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Because this issue cuts to the heart of public sector injustice, it won’t go away easily despite the fact that a U.C. top gun, the University Vice Chancellor, was quickly dispatched to our local Sentinel to rationalize the recent public event. The result of his attempt was tepid. So, continuing the saga of the U.C. administrator’s constant concern with budget issues and possible shortfalls, they still just approved salaries and bloated moving expenses for Denise Denton, new UCSC Chancellor, and her girlfriend, Professor Gretchen Kalonji.

As a result of her request, a new position was created at UCSC for Dr. Kalonji. It appears she has prestige in engineering circles, so now the Regents didn’t want to lose her; in fact, they were honored and happy to pay her $193,000 per year and $50,000 for moving expenses. All this while university leaders were denying first-time raises in three years for UCSC clerks and other employees. As usual, the top dogs get too much, and those on the lower levels don’t get enough. Even Professor Kalonji states “It’s so expensive to live in California”, so is it equally expensive – or more so – for clerks?

The inequity in salary is insulting and unjust, especially since this past year UCSC has been the recipient of a windfall of donations of $35 million from alumni and others. They used $5 million of that endowment to purchase a large industrial building in Westside Industrial Park with significant acreage for future buildings. Does that also mean that the university is exempt from paying property taxes? If so, We the People will have to pick up the slack.

Haven’t we also lost the former Holiday Inn to the public and visitors? It was either purchased or leased to house UCSC students. When the University of California system in the 1960s received the 2000-plus acres from the Cowell Foundation to create a U.C. campus, the plan was to build housing for students and some for faculty on campus. That happened in the early years, but now it appears that the entire west side of Santa Cruz is being inundated with students and their cars. Parking is becoming a problem, rents are higher, and residential neighborhoods are crowded and deteriorating. Clearly, the university on the hill is opting to continue to grow but build minimally on campus and keep it pristine, and instead buy or rent facilities in Santa Cruz. Doesn’t one get the uneasy feeling that UCSC is gradually taking over our city?