Leaving aside the "closed-door" aspect of these deals, it shouldn't go unsaid that compensating UC's top level leadership in amounts that may seem high to us is really just aimed at keeping those jobs competitive with the market. God forbid we lose our talent to schools like USC or Stanford (eek! not the Trojans! ;)

It would be nice if talented people worked for less money altruistically for the greater good of CA's public higher ed system. But that really isn't the case.

I would recommend getting the whole story prior to crusading because the arguments can only get stronger for doing so.
 

I definitely agree that the whole story needs to be uncovered. However, this in and of itself is quite the undertaking and will require a massive amount of support to accomplish as the UCs will probably not be too excited by the prospect of being scrutinized so closely.

The University of California has already managed to contradict its mission statement in the last year, turning away eligible high-school graduates and if these fee increases continue unchecked more and more deserving students will be, not turned away, but simply left unable to afford the cost of admission.

Ultimately regardless of whether or not the problem is stemming from shady deals within the UCs or from poor oversight and funding on a state level it is imperative that attention be drawn to this issue immediately.

On a side note the highest paid UC employee during the 2004-05 fiscal year was Jeff Tedford, the head football coach at Cal Berkeley.

Related SF Chronicle Articles:
University Staffers earn thousands in bonuses
Perks include parties, gifts, travel