By TOM HONIG
I think I would have been a great choice for the job of president of the University of California. I met Clark Kerr once, and I've interviewed most of the chancellors to serve at UC Santa Cruz. I attended at UC campus (Santa Barbara,) which is more than new UC president Janet Napolitano has done.
Alas, I don't know as many rich folks, and I'm not connected to various funding sources as the politically savvy Ms. Napolitano. On the other hand, I'd work for a hell of a lot less than her $570,000 yearly salary, and I wouldn't even ask for a free place to live.
Ms. Napolitano is probably a quick study, and maybe she's even read Clark Kerr's far-reaching Master Plan for Higher Education, the document that boosted the University of California into world-wide dominance. But don't expect such a document from her. After all, higher education isn't to be found on her resume.
When President John F. Kennedy named his brother, Bobby, as attorney general in 1961, people then questioned his lack of experience. JFK met it head on, saying: "I can't see that it's wrong to give him a little legal experience before he goes out to practice law."
That's why I'd be such a great UC president. Like Ms. Napolitano, I'd work hard at learning what higiher education is like. At a fraction of the cost.
