What incredible happy news I first thought from reading the Alligator headlines on Aug. 27: "Machen: No more cuts." On the Web site version, I found a less misleading headline for the story: "Machen predicts end to budget cuts." The "end" of budget cuts will happen after we have "more" budget cuts. I liked the positive quotes from Machen: "economy seems to be stabilized," "gonna be a positive year after a 'negative year.'" All preceded by he's "ready to predict there will be no more cuts to UF's budget next spring."
The skeptic is prepared. The story goes on to say the president intends to hire more faculty through stimulus money (applause) so as to curb the "brain drain." I thought the brain drain was happening due to low salaries but there seems to be no mention on how to raise salaries to deflect the "brain drain." The hope is to have money for new hires, but no money for higher salaries? I read nothing on the non-continuation of contracts in Academic Technology. So we can look forward to more "cuts" in November. Machen is quoted as saying "what we're anxious to do is get back into a hiring mode." If UF wants to hire more people, it better "cut" them so you can make room to hire more. Maybe a more appropriate Alligator headline could have been: "Machen predicts end to budget cuts [by next spring after a painful winter]."
