Little sympathy for top-paid university brass | READER COMMENTARY

The Sun reports that University System of Maryland Chancellor Jay Perman is reducing his salary (“University System of Maryland chancellor takes pay cut, warns employees could ‘share in the pain’ of pandemic," Sept. 9). Poor baby! This means the educator will take a 10% pay cut — down to a meager $864,000-a-year. I don’t know how he’ll be able to make ends meet on $73,000 a month.

The thing that riles me up the most is that Mr. Perman had to make it public, which got him front page ink. There are other fat cats in USM that I believe will also have to take similar cuts. University of Maryland men’s basketball coach Mark Turgeon, who is reportedly making over $3 million, and the flagship school’s football coach Mike Locksley, who is being paid to coach in a season which will probably be postponed or have no live attendance. Coach Locksley is also earning in seven figures annually. Do you think Coach Turgeon can scrape by on $250,000 per month after a 10% cut? How about Coach Locksley?

People working in less illustrious positions in the system will truly struggle, living as many do paycheck to paycheck. How about them? Do you think their voices will merit front page articles? What happens to the people whose $40,000 becomes $36,000? They would need a part-time job to deal with the shortfall. They might even lose their state jobs and pensions.

I guess Dr. Perman must be thinking of himself as a modern day Joan of Arc.

George Hammerbacher, Baltimore

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