"UMass employees top list of highest-paid state workers; Patrick ranked 1,076th in tally" by Andrea Estes, Globe Staff | February 11, 2009
More than 175 state employees were paid $200,000 or more last year, including more than 150 University of Massachusetts administrators and professors, 13 of whom made $400,000 or more, according to a payroll report released yesterday.
The state's top earner was Derek Lovley, associate dean of UMass-Amherst's College of Natural Resources and the Environment. Lovley, a specialist on biofuels, made $613,000, according to data made public yesterday by the state's Office of the Comptroller. He was followed by UMass Medical School Chancellor Michael F. Collins, who made $609,000.
Yes, the ENVIRO-FRAUDSTERS ARE COSTING YOU in SO MANY WAYS!!
LIES are HARMFUL no matter WHAT THEY ARE!!!
Five other UMass administrators were paid between $459,000 and $549,000, followed by UMass president Jack Wilson, who received $436,000.
Why five unmentioned? They Jewish?
Also among the top earners was James Julian, UMass executive vice president and former chief of staff to former Senate president William M. Bulger. Julian joined Bulger when Bulger became the school's president in early 1996.
Also among the state's highest moneymakers were the head basketball coach at UMass, Derek Kellogg, who made $260,000, and the school's head football coach, Donald A. Brown, who made $233,000.
Is that REALLY the BEST USE of the UNIVERSITY'S MONEY!!!
I'LL DO the JOB for A LOT LESS!!!!!
Brown left to take a coaching job with the University of Maryland. The university's athletic director, Dana Skinner, made $192,000, while the men's head ice hockey coach, Blaise MacDonald, was paid $178,000.
Wow! That's a lot for HOCKEY!!!
The payroll - which totaled more than $5 billion - included only salaries paid to employees of regular state agencies. It did not tally the pay of employees of authorities or commissions such as the MBTA, the Massachusetts Port Authority, the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, or the Pension Reserves Investment Management Board, which have traditionally paid some of state government's highest salaries.
Yeah, NO KIDDING!! So THAT LOOTING is HIDDEN from TAXPAYERS, 'eh?
Related: Mass. Pension Fund Loses $16 Billion
Yup, but the guy who manages it got a raise -- a nice "$64,000 bonus on top of his $322,000 annual salary!"
Also see: Mining vacation gold at Massport; Benefit is used to increase salaries, pensions of workersore
Turnpike Toll Hikes Going for Manager Bonuses
At $140,534, Governor Deval Patrick was 1,076th on the list. Supreme Judicial Court justices earned slightly more - $146,000, with the chief justice making $151,000.
Isn't there something wrong when a SPORTS COACH makes more than a JUDGE?
Robert Connolly, UMass spokesman, who was paid $163,000 last year, wrote in an e-mail that the system pays its employees in a "competitive range" with other state universities around the country.
That's a LOT of MONEY for filling the air with HOT FART MIST!!!
"The University of Massachusetts sets salaries for faculty, staff, and administrators in relation to what peers are paid at comparable universities. Benchmarking salaries at market rates allows UMass to attract and retain the faculty who bring outstanding teaching to the classroom and the staff and administrators who make the University of Massachusetts an efficient and well-run institution," he wrote.
Connolly said many top-earning UMass employees are paid through research grants.
Which are funded by GUESS WHO, taxpayers?
Presidents of the public colleges - including Middlesex Community College, Northern Essex Community College, Mt. Wachusett Community College, Holyoke Community College, Fitchburg State, Salem State, Worcester State, and Westfield State - all were paid more than $200,000 last year, according to the records.
Other top earners were the state's acting chief medical examiner, Henry Nields, who was paid $250,000. Dana Mohler-Faria, the president of Bridgewater State College, made $236,000, and Joseph Carter, adjutant general of the Massachusetts National Guard, made $200,000.
Members of the State Police also earned big money, in many cases doubling their regular salaries with overtime. Mark Delaney, State Police superintendent, made $210,000. Nearly three dozen troopers received $170,000 or more, including five who more than doubled their $70,000-a-year base pay rate. One trooper, Kathleen Carney, saw her earnings soar from $70,000 to $184,000, according to the records.
Yeah, cut into the cops and firefighters so we won't pay attention to the BIG-TIME LOOTERS and we will turn against the local flatfoot! The AGENDA-PUSHING NEVER STOPS!!!!
I LIKE my LOCAL HEROES and would rather THEY GET the $$$!!!! And THOSE are the people that get LAID OFF -- like TEACHERS!!!!
Take a look for yourself, and remember:
The State Budget Swindle
Governor Guts State Services
And WHOSE BACKS do they BALANCE the BUDGET ON?
"The lowest paid employees were mental health, social, and other human service workers, many of whom made $36,000 or less...."
"Health officials want college student data; Researching costs beyond insurance" by Kay Lazar, Globe Staff | February 13, 2009
Yeah, it's all for the kids, right.
Amid an outcry by college students that school health insurance is skimpy, state regulators yesterday proposed that colleges start tracking how many students rack up annual medical bills beyond what their policies cover....
The moves follow reports in Massachusetts and across the country that an increasing number of students and their families are saddled with enormous medical bills after accidents or serious injuries because the policies marketed to students provide limited coverage, compared with standard insurance products....
State regulations require college students to have health insurance but allow insurers to substantially limit coverage, even if it fails to meet the minimum standards set for other plans as part of the state's 2006 near-universal health law....
Oh, so their is a STUDENT EXEMPTION for the HEALTH LOOTERS, 'eh?
You know what?
I DON'T EVER WANT TO HEAR SOME SHIT POLITICIAN TALKING ABOUT HOW MUCH WE LOVE OUR KIDS HERE!!!
Not when we SHOVEL TRILLIONS to BANKS, WAR-LOOTERS, CORPORATIONS and JEWS!!!!
Related: Massachusetts' Other Search Job
Students are free to buy more-expensive policies....
Does anyone else find that statement ORWELLIAN?
--more--"
Yeah, the kids can just PAY FOR THEIR HEALTH INSURANCE as their FEES and TUITION RISES -- and the BRASS at the TOP of the U cleans up SIX FIGURES!!!!!!
Trustees at the University of Massachusetts postponed a vote yesterday on sharply raising student fees, voicing serious concerns over the hike's financial impact on families struggling through the recession.
University leaders, facing a $100 million budget deficit brought on by heavy losses in state aid, are proposing to raise fees for undergraduates at the Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, and Lowell campuses by $1,500 next year, while at the same time boosting financial aid.
The 15 percent increase would bring the yearly cost for undergraduates who live in the state to an average of $11,000, not including room and board, university officials said yesterday.
At a morning trustees meeting in downtown Boston, students and several trustees criticized the increase.
"There's never been a worse time [to raise fees] than right now," said one trustee, Matthew Carlin, who added that it would be "irresponsible" to charge students more without further scaling back university spending. Referring to a student at the Boston campus who said she is working two jobs to pay for college, Carlin said the increase would mean "asking her to get a third job."
So JACK WILSON, the BASKETBALL COACH, and the BIO-FART MISTER can EARN SIX FIGURES!!!!!
**************************
Supporters said fees are necessary to offset an anticipated $82 million loss in state subsidies, boost financial aid, and preserve the university system's strengths.
"If we let the quality of the university suffer, we fail our mission to the entire Commonwealth," said trustee Ruben King-Shaw. The increase would generate about $68 million in revenue, $20 million of which would go to bolster financial aid....
WTF? Why ain't ALL OF IT going to AID? Where is the OTHER $48 MILLION going?
Jack M. Wilson, UMass president, said at the meeting that even with the fee increase the university would remain affordable, particularly with the increased financial aid. He showed trustees statistics outlining what families from various income brackets are charged after financial aid is awarded....
"In real dollars, we've gone down in what we charge students" over the past five years, Wilson said. "We consistently meet a higher percentage of financial need than our peers."
So your enormously gluttonous salary is worth it, right, Jack?
The university has kept fee increases under the rate of inflation the past five years as state aid increased, and several trustees said they were reluctant to reverse that trend.
"I'm very uncomfortable with the magnitude of this increase," said Larry Boyle, a trustee. "I suggest we look at other cost-saving opportunities."
Wilson urged trustees to approve the increase this month so that it can be factored into financial aid awards, and said the university could provide rebates if additional money from the state or federal government materializes.
Administrators said they had substantially reduced spending to weather the financial crisis, and several trustees said the university's budget situation was likely to worsen. Wilson's office, for example, has cut its budget by $2 million, and UMass-Lowell has trimmed $6.7 million.
Several education officials expressed frustration with the level of state support, which ranks among the lowest in the country....
Yeah, I KNOW!!
"The state's $96 million financial aid budget.... ranks among the country's least generous"
Amazing how the PAPER HIDES SUCH INFORMATION in a SENTENCE -- and then pats itself on the back at how great we are about ejerkashen here in Massachusetts!!!!!!
Students said they resent bearing the brunt of the financial crunch.
Ever notice the STUDENTS come LAST?
I thought they were supposed to be FIRST?
"Let's not kid ourselves as a board and say this would be good for students," said Lindsay McCluskey, a student trustee from UMass-Amherst. "This fee increase would be damaging for so many students."
Kids ain't so 'too-pid after all.
And if you think the stank corruption is limited to the colleges, well, you haven't been to Massachusetts!!!
"Everett public schools chief fined in 2d ethics probe of his career" by Katheleen Conti, Globe Staff | February 13, 2009
EVERETT - For the second time in his career, School Superintendent Frederick Foresteire has been fined by the State Ethics Commission for violating the conflict of interest law.
The Ethics Commission levied a $6,000 fine on Foresteire yesterday, as well as a $4,500 fine on maintenance manager Lona DeFeo, for deliberately using their School Department positions to get employees to perform private work in Foresteire's home in 2002.
The ARROGANCE is astonishing, isn't it?
According to the commission's findings, between April and November 2002, DeFeo ordered school plumber Michael Pomer to do to work on Foresteire's home, which was being remodeled, during regular school hours. Pomer's work in Foresteire's home involved replacing fixtures in the first- and second-floor bathrooms, replacing the kitchen sink, and adding heat to the kitchen, according to the commission's report.
The commission also said that Foresteire unilaterally decided the price he would pay Pomer for his work, which was $1,960. Pomer told the commission he would have ordinarily charged $3,000 and at most would have given his boss a 25 percent discount.
And he also RIPPED the contractor off!!! That's CHUTZPAH!
Pomer worked in Foresteire's home on 20 occasions, according to the findings. The Ethics Commission also said that in October 2002 DeFeo asked a school carpenter to purchase $234 worth of plywood with city funds, bring it back to the high school, and cut it during school hours.
Another maintenance employee was asked to pick up the wood at the high school and deliver it to Foresteire's home using a school truck. Foresteire did not pay for these services, according to the findings. Foresteire could not be reached for comment.
When reached at home, DeFeo declined to comment. Both Foresteire and DeFeo issued replies to the commission last March denying that they violated the conflict of interest law.
In 1992, Foresteire was fined $250 by the commission for soliciting a school painter to paint the home of a member of the School Committee.
Just kinda wondering how he got back on there, but....
Oh, and while you ponder why you can't afford school, keep this in mind.
"I'm double dipping and I'm happy to be doing it," said Ralph Olsen, 62, who is finishing up his second year as principal of Durfee High School in Fall River and plans to return next school year. Olsen, who retired as Framingham High School principal in 2004, earns $87,311 a year in pension income and makes $140,000 a year in his new position....
Eugene Thayer... earns $192,000 a year as superintendent of Framingham schools.... His pension is worth an additional $85,000 a year"
This while teachers are being laid off and budgets cut.
