fiucked up!

By now you may have heard that FIU has hired Isiah Thomas as its new head basketball coach. Not sure how much this is costing the school, but it's likely to be less per year than the $11.1 million he cost the New York Knicks in a sexual harrassment suit against him. But he's probably making more than any professor at the school. His record with the Knicks as coach was 56-108. He's also been a loser as an executive for the Raptors, coach of the Pacers,and as the owner of the CBA. Yes, but we all love a story of redemption, I suppose. FIU has a habit of spending money on everything except education. Just jettisoned the Religious Studies program this week, so maybe the RS budget went to Isiah. (He is giving whatever his first-year salary is back to the school.) From 2002-03 to 2008-09, the FIU faculty grew by .5% (that's one-half a percent or five faculty members! Five in six years!) while the number of administrators grew by 96.8% (365 positions)--and that does not include the law and med schools! (These figures from "How Does FIU Spend Its Money?" published this month by the Research on Social and Economic Policy Center fot Labor Research and Studies at FIU.) FIU collected 57.7% more tuition and fees from students in 2008-09 than in 2002-03, but total faculty salaries increased only 10.7% How much did administrative salaries increase? By 106.1%! There has been a 17% increase in faculty teaching loads in that time. You can see how that might happen if the student population increases 18% but the faculty only .5%. I'm too depressed to go on.