Thanks, but no thanks.

So, I get out of class today and open my Internet browser to see quite an interesting and surprising message in my inbox. It was from TNH's Executive Editor saying that the Union Leader called him and they wanted to rerun my last column. The catch was that they would only run the column with my real name. It was a tough call, but I decided that another year of blogging anonymity was more important to me than the UL running the column. Plus, there is a lot of stuff I've written in the past that I don't want my name to be connected with. When I started the blog I decided that being anonymous would allow me to write and say things I wouldn't necessarily want future employees finding out about. While it may hurt my reputation and ethos in some respects, I know that the blog is better for it. (Plus we all know the UL is super conservative and they only want to run it to point another finger at UNH's terrible liberalness in a way I didn't intend.) Also, Hunter S Thompson, one of my literary heros, once called the Union Leader the worst newspaper in America. While I'm not comparing myself to Thompson in any way, I can see where he came from. TNH and the blog are fine by me and anyone who wants to read what is really going on with UNH knows where to look.

For example, today the Union Leader ran an editorial called "Lunacy at UNH" how UNH professors are asking for way too much money. Meanwhile, President Huddleston makes well over $300,000, which is more than 10 times the lowest paid "professor" (read: lecturer). UNH has a recent trend of forcing, or strongly pushing, tenured (and great) professors into early retirement so they can hire lecturers on one year contracts and only pay them a highschool teacher's salary, or less (something like $28-32,000/year). (On that topic, everyone points fingers at Coach Umile for his $300,000+ salary, but in his defense, our hockey program makes this school a heck of a lot of money in more ways than you think.)

So you need to ask yourself, what is more important: Better professors or UNH saving more money?  Just like I said in that very column: "Universities have become giant machines like most of the corporations our professors tell us to watch out for." Better professors lead to smarter students who, in theory, will make more money. One of UNH's shortcomings is alumni donations.  One of New Hampshire's biggest shortcomings is funding for UNH. It's a vicious circle, huh?

Stay classy, not UMassy.

PS: Check out this new song written by a UNH student and blog reader:

John will be playing at The Knot tomorrow (Friday) night at 10 PM. If you're 21 be there.