Written by Nicholas Vetrisek
Once again, a bureaucrat who treats what he’s been given with contempt and neglect got off scot-free. After wasting $82,000 of taxpayer money to pay for $100 dollar steaks and $6,000 plane tickets, it appears that not even the students care. Out of 14,179 students, only five decided that wasting thousands of dollars of our money was important enough to speak out about.
Michael Schroder, the dean of Extended Learning, is currently on medical leave and this is likely the worst that will happen to him. In a week or two, after the heat has died down, he will return to his job and maybe even get promoted. Accountability is a foreign concept to government-funded individuals.
At CSU San Marcos, tuition is about $8,000. Mr. Schroder could pay tuition for all five of those students for two years and still have $2,000 left to buy more expensive steaks—if he really scrimped.
This is a failure on the part of three parties, the first being Schroder himself. No one should be allowed to waste that much taxpayer money and a firing ought to be in order. Secondly, the university for its permissive behavior regarding the matter and refusal to condemn Schroder. Lastly, and most surprisingly, it is the students.
In a school that apparently loves to protest in large numbers, the fact that only five students protested such a blatant waste is pathetic. Many chose to simply watch the protest and not get involved. Stephen Schneider, an accounting major who was watching the protest, said, “I’d like to see the system investigate and act on the findings.”
That’s the problem, there were too many “like to sees” and not enough “willing to acts.” None of this would still be going on if students actually stood up to this. Unfortunately for all of us, they simply don’t care.
Photo by Vladimir Solomyani
