Not for profits are crazy

Received an e-mail from my senior class president asking for donations from the graduating senior class. Thankfully it got caught by the university's spam blocker even though it was coming from a university address (ironic) because I consider it spam anyways. For craps and giggles I decided to have it delivered and read it, and here are some entertaining excerpts:

The Senior Class Gift is a final opportunity to leave your mark and impact the future of our great institution.......The 2010 Senior Class gift is a fire pit that will be located outside of the new student center. The fire pit and its surrounding area will provide the campus community with a place to relax, mingle with friends and keep warm during the frigid winter months.......we want at least 30% of our class to participate and help us reach our goal of $30,000.

$30,000 for a fire pit?! Hell I would do it for $29,000, and I am sure that is not the market price. Actually I could use more beer money right now just pay me minimum wage and I will go dig a fire pit for you! I am a young strapping lad so it probably would only take me a good day's work. That would be 8 hours at $7.50 an hour for a grand total of 60 bucks which is equal to about 2.5 thirty packs of my favorite hometown beer, Genny Light. Assuming I consume 10 beers per night and I only drink 3 times a week. That would last me 2.5 weeks not including my current stock of Genny and suitable replacements like cheap tequila and vodka.

I should have seen this crazy logic coming after the parking space e-mail. My incredibly rational university decided it needed more parking spots for its employees. That is cool, but how they went about it made me tilt my head say "What the hell?"

During the upcoming Spring Break, a parking change will take place in Cheel upper parking lot #9. To accommodate more staff moving from Downtown Old Snell Hall into Graham Hall, additional parking spaces will be required. The staff parking area adjacent to the roadway and Price Hall will be extended to take up the entire first row giving an additional 20 spaces. To make up for these lost spaces primarily used by students, for the remainder of the spring semester, we will remove the "No Parking 2am- 6am" signs on the north side of Cheel Lot along the woods to accommodate student parking. This will give an additional 25 spaces for that use.

So let me get this straight, the university permanently took away 20 parking spots from the students, and gave them 25 parking spots during the hours 2 AM to 6 AM? Now in perfect SNAFU fashion the parking spots in the 2 AM to 6 AM are no where close to any residential building. Actually the parking spots closest to the residential buildings are the 20 that are reserved for employees now. Wonderful! I had to forward this e-mail to my father just to show him the crazy logic and his response had an even better idea:

Why doesn't someone suggest that staff walk from Old Birnam Woods to High Dunsinane. That will give an additional 20 spaces plus the additional 25!

After four years of this I must agree with, Byran Caplan not for profits are crazy.