I could lose my job!

Image taken from umass.edu

With all the budget cuts and restructuring going on, I'm concerned for my future employment with the university. 

I work for the Fine Arts Center.

No, I'm not creative or anything like that. I work with computers. My boss, Christine Texiera, is the technology manager for the whole Fine Arts Center. If any problem comes up from hackers to broken keyboards, she is the one called. I deal with the easier problems, that she probably shouldn't be wasting her time on.

There five of us students working under Christine, and all of our jobs are in jeopardy. Actually, according to Christine, even her job might be lost.

She told me she doesn't know what she would do without the use of work-study students helping her. We are usually overwhelmed with what needs to be done with six of us working; I can't imagine what she would do by herself.

The FAC would probably fall apart.

I'm not saying that as a joke. It's a legit possibility. I see all Christine does already, and what happens one day when she's sick and something goes wrong? She controls everything from the website to mailing lists to ticket orders. Think the FAC can be alright without those key features?

I can't imagine how many situations like this arise around campus. While UMass has a current hiring freeze, that's clearly not going to be enough. Eventually, jobs are going to be lost.

It's a vicious cycle we've gotten ourselves into, and one we'll probably experience again 80 years from now.

Seems dumb we spent so much money on signs now, doesn't it?

I realize I'm throwing a lot of links at you, and the Great Depression one was an attempt at dark humor, but you should take a closer look at the budget situation. Everyone has been sent e-mails from Chancellor Holub, but many people (including, until recently, me) should take a look at them.