Category: Communiqués

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Communiqués

NETHERLANDS: Students demonstrate against higher fees

http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2011/01/the_netherlands_lags_on_innova.php

Students demonstrate against higher fees
Tuesday 18 January 2011

Thousands of students from around the country are expected to demonstrate against cuts in further education on the Malieveld near parliament in The Hague on Friday.

The demonstration is being organised through Facebook and several universities and high schools have declared Friday a day off so their students can attend.

On Monday, Amsterdam students forced a day off by holding a sit-in at the university’s service and information centre.

Friday is the birthday of junior education minister Halbe Zijlstra. It is not yet known if he will attend.

The students are angry at government plans to increase fees for slow students and cut grants.

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Communiqués

S.O.S. Militant Researchers and Public Intellectuals

with every goood reason to believe members of Electronic Disturbance Theater / b.a.n.g. lab (Amy Sara Carroll and Ricardo Dominguez) will be in attendance, it would be very interesting to use this opportunity to further a conversation in process around confrontation, occupation, translation, immigration across borders and disciplines.

Colectivo Situaciones On Militant Research [Genocide in the Neighborhood]

Redings: 2011 January 18 and 20, 4-7 pm 3512 Haven Hall, University of Michigan

Translated from the Spanish by Brian Whitener, Daniel Borzutzky, and Fernando Fuentes. Genocide in the Neighborhood (an English translation of Genocida en el Barrio: Mesa de Escrache Popular by Colectivo Situaciones) documents the autonomist practice of the “escrache,” a system of public shaming that emerged in the late 1990s to vindicate the lives of those disappeared under the Argentinean dictatorship and to protest the amnesty granted to perpetrators of the killing. The book is an example of militant research, an investigative method that Colectivo Situaciones has pioneered. Through a series of hypotheses and two sets of interviews, the book documents the theories, debates, successes, and failures of the escraches, investigates the nature of rebellion, discusses the value of historical and cultural memory to resistance, and suggests decentralized ways to agitate for justice.

Moreover, as Whitener has noted, this act of translation, reading and performance of text also actively represents ’over 30,000 people “disappeared” by the dictatorship and these were (for the most part) militants or persons connected to the left. Given 6 degrees of separation, the disappearance of 30,000 persons means that the majority of the population in Argentina knows someone either directly or indirectly (someone’s uncle, someone’s mother’s brother, someone in their neighborhood, etc) who was disappeared. This was a dirty war, waged directly against political opponents. As a result in Argentina to this day, there is a deep, unresolved sense of national shame, anguish, and anger that a state could possibly do something like this. As a result, it forms a political antagonism. This shame/anger over the dirty war is in some ways a hidden universal, something that the majority of Argentineans have access to, and it provides the ground both for consensus and dissensus. Consensus and dissensus exist together because the escrache reveals and activates an antagonism: you can agree or disagree but you can’t escape the structure of feeling, you can’t escape responding. And, secondly, this addresses the first part of your question, the genius or importance or “effectiveness” or “success” of the escrache was, in part, finding a way to activate and address this unresolved trauma of historical memory. It´s not a practice that addresses class, race, sex, gender (as such or only): the importance of the escraches is that they are one of an emerging set of practices that are attempting to address the law itself, how to think of the law, and how it is institutionally put into practice.’

http://occupyeverything.com/news/on-militant-research-with-colectivo-situaciones-on-the-researcher-militant-politics-cultural-memory-imposible-justice-and-reading-from-genocide-in-the-neighborhood/

Sustenance

A Play for All
Trans [ ] Borders

Electronic Disturbance Theater/b.a.n.g. lab, 2010

In “Numbers Trouble,” Juliana Spahr and Stephanie Young reflect on the current state of poetry and publishing. At their article’s far-from simply- number-crunching close, the pair chronicle their informal survey of several women poets, “We’d be curious if you could imagine some way that poetry, or poetry communities (again, however you define the terms) might do more to engage the living and working conditions of women in a national/ international arena.” Transcribing some of the responses they received, they go on to leave the ball in the reader’s court.Consider TBT to be our humble response to Spahr and Young’s call. Arriving at a moment when a generation of poets, artists, and activists are repeating questions about the possibilities of social engagement in what’s shaping up to be the era of the proliferating post- (post-post-modern, postpost-colonial, post-neoliberal, et cetera), TBT queries, “What constitutes sustenance?”

http://www.thing.net/~rdom/Sustenance.pdf

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Communiqués

European Meeting of University Movements: Paris, 11-13 February 2011

For a New Europe: University Struggles Against Austerity
http://www.edu-factory.org/wp/campaign-against-debt/

From London to Vienna, from Rome to Paris, from Athens to Madrid, a new Europe is emerging. Students and precarious workers, citizens and immigrants, the multitudes are fighting for their lives and future in the front lines against the crisis.

Struggling to reappropriate their rights and the shared wealth that they create everyday. Rebelling against the austerity measures that exploit our present and rob us of our future. Raging against the arrogance of power.

Following the collective consensus of last year’s “Bologna Burns” meetings in Vienna, London, Paris and Bologna and this year’s “Commoninversity” held in Barcelona, Edu-Factory and the Autonomous Education Network join the call for a European meeting for all groups who are involved this common fight to create a powerful European network of struggles within and beyond the university. A transnational space to discuss and develop our collective political capacity to counter the attacks against the university and social welfare and to build a new future for everyone.

Through conferences and workshops, panels and assemblies, we will propose the discussion around the key topics of the university, autonomous knowledge production, self-education, networking struggles, transnational political organization and the common.

The time is now upon us to rise up, together, collectively and singularly, to reclaim our lives and build a New Europe based on rights and access. The time has come for us to reclaim what is ours: the common.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: info@edu-factory.org

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Jornada Europea de los Movimientos Universitarios: París, 11 de febrero de 2011

De Londres a Viena, de Roma a París, de Atenas a Madrid, surge una nueva Europa. Los estudiantes y los precarios, los ciudadanos y los inmigrantes, las multitudes luchan por sus vidas y sus futuros en los frentes de batalla de la crisis. Luchan por reapropiarse de sus derechos y de la riqueza que producen juntos todos los días. Se rebelan contra las medidas de austeridad que explotan nuestro presente y nos roban el futuro. Expresan su furia contra la arrogancia del poder.

Tras el consenso colectivo alcanzado en las reuniones “Bolonia Burns” en Viena, Londres, París y Bolonia del año pasado, y este año en el encuentro “Commoninversity”, celebrado en Barcelona, Edu-Factory y la Autonomous Education Network se unen para convocar a una reunión europea de quienes participan en esta lucha común, con el propósito de crear una poderosa red europea de las luchas dentro y fuera de las universidades. Un espacio transnacional para discutir y desarrollar nuestra capacidad política colectiva, para contrarrestar los ataques contra la universidad y el bienestar social y para construir un nuevo futuro para todos.

Ahora es el momento para levantarnos, juntos, de manera colectiva y singular, para recuperar nuestras vidas y construir una nueva Europa, basada en los derechos y el acceso. Nos ha llegado el momento para reivindicar lo nuestro: lo común.

POR MÁS INFORMACIÓN: INFO@EDU-FACTORY.ORG

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Luttes universités contre la crise Paris, 11-13 février 2011

Etudiants, travailleurs précaires et migrants, de Vienne à Londres, de Paris à Rome, de Madrid à Athènes : les multitudes sont en train de lutter pour leur vie et pour leur avenir contre la crise.

Lutter pour se réapproprier des droits et de la richesse commune qu’ils créent chaque jour, se rebeller contre les mesures d’austérité qui exploitent leur présent et les dérobent de leur avenir, s’insurger contre l’arrogance du pouvoir.

Après les rencontres “Bologna Burns” organisées à Londres, Paris et Bologne l’année dernière, et lors de “Commoniversity” qui s’est tenue à Barcelone tout récemment, Edu-Factory et le Réseau d’Education Autonome appellent tous les groupes qui sont engagés dans cette lutte à une rencontre le 11, 12 et 13 février 2011, à Paris, afin de constituer un réseau puissant et transnational dans lequel développer des stratégies capables de contraster les attaques contre l’université et le welfare social.

A travers des conférences et des workshops, des tables rondes et des assemblées, nous proposons d’entamer une discussion autour de thèmes-clé tels que : la production autonome de savoirs, l’auto-formation, les luttes de réseau, l’organisation politique de l’université dans le commun.

A l’intérieur des formes de production prédominantes – dans lesquelles sont intégrées les informations, les codes, les connaissances, les images et les affects – les subjectivités ont besoin d’une grande liberté ainsi que du libre accès aux réseaux de communication, aux banques de données, aux circuits culturels. L’alternative au dualisme public/privé – symétrique à l’alternative capitalisme/socialisme – est aujourd’hui la production du commun.

POUR PLUS D’INFORMATIONS : INFO@EDUFACTORY.ORG

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EDU-FACTORY-KONFERENZ Paris, 11-13 Februar 2011

Studierende, ArbeiterInnen in prekären Verhältnissen und MigrantInnen, von Wien bis London, von Paris bis Rom, von Madrid bis Athen:

Eine Vielzahl an Menschen kämpft in diesen Krisenzeiten für ihr Leben und ihre Zukunft.

Sie kämpfen, um sich ihre Rechte und den gemeinsamen Reichtum, den sie jeden Tag erschaffen, wieder anzueignen, sie lehnen sich gegen Sparmaßnahmen auf, die ihre Gegenwart ausbeuten und sie ihrer Zukunft berauben und setzen sich gegen die Arroganz der Mächtigen zur Wehr.

Nach den “Bologna Burns”-Treffen in Wien, London, Paris und Bologna im letzten Jahr und der “Commoniversity”, die kürzlich in Barcelona abgehalten wurde, rufen Edu-Factory und das Réseau d’Education Autonome alle Gruppen, die in diesem Kampf engagiert sind, zu einem Treffen am 11, 12 und 13 Februar 2011 in Paris auf, um ein starkes und transnationales Netzwerk zu bilden, in dem Strategien entwickelt werden sollen, die es ermöglichen, die Attacken gegen die Universität und den Sozialstaat zu kontrastieren.

Mittels Konferenzen und Workshops, runder Tische und Versammlungen schlagen wir vor, eine Diskussion um Schlüsselthemen wie: autonome Wissensproduktion, Selbstbildung, Netzwerkkämpfe oder die politische Organisation der Universität aufzunehmen.

Die Alternative zum Dualismus öffentlich/privat, sowie zu Kapitalismus/Sozialismus, ist heute die Produktion von Kollektiveigentum.

FÜR MEHR INFORMATIONEN : INFO@EDUFACTORY.ORG

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Per una nuova Europa: lotte universitarie contro l’austerità Parigi, 11-13 Febbraio 2011

Da Londra a Vienna, da Roma a Parigi, da Atene a Madrid, una nuova Europa sta emergendo. Studenti e precari, cittadini e migranti, le moltitudini si battono in prima linea dentro la crisi, per la loro vita e per il futuro. Lottano per riappropriarsi dei loro diritti e la ricchezza condivisa che creano ogni giorno. Si ribellano alle misure di austerità che sfruttano il nostro presente e ci derubano del nostro futuro. Si rivoltano contro l’arroganza del potere.

Seguendo il percorso costruito negli ultimi anni, i meeting del ‘”Bologna Burns” a Vienna, Londra, Parigi e Bologna, “Commoniversity” a Barcellona, Edu-Factory e l’Autonomous Education Network si sono uniti nella richiesta di un incontro europeo per tutte le realtà interne a questa lotta comune, al fine di creare una potente rete europea dei conflitti nell’università e oltre. Uno spazio transnazionale dove discutere e sviluppare la nostra capacità politica collettiva per contrastare gli attacchi contro l’università e il welfare, per costruire un nuovo futuro per tutti.

Attraverso conferenze e workshop, incontri e assemblee, proponiamo una discussione intorno ai temi chiave dell’università, come la produzione autonoma di conoscenza, l’autoformazione, le lotte in rete, l’organizzazione politica transnazionale e il comune.

Per noi il tempo è ormai maturo: bisogna sollevarsi ora, insieme, collettivamente e singolarmente, per reclamare la nostra vita e costruire una nuova Europa, basata sui diritti e la libertà. È giunto il momento di riprendere ciò che è nostro: il comune.

PARIGI, 11 – 13 FEBBRAIO 20011

PER MAGGIORI INFORMAZIONI: INFO@EDUFACTORY.ORG

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Paris, Otsaila 11-13, 2011


Londrestik Vienara, Erromatik Parisera, Atenastik Madrilera, Europa berri bat agertzen ari da. Ikasleak, prekarioak, hiritarrak eta etorkinak, jendetza guztia krisiaren bataila frontetan borrokan dirau euren bizitza eta etorkizunarengatik. Egunero produzitzen duten aberastasunaren eta eskubideak berreskuratzeko borrokatzen dute. Etorkizuna lapurtzen eta oraina lehertzen diguten herstura ekonomikoaren neurrien aurka matxinatzen dira. Boterearen harrokeriaren aurka euren gorrotoa adierazten dute.

Vienan, Londresen, Parisen eta Bolognako “Bolonia Burns” bileretan lortutako adostasunen ondoren, eta duela gutxi Bartzelonan ospatutako “Commoninversity” topaketatik, Edu-Factory eta Autonomous Education Network borroka komun honetan parte hartzen dutenen bilera europear bat deitzeko batu dira. Helburua, Unibertsitatetako barruko zein kanpoko eremuetan borrokatzeko sare europear indartsu bat sortzea besterik ez da. Gure gaitasun politiko kolektiboa garatzeko eta eztabaidatzeko gune transnazionala, ongizate sozialaren eta unibertsitatearen kontrako erasoak indargabetzeko eta guztiontzako komuna izango den etorkizun berri bat eraikitzeko.

Orain da altxatzeko momentua, elkarrekin, kolektiboki, gure bizitzak berreskuratzeko eta eskubideetan oinarritutako Europa berri bat eraikitzeko. Gurea dena aldarrikatzeko momentua iritsi zaigu: komuna dena.

INFORMAZIO GEHIAGORAKO: INFO@EDU-FACTORY.ORG
Gizarte eta Komunikazio Zientzietako Asanblada / Asamblea de Ciencias Sociales y de la Comunicación

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Reunião Internacional de Movimentos e Colectivos Estudantis: París, 11-13 de fevereiro de 2011

De Londres a Viena, de Roma a Paris, de Atenas a Lisboa, surge uma nova Europa. Os estudantes, os precários, os cidadãos e os imigrantes, as massas lutam pelas suas vidas e seu futuro nas frentes de batalha da crise. Lutam para reconquistarem os seus direitos e a riqueza que produzem juntos todos os dias. Revoltam-se contra as medidas de austeridade que explora o nosso presente e nos rouba o futuro. Expressam a sua fúria contra a arrogância do poder.

Depois do consenso colectivo conseguido nas reunões do “Bologna Burns” em Viena, Londres, Paris e Bologna o ano passado, e este ano no encontro “Commoninversity”, em Barcelona, Edu-Factory e a Rede de Educação Autónoma unem-se para convocar uma reunião europeia de quem participa nesta luta comum, com o propósito de criar uma poderosa rede europeia das lutas dentro e fora das universidades. Um espaço trans-nacional para discutir e desenvolver nossa capacidade política colectiva, para lançar um contra-ataque às políticas que afectam a universidade e o bem-estar social e para construir um futuro para tod@s.

Em conferências e workshops, painéis e assembleias, vamos propor uma discussão em torno das questões-chave da universidade, produção de conhecimento autónomo, redes de activismo, organização política trans-nacional e o comum.

Agora é o momento para nos levantarmos, juntos, colectivamente e individualmente, para recuperar nossas vidas e construir uma nova Europa, baseada nos direitos e na liberdade. Chegou o momento para reivindicarmos o que é nosso: tudo.

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Za novo Evropo: univerzitetni boji proti politikam zategovanja pasov Pariz, 11. februar 2011

Od Londona do Dunaja, od Rima do Pariza, od Aten pa do Madrida nastaja nova Evropa. Multitude študentov in prekernih delavcev, državljanov in migrantov, se v prvih vrstah borijo proti krizi, za svoja življenja in prihodnost. Borijo se za reapropriacijo pravic in skupnega bogastva, ki ga ustvarjajo vsak dan. Upirajo se proti var?evalnim ukrepom, ki izkoriš?ajo našo sedanjost in nam kradejo našo prihodnost. Besnijo proti aroganci mo?i.

Slede kolektivnemu konsenzu iz lanskoletnih sestankov “Bologna Burns” v Londonu, Parizu in Bologni in letošnjega “Commoninversity” v Barceloni, se Edu-Factory in Autonomous Education Network pridružujeta pozivu k evropskemu sestanku za vse v skupnem boju aktivne skupine, da bi ustvarili mo?no mrežo univerzitetnih bojev v Evropi in onkraj. Da bi ustvarili transnacionalen prostor za diskusijo in razvoj naše kolektivne politi?ne zmožnosti soo?enja z napadi na univerzo in družbeno blaginjo ter za gradnjo nove prihodnosti za vse.

Univerza, avtonomna produkcija znanja, samoizobraževanje, mrežni boji, transnacionalna politi?na organizacija in skupno bodo klju?ne teme, okoli katerih se bodo na konferencah, delavnicah, panelih in skupš?inah odvijale diskusije.

Prišel je as, da se upremo; skupaj, kolektivno in singularno, da zahtevamo nazaj svoja življenja in zgradimo Novo Evropo, ki bo temeljila na pravicah in dostopu. Prišel je ?as, da zahtevamo nazaj, kar je naše: skupno.

ZA VE? INFORMACIJ: INFO@EDUFACTORY.ORG


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Communiqués

BIRMINGHAM OCCUPIED

http://www.edu-factory.org/wp/

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/birmingham/2010/11/468808.html

University of Birmingham Occupation
Why are we in occupation? We are in occupation because the university are placing many jobs under threat, causing unnecessary stress to staff and causing long lasting damage to the development of the university Birmingham. Staff Job losses are already affecting the student experience, job losses at sociology essentially reduced students degrees to what they could gather out of the library, theology cuts reduced the number of staff departmentally to 20. Right now research fellows in the School of Education have been formally placed at risk of redundancy after a review that as unfair, inaccurate and rushed.
We demand that the university makes a pledge to not make any unnecessary cuts, to run all reviews, with an external advisor, take into account staff/student criticism, give staff fair opportunities for input and take all decisions to democratic bodies like the senate. For the education staff we believe this entire process must be restarted, this time done fairly and the staff in the education department given an apology, for the needless stress caused them by the manner of the review. We demand the university does everything in it is power to keep fees down and pledges to make sure that education remains a resource that all can access. We demand that plans to cut scholarship budgets in College of Engineering and Physical Sciences are reversed. We demand that the university is open with it cuts to Geography, biosciences, environmental sciences, the medical school, European Languages, Ancient and Medieval Studies, Theology and Religion and African Studies International Development Department that it has outlined in the sustainable excellence plan We demand that the university criticizes the Browne review as a socially regressive plan and that David Eastwood apologises for his role in encouraging cuts and fees.
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Communiqués

OPINION JOURNALISM: Mark Yudof and ‘hispanic youngsters’

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-morrison-yudof-20110115,1,1867359,full.column

Mark Yudof became president of the University of California in 2008. Some timing. Since then, the university has seen its state funding, which accounts for about 13% of its operating budget, cut again and again.

Now Gov. Jerry Brown wants another $500 million out of UC’s bottom line. That’s a 20% drop in state dollars. With this cut, for the first time, students will shoulder more of UC’s costs than California will.

Yudof is a realist and a self-deprecating fellow who jokes about his girth. (If there’s the pancake version of a beer tummy, it’s his.) Behind his desk is a Patrick Leger illustration of the pudgy president wearing a matador’s suit of lights and, appropriately, facing a quartet of menacing bulls.

When Yudof was hired, UC Regent Richard Blum said, “He’s expensive, but he’s worth it.” A UC education itself is not the bargain it once was, but Yudof believes the brightest star in public higher education’s firmament can still be the saving of California — if it can itself survive.

You’ve used the Ed Koch line, “How’m I doing?” After 2 ½ years, how’re you doing?

I think we’re doing well, and I don’t mean to be Pollyanna-ish. We have a $20-billion shortfall, long run, in the pension plan. I think it’s going to take 20 years to dig our way out, but we have a plan. We put the new [student] eligibility standard into effect; it’s going to be a less mechanical admission [process], looking at the whole student record. We’re putting in place a 10-campus payroll system. The faculty has been very loyal; we haven’t lost an untoward number of people.

Has it made any difference that you are the first UC president in decades to come into the job with no UC experience?

It has, from the standpoint of perspective. Sometimes I’m just blown away by things that you could never get done elsewhere that have gone on here forever. Other times — I won’t tell you when — I feel, why do you do it this way? It’s like changing a tire with your back to the tire. They may not [choose another non-UC person] again for another 100 years, given my track record! But it does give me a different perspective.

What do you think about Gov. Brown’s proposed cuts to UC’s funding?

I don’t blame Gov. Brown. I don’t blame the Legislature. This is where we’ve been heading for a very long time, so it’s sadness more than shock. In spite of all we’ve done to save money, raise fees, restructure our debt, this is going to cut into the muscle and sinew. A lot of people think there’s a lot of fat. We don’t have enough fat left to absorb a budget cut like this. We will set targets for reductions, and in March I’ll present the whole thing to the Board of Regents. I’m not planning on asking for a fee increase, at least not at this time; I can’t rule it out forever. We’re probably looking at layoffs and program cuts and things like that.

Remember, it’s not $500 million, it’s really closer to a billion, because unlike community colleges and state colleges, the state doesn’t give us money for employer contributions to the pension plan, so that raises the real cost [of the cuts] to $700 million; then you have union contracts, energy contracts, inflationary increases — we really have a billion-dollar problem.

What’s your relationship with Brown?

I like him. He has a bear of a problem. My job is to explain [to him] how complicated we are. We roughly have a $20-billion budget; $3 billion comes from the state. That’s the English department, the Spanish department, economics — that have difficulty generating the big outside grants. I love the humanities; I’m a creature of the humanities. But the engineering colleges are going to bring in more external research support, and that money’s crucial.

Californians need to understand: The wine they drink, that was done at UC Davis. We have people working on artificial retinas, on stem cells to cure macular degeneration, on alternative energy. The people and the governor need to understand.

[Former Gov.] Schwarzenegger had a huge regard for higher education. He understood its role in economic development. Great research universities take a long time to build and can be destroyed in a very short period of time; he understood that.

The Master Plan for Higher Education is more than 50 years old. Is it time to reconfigure it?

I would be open to looking at some of the features. We’re admitting the students as we are required, so that hasn’t changed. The tiering is very good, where you have the University of California, Cal State, community colleges. The biggest problem with the Master Plan is the state doesn’t want to pay for it. We have about half as much money per student, taking inflation into account, as we did in 1990, and that’s driving everything else.

You changed the terminology for what students pay, from “fees” to “tuition.”

When you’re paying $12,000 a year, it’s not like a beaker fee in a chemistry course. It’s a lot of money, $12,000 — let’s call it what it is.

We’ve hit the students very hard, roughly 40% [of increases] in the last three years, I think. What we’ve given back? If you have a family income of $80,000 a year and you’re financial-aid eligible, you don’t pay tuition. I thought that was pretty good. And we didn’t apply the increase to students [with family incomes] between $80,000 and $120,000.

We can’t be free. We can’t be $100 a year. But we can serve students who are not served by the prestigious private institutions. Over half of our students are in families where English is not the primary language. We’re trying desperately to maintain our public mission: high-quality education, reasonable cost compared to most privates.

There’s talk of privatizing parts of the system, like UCLA’s Anderson School of Business.

Well, I don’t like the privatizing. Frankly, internally there’s a lot of criticism of the proposal. But in this environment, if there were areas in which you could charge more to help balance the overall budget, it’s very tempting. But I’ve not signed off on it, [and] it hasn’t gone to the board.

A man on my flight here wanted me to ask you if the big push for business, law, medicine careers — big moneymaking careers — means we’re slighting public service, the commonweal.

We try awfully hard there. The law school has turned heaven and earth to encourage students, with loan forgiveness and other things, to pursue public service. The Blum Center [for Developing Economies] deals with global poverty. The list goes on. That’s part of the public mission. We can’t dictate choices to people; we can educate them.

The governor once spoke of the “psychic rewards” of public service, as opposed to the dollar ones.

That’s an old statement; I don’t know if the governor would stick by it. I think there’s something to it, but I would put it two ways. Many university professors could pursue more lucrative careers. It took me virtually 10 years of law teaching to match the highest offer I got from a law firm coming out of law school. I didn’t regret it; I’d made my choices. So there is psychic benefit.

On the other hand we’re in a competitive business. Like any industry, [faculty] get [other] offers. Compensation is a significant factor. They say, “What am I doing here if I can get 50% more money from a private institution”? You have to be competitive. [In] the nation’s 62 top universities, our highest [paid] chancellor ranks 50th. And the chair of the group, from Santa Barbara, ranks dead last.

Your predecessor resigned after accounts of secret bonuses and salary deals. Now some well-paid UC people claim they had a deal for bigger pensions. It’s complicated — a lot of the money wouldn’t come from public dollars but from profit-making parts of UC. What’s your stand on this? Isn’t the timing awful?

I don’t do secret deals; everything’s in the paper! It is a complicated problem. When I arrived I had no idea we had a ruling [on the pension deal] pending. We looked at it and said, this resolution was never implemented. [The potential beneficiaries] disagreed. They’re not dishonorable people. That is a good-faith interpretation. We think it’s wrong, and we think under the current financial circumstances it’s difficult to justify. Perhaps it was the tone of [their] letter; I think that it hit overly hard.

Is what we’re going through an aberration, or the new normal?

It’s probably the new normal. The truth is, the deterioration of [education] funding predates this horrendous Great Recession. It’s not like things went really great between 1990 and 2007, and then all of a sudden we had this problem. Some of it’s driven by demographics — an aging population of voters [worried about] Social Security and police protection. We have a huge demographic of Hispanic youngsters. It’s no time to trim back and say, well, they’re not our children; well, they are our children, maybe not biologically, but they’re our children.

Who’s going to train the nurses, the veterinarians? Who’s going to invent the better solar panels? Who’s going to make sure the crops are safe? Business is not doing this.

If we eat our seed corn, to use a Texas analogy, there’s not going to be anything to support these programs. You have to create the basis for long-term prosperity.

Is that your sales pitch?

I think it is. We’re the best hope of getting California out of the ditch.

Students are protesting tuition hikes; have their personal stories gotten to you?

Look, life is not totally fair. Some people may have to borrow more money than they wanted to [or] drop out of school for a semester or a year. I worked my way through school; I understand how hard it can be. But when [students] stand up and say, “My mom makes $22,000 a year, and we can’t afford it,” something’s wrong because I put in place programs to deal with the poor. I say, write to me, and I’ll write to the chancellor: “There’s a young man, young woman on your campus who can’t afford to go to school. I want you to look into it immediately.”

This is an age of great anger. No one likes rising prices. They’re not the only ones suffering, but that’s cold comfort to many students and their families.

Are there myths out there, about things like secret endowments?

There are myths. They tell us we have an unlimited endowment; we don’t. It’s restricted. Everyone’s saying we’re giving big bonuses; we’re not. I’m not charging anybody tuition to pay a neurosurgeon at UCSF. These myths come about because it’s easier to have a bad-man theory of what’s going on than to say these are systemic problems. We are systematically underfunded.

What is your overarching message?

The University of California is still the model for the world. I attended a conference in Germany — there’s UC envy all around. UC was the 20th century model; it needs to be the 21st century model worldwide. So let’s not blow it in the land where it all started.