“That’s why I want her.  So long as the anadvocates understand that they are advisors, and that their criticisms will be heard, that should not be an issue,” Victor answered.  “Oh, I hypothesize that there is a reasonable salary, which I will limit to covering my expenses.”

“The current salary is…” She put a number up on the screen.

“That’s insane.  How did the Senate agree to something so idiotically huge ?” he asked.

“A fine question,” Elektra answered. “I wondered about that myself. The answer is that some years ago the Senate agreed that we would appropriate a certain total sum for salaries, the college would take in a certain number of students each year, and the college would pay its each faculty and staff member in accord to what the Board of Governors directed.  It didn’t occur to anyone to worry that the Board of Governors would cut a deal with the nonteaching administration in exchange for relatives of the Board members being hired into sinecures. However, that’s what appears to have happened. The result is that the Chancellor, the many Vice Chancellors, and so on down the administrative ladder are very well paid, the people hired to teach are of limited quality or in some cases appear to have been given welfare positions in which they do no work, not that it appears that they are up anything as challenging as reading aloud from the textbook, and until matters sufficiently deteriorated we were unaware that there was an issue. In addition, for the past decade the former governing majority had been taking generous campaign donations from all these people, so they had good reason not to notice. These issues are all on top of the usual tendency of administrators not bound by profit-loss statements to engage in empire building.”

“I seem to recall that at one time there was a legal requirement that each person be listed by name with their salary and post also listed. Did something happen to that?” Victor asked.

“Buried someplace in legislation much of a decade ago,” Elektra said, “ was a note exempting the College from that requirement. Supposedly it was because it would damage the bargaining power of instructors when they left. It was very well hidden. Fortunately the leading minority party has some very sharp people who notice this issue, connected the dots, and were preparing to discuss the matter vigorously at the next election cycle. Now that some of the scandal has become public, they are hastening to wheel out all of these interesting results to show how diligent and vigorous they are in investigating, so that they can reveal very much in very little time. On due consideration, since I would like a constructive opposition rather than one that goes for my jugular at every opportunity, I am going to accept they are indeed very diligent at finding things. An adequate number of the administration’s memoranda are dated, so that the general press is picking up on what is happening. That’s not my problem.”

“Do we have an actual list of employees, duties, and salaries?” Victor asked.

“That’s being assembled,” Elektra said. “To some extent it’s irrelevant, because most of those people signed their silly note threatening to resign if we made changes. That’s the note that’s legally binding.”

“Nonetheless,” Victor said, “I’d like to know what I’m getting into. Please send that over. However, it sounds to me that I have no real choice other than to agree with your proposal, assuming that the Debtor’s Committee agrees.  I am a little busy dealing with new litigation from the other spaceship companies, litigation that I anticipate will end up giving them what they thought they wanted, but I do need to clear that before I publicly agree. You may, however, advise the leaders of the other parties that I will take on this task if I also get to lead the Technical University and have something like adequate authority to deal with unpleasant issues.”

The Investors Meet

The Bankers Committee, Bulger Spaceways

Lawrence Morningstar looked around the table.  To the best of his recollection, each member of the committee was dressed in precisely the same clothing as the other times they had met. Long-standing traditions of good luck rabbit’s feet and the like came to mind.

“In any event,” he said, “we have been advised by the Audit Committee that there have been significant changes in the financial picture which require that we review the agreement.  I believe I should ask Victor to explain the situation.”