Overdone Overtime

Consequences of budget cuts appear to be the leitmotif of this school year. Reductions and terminations serve as constant reminders of the financial situation the University of California currently faces. While it's easy to blame decreased state funding or general economic downturn for these problems, the university is also at fault-at least when it comes to overtime pay.

In a display of egregious mismanagement, the annual overtime pay for the entire UC system rose by 12.4 percent last year. With a total of $135 million dished out to compensate for work beyond scheduled hours, there's no other way to characterize this increase except as a reckless allocation of resources.

While the services provided by employees are essential, especially considering that the top overtime earners are nurses and other health care workers at UC hospitals, the same services could be made available sans the one and a half pay. It's the responsibility of the university to proactively hire more workers to fill empty spots instead of depending on nearly 50,000 employees to put in extra hours.

Unlike other factors contributing to the budget crunch that are out of the university's control, overtime assignment falls almost completely under its purview. The mishandling of payroll, including the doubling of some salaries through overtime pay, reflects sheer in-house dolt.

Meanwhile, other sectors of the UC system feel the brunt of the money shortage. Cancelled courses, fewer instructors, slashed student services-these are some of the changes students are currently forced to grapple with as a result of the smaller financial pie.

There's no excuse for losing track of expenditures. The UC system needs to carefully monitor where the cash flows, especially in a time when cash isn't exactly flowing.