Not according to this letter signed by 21 UC San Diego department heads. Press coverage here:
The professors argue that the world's finest public university should preserve its elite, world-class research campuses – namely UCSD, UC Berkeley, UCLA and UC San Francisco – and impose proportionately deeper budget cuts on the less-renowned campuses in Merced, Riverside and Santa Cruz or, if necessary, shut them down.
(HT: Infectious Greed)
Are these folks endowed with ears of tin? How about this: Berkeley is the flagship UC, and we can improve it by zeroing-out UCSD! I think the arrogance in this letter will be self-defeating.
Posted by: Vladimir | July 21, 2009 at 01:11 AM
If you haven't already, Vladimir, see Dan's post here (http://www.thefacultylounge.org/2009/07/are-fish-tacos-the-new-latte.html) on the Modesto Bee's op-ed on this. Pretty amusing.
Posted by: Kim Krawiec | July 21, 2009 at 12:22 PM
Vladimir is correct; this is really bad advocacy. The UCSB faculty should sure they know which way the gun is pointing before they pull the trigger.
There's something else here: the letter may signal the next direction for higher education in California. If there's no money, there will have to be cutbacks.
Will this new austerity affect places like UC Irvine's law school?
Posted by: in the shadow of the valley of funding cutbacks | July 21, 2009 at 03:29 PM