The protesters and rioters of the University of California seem distracted.  Perhaps they are distracted on purpose.  So much to which they allegedly object on the other side of the country in Washington, D.C. is fresh, bold, and alive right beneath their noses.  (Maybe their noses are worn out.)

The University of California (and the Berkeley campus specifically) under Janet Napolitano is rife with income inequality, job discrimination, and bourgeois personal enrichments.  Their attention is turned to the shiny object in Washington, D.C.

In short, it seems there are those feeding well at the public trough, who wish to keep the money flowing by gouging taxpayers and outsourcing jobs, with personal enrichment as the final prize.

UC jobs are being outsourced

"An article in Computerworld magazine by Patrick Thibodeau, confirms what we have been hearing: UCSF is outsourcing IT jobs. The service agreement that UC signed with HCL to outsource 17% of UCSF's IT staff, can be leveraged by any campus at UC. 49 career employees have already received layoff notices, plus contract employees and vendor contractors. And we believe that this is just the beginning. If we don't take action before these layoffs start, this could be the tip of the iceberg, and who knows what department is next to sell off our livelihoods?

Did the university system in California consider trimming some salaries?

The 2015 pay scale for the five chancellors are: $772,500 for UC San Francisco's Samuel Hawgood; $516,446 for UC Berkeley's Nicholas Dirks; $441,334 for UCLA's Gene Block; $436,120 for UC San Diego's Pradeep Khosla; and $424,360 for UC Davis' Linda Katehi. Others on the list include the UC system's chief investment officer, Jagdeep Bachher, whose salary now will be $633,450; UC's general counsel, Charles Robinson, $441,334; and UC Davis' medical center chief executive, Ann Madden Rice, $848,720.

Let us not forget the pensions and the health care packages that come with retirement from these lofty salaries.  The salaries are merely the starting point.  Here are some of the fringe benefits for Janet Napolitano, a person who keeps her skills and talents a closed secret.

The University of California has leased an Oakland residence for incoming system president Janet Napolitano for $9,950 a month, officials said Monday. Napolitano, the former U.S. secretary of Homeland Security and former governor of Arizona, will be provided the housing plus an annual $570,000 salary, $8,916 a year for car expenses and $142,500 for one-time relocation costs. Napolitano is scheduled to begin her UC presidency Sept. 30, with her office at UC system headquarters in downtown Oakland.

Nice work if you can get it.  This position is even better than the one created for Michelle Obama ($317K/yr.) by the University of Chicago Hospital shortly after her husband was elected senator.

Janet and her University of California executive colleagues have been burning the midnight oil, scouring for measures that trim expenses and bolster the money that sustains their lofty compensation.

Either the rebellious youngsters in California are not paying attention or they are just plain – how should I say it? – cognitively challenged.  Perhaps there are some intentional distractions being conducted by those who might benefit from the light being shined elsewhere.

All that is transpiring in California, and in this case their university system, does serve some purpose.  It underlines the argument that the federal government should never, ever bail out a state.  Such a policy would only embolden the public trough-feeders and reward the disinterested and selectively outraged.  We might also conclude that there is way too much money in the administrative bureaucracies of publicly funded academia.