For those who may not keep in touch with the exciting world of public education. There have been some murmurings of the recent $300,000 bonus given to UCA president Lu Hardin. Part of the controversy stems from the fact that the funds were taken out of the Board of Trustees Endowment Fund. According to the Democrat Gazette,

The Board of Trustees Endowment Fund was established in 1995 “to provide long-term support for scholarships and other operations of the university.”

But a review of the expenditures shows that the board used less than 1 percent of the money to fund college scholarships over the past six years. Just $17,000 of the $1.92 million spent from 2002-03 to 2007-08 went to fund scholarships — $2,000 for Miss UCA scholarship in 2007-08 and $15,000 in 2004-05 for “staff senate book scholarships,” which went to student workers and their children.

Other expenditures include an $800,000 payment to supplement construction at Estes Stadium, a $334,019.14 buyout for former UCA President Winfred Thompson, $250,000 for several university centennial celebrations and programs in 2006 and 2007, and Hardin’s $300,000 bonus.

Board members also approved $20,000 over two years to help the struggling Oxford American magazine, $12,000 for championship football rings, and $13,000 for chair risers for the UCA choir.

Not only does the board have to deal with the implication that they may be misappropriating these funds, their huge bonus for Lu may not comply with Arkansas law which caps the salary of public university presidents.

I wonder who is squirming more, the board because they are afraid that they may be caught fudging on the very policies they created, or Lu who may have to write a check to UCA for $300,000.

See the full article from the Democrat Gazette.

The last couple of walk-in customers where I work have complained about high gas prices after exiting their large luxury cars or SUVs. All I can think is "what is the big deal?" And what exactly worries them about current high gas prices? I am left to figure that one out. Here's a good article by Justin Wolfers called "What Exactly Concerns Us About Gas Prices?" Only if I could hand it to them as they walk out.
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2 ... #more-2757

UPDATE : Find the more recent UCA salaries in 2009 with a sortable, searchable database. Here

The list of University of Central Arkansas Salaries is now searchable. (You can use the built in search capabilities of Adobe Acrobat.)

UCA Salaries 2008

Stay tuned for the new, updated salary list coming soon...

According to Shawn Tully in Why oil prices will tank:

"Arguments that $4-a-gallon gas (or even higher) is here to stay are dead wrong. Housing's boom-and-bust cycle tells you why."

This greenhouse calculator was developed by Australian Broadcasting Corporation and is meant for children.

Fill out the survey yourself and you can learn when you should die!


http://www.abc.net.au/science/planetsla ... e_calc.htm

It is amazing how seriously the media are taking Senator Barack Obama's latest statement about the latest racist rant from the pulpit of the church he has attended for 20 years. But neither that statement nor the apology for his rant by Father Michael Pfleger really matters, one way or the other. Nor does Senator Obama's belated resignation from that church. For any politician, what matters is not his election year rhetoric, or an election year resignation from a church, but the track record of that politician in the years before the election. Yet so many people are so fascinated by Barack Obama's rhetorical skills that they don't care about his voting record in the U.S. Senate, in the Illinois state senate, the causes that he has chosen to promote over the years, or the candidate's personal character and values, as revealed by his actions and associations. Despite clever spin from Obama's supporters about avoiding "guilt by association," much more is involved than casual association with people like Jeremiah Wright and Father Pfleger. In addition to giving $20,000 of his own money to Jeremiah Wright, as a state senator Obama directed $225,000 of the Illinois taxpayers' money for programs run by Father Pfleger. In the U.S. Senate, Obama earmarked $100,000 in federal tax money for Father Pfleger's work. Giving someone more than 300 grand is not just some tenuous, coincidental association. Are Barack Obama's views shown by what he says during an election year or by what he has been doing for decades before? The complete contrast between Obama's election year image as a healer of divisions and his whole career of promoting far-left grievance politics, in association with America-haters like Jeremiah Wright and Bill Ayers, are brushed aside by his supporters who talk about getting back to "the real issues." There is nothing more real than a man's character and values. The track record of what he has actually done is far more real than anything he says, however elegantly he says it. There is no office where the character and values of the person in that office matter more than the office of President of the United States. He holds the destiny of 300 million Americans in his hands and the fate of generations yet unborn...

The CEO’s of our nation’s largest oil companies have recently been called to Capitol Hill to answer for their “record profits.” It seems quite ridiculous that today you might actually have to stand before congress and explain yourself for being too successful. Those in the panel of congress, mostly Democrats, have sat across from these oil executives hurling accusations and showing their disdain for anyone in this nation who is more successful than themselves. They even had the guts to accuse the oil companies of not giving enough money to Myanmar for relief? Not giving enough? First of all, some reports have shows that a few of these oil companies alone have given more than 50% of what the entire United States government has given. Secondly, since when is it the right of a congressperson to scold someone for not giving enough? According to Thomas L. Friedman in his book, “The World is Flat,” “Communism [is] a great system for making people equally poor.” This seems to be the road that these Democrats would like to take. The gist of the Democrats’ argument seems to be that the oil executives are exploiting poor Americans and in the meantime making too much money. I would ask the question, “How are we being exploited?” Do we have a right to oil that legally belongs to the oil companies? If we stole it from them, would that be just? Although these congressmen fancy themselves modern day Robin Hoods – in this day and age, Robin Hood goes to prison and the rich man gets back what is rightfully his.

"And it's not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations." Barack Hussein Obama “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” John Adams “No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand, which conducts the affairs of men, more than the people of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency.” President George Washington First Inaugural Address “For my own part, I sincerely esteem it a system, which without the finger of God, never could have been suggested and agreed upon by such a diversity of interest.” Alexander Hamilton "It is impossible for the man of pious reflection not to perceive in it a finger of that Almighty hand which has been so frequently and signally extended to our relief in the critical stages of the revolution.” James MadisonFather of the Constitution