I've applied to several universities lately, plus a magazine about farming. This seemed reason enough to start reading an old Jane Smiley novel called Moo—a satire of life at a Midwestern university.In the first few pages, I found this interesting perspective from the provost on "cutbacks":
"Cutbacks, on top of cutbacks already made, were in the air, though no one had yet used the word, which was a technical term and a magical charm to be used only at the time when items in the budget were actually being crossed off. It was a technical term in that you could refer to "shifting resources" and "reallocating funds" right up to the moment you told some guy that his research assistant was being fired and his new lab equipment was not being ordered, and it was a magical charm because it instantly transformed the past into a special, golden epoch, the grand place that all things had been cut from."
Moo brings back unsettling memories of my husband's experiences with university politics and a quote that so perfectly explains the problem:
"University politics are vicious precisely because the stakes are so small."
—Henry Kissinger
—Henry Kissinger
Fortunately, unlike university politics, Moo is funny.
[Hog research figures prominently in the opening pages of Moo. I tell you this only because it's an excuse to share the cute pic of a teacup pig.]
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