Our favorite ex-Regent, David Crane, is now comparing himself to Galileo for his unhelpful stand on the Regents regarding pensions. Readers of this blog will know that Crane was appointed in the fleeting minutes of former Governor Schwarzenegger's term to the Regents. But he was never confirmed by the state senate and his term thus ended in late 2011.While on the Board, Crane - who evidently wanted to make government pensions generally his issue - was not helpful in differentiating the steps the Regents had taken in modifying UCRP from other state pensions such as CalPERS. UC is in danger of being swept into some statewide ballot proposition on pensions that would override the Regents' actions.
Generally, the non-political members of the Board of Regents focus on UC's needs as their function. Occasionally, one has some grander goal in mind and sees the Board as a platform. Crane fell into that category. So he starts a recent op ed on pensions in the Sacramento Bee with, "In the 17th century the Catholic Church attacked Galileo for advocating Copernicus' view of the universe. Three centuries later, Pope John Paul II apologized for that persecution..."
You can read the full op ed at http://m.sacbee.com/sacramento/db_99544/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=m5FU7nEy
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