cuts we are being asked to consider. In order to retain our positions at the university, we must produce and transmit our research through academic journals and national conferences. But our travel money to reach this expectation is also being cut.

We are already at the bottom of the country in terms of academic pay and teacher-student ratios. I urge you to write your representatives to oppose further budget cuts to the public universities in Florida. More cuts will continue to encourage Florida's best professors to seek employment elsewhere.

J. Lynn McBrien

Longboat Key

Professors at USF- Sarasota/Manatee have been asked to voluntarily have their office phones removed as a budget-saving provision.

[singingbiscuit]

1. "voluntarily"

What does this mean? If you refuse to give up your phone, then the requester just says "Oh well, OK" and moves on? If so, that would verify the voluntarily part. If not, if you were asked to give up your phone and then if you refused they yanked it anyway, then that's not voluntarily. That's an order, and it deserves to be rebuked. I think if this is voluntarily, all the faculty has to do is say "thanks, but (ahem) no thanks." Power to the people. Gosh I just love Florida sometimes. We even have to have a new state song!

[Sancho]

2. I think that the "voluntary" part was pretty compulsory. Sort of "or else".

These same folks will build a new baseball stadium, buy Jeb a new jet, spend $500 a night at hotels to have a "meeting", and strip the offices of faculty in the universities. They are truly crazy...

[Laylagrande]

3. To think that this man wanted to run for president

ugh, thank god his brother messed it all up for him.