$31,500, Part 1

Jim Calhoun, the renowned head coach of UConn's men's basketball team, created lots of unwanted attention for himself recently, when he exploded at a gatecrashing freelancer at a postgame news conference. The rogue reporter, apparently a law student, pressed Calhoun about whether he would forefeit any of his $1.6 million salary, considering the state of Connecticut has an $8.7 billion deficit the next two years and he's its highest-paid employee. (Video is above.)

"Get some facts and come back and see me," Calhoun shouted a few times. Turns out, as is often the case with those who have to answer questions from the press, he was the one who didn't have his facts. He said the team brings in $12 million, though phrased it ambiguously, so it was unclear if that's net or gross revenue. The Hartford Courant helpfully breaks down how the $12 million is a misleading number: Calhoun's team brings in $7.3 million while costing $6.1 million. A profit, yes, but not as large as the one he claims.

My job often involves asking employees about their salaries and then printing them, and I'm always struck by how openly sensitive a topic it is. People who I have good relationships with start to stammer, become defensive and craft elaborate explanations for why they're worth it. The CEO of a small, publicly traded company stopped talking to me for six months after I included his salary in a broader story.

Obviously, salaries are the quickest doorway to class division. You want it to be private. When someone reads about another earning more than him, the gut reaction is to scoff, insult and claim the other person isn't worth it. However, part of working in the public sector, or as a top employee of a publicly traded company, is your salary is public. It's the downside to the generous pension and other benefits you earn because of the career path you've chosen. Accept it. In fact, I think those who become so offended just by the fact that someone utters their salary aloud are quite insecure about what they make. If you think you're worth it, you shouldn't be ashamed and/or riled about the dollar figure, and you should say as much confidently and politely. My salary is this post's title. I'd make it this post's title if there were another 0 at the end.

To return to Calhoun, his salary is a valid issue for debate. The University of Connecticut's central mission isn't to have a talented basketball team (while reaping lots of sponsorship deals that don't benefit the players and graduating dramatically fewer than the number who play in the NBA), as fun as it is. The mission is to educate Connecticut's young adults to produce a better state economy. Jim Calhoun doesn't contribute to the university's central mission.

This becomes relevant when state budgets have mammoth deficits and private universities lose remarkable percentages of their endowments. Pete Carroll, another totemic college coach, of Southern California's football team, was the highest-paid employee at any private U.S. university in the 2006-07 fiscal year, reports the Chronicle of Higher Education. While Mr. Carroll certainly deserves to earn what the free market will pay him, U.S.C. doesn't have its priorities set correctly.

As Bill Simmons points out in this bleak column, much of the country isn't too interested in spending on sporting events these days. (Though the column also proves why he's a columnist and not a reporter, as he presents wild hyperbole that about 11 NBA teams could relocate and 15 NHL teams could fold in the next couple of years as near-fact.) Perhaps the University of Connecticut et al should reconsider exactly how interested they are in spending on sports these days.