Asking the state’s highest paid employee whether he would take a pay cut is not unreasonable when Calhoun’s boss, Michael Hogan, president of the University of Connecticut, already has effectively done that.
Hogan, who earns $613,908 a year, last year turned down a $100,000 bonus in response to the state budget cuts at UConn. Hogan was already contributing $1,000 a month of his salary to a UConn scholarship.
Krayeske’s question to Calhoun should also be put to UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma, who had a salary of about $1.31 million in 2008, and UConn football coach Randy Edsall, who got about $1.38 million.
1 comment:
This whole controversy is a distraction from the real problems facing our state. Cutting these people's salaries will not come close to closing the state's $2 billion budget gap.
There are more productive discussions we should be having about how to cut the deficit and still provide Connecticut residents the services need.
Thousands of people enjoy the athletic success these coaches have brought to UConn. I'm willing to peel off whatever small amount of my tax dollars go to Calhoun's salary because rooting for the Huskies is a lot of fun.
While the coaches salaries are enormous, they square with the pay of other similarly situated college coaches. It is strange that the college basketball coach is the highest paid state employee, but it didn't trigger the current budget mess.
It's fine to disparage Calhoun for behaving like a boorish jerk during that press conference. He deserves it. But obsessing over the man because he expects to be paid what the university agreed to pay him seems unfair. It's also a little weird.
Post a Comment