It’s really easy to make the people who make the tough decisions into the bad guys. And, in a tough economy, it happens more than ever. Mid-level bosses around the country are laying off employees to stop their companies from going too far into the red. CEOs around the world are shutting down entire branches so they don’t have to declare bankruptcy. These are the faces angrily pasted on dartboards in employee break rooms.

Sometimes it’s easy to forget that difficult decisions are just that — really difficult. While the media, the faculty and the students turn the administrators of the University of California system into villains, this is something worth considering. The heads of (arguably) the best public university system in the country don’t want to increase tuition. They don’t want to furlough professors. They certainly aren’t happy to see libraries shut down and department lose funding. But they have to do something. Let’s face it: Balancing a budget sucks.

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As we reported last week, The University of California system increased tuition by 32 percent to make up for a large gap in the budget. Student response to the decision has been overwhelming.

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The Regents of the University of California are set to raise undergrad tuition by 32 percent, the NYTimes is reporting.

While this is an astronomical amount and will likely hurt a lot of California families who got extremely inexpensive access to a incredibly high-caliber education, I think the cuts are probably the best route to go. The UCs suffered steep state-funding slashes this year, as the state’s budget was squeezed for all it’s worth.

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I’m all for funding athletics programs. People who feel committed to their schools and their sports teams are more likely to donate in the long run — it’s an investment. But if I were University of California student right now I would be pissed.

As I’ve covered many a time, the UC system isn’t doing so hot — it’s budget cuts are forcing big changes across the schools, including increasing student fees, enforcing a faculty furlough and cutting departments entirely. But at UC Berkeley, the athletics program isn’t really hurting.

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Since the beginning of the semester, the University of California system’s budget cuts have caused quite the stir. The drama continues.

Over the summer, the California budget — which contained over $15 billion in cuts overall —  cut $813 million in funding from the state’s university system. In response, the University of California Board of Regents moved to enact a systemwide furlough. “Under the plan, UC faculty and staff will be required to take from 11 to 26 furlough days — amounting to a salary reduction of 4 to 10 percent — with higher earners being forced to take more furlough days and steeper pay cuts, ” says a UC press release.

The universities have also increased student fees to make up for the losses and have refinanced debt and administrative cost. And, of course, all 10 campuses — like most campuses around the country — will be generally cutting back to make up for what, when all else is considered, will add up to a $300 million gap.

The first day of classes, students and faculty walked out of class across the state to conduct peaceful but vocal protests. The news since that walkout hasn’t gotten any better.

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Reports from newspapers around California show that the University of California protests,while loud, remained peaceful and relatively undisruptive today. More to come soon on exactly how the day unfolded for the UC system.

The planned student and faculty walkouts at the University of California’s 10 campuses is planned for tomorrow, their first official day of classes. As a previously reported, the walkouts are planned in response to the University’s response to the $750 million budget gap, a response that includes enforced faculty furlough and dramatic increases to student fees.

The size and scope of this walkout are still unclear but an article in today’s San Francisco Chronicle suggests that campus administrators are starting to get nervous.

The University of California systemwide walkout saga continues.

14 protesters were arrested after disrupting a University of California Board of Regents meeting in San Francisco today. They were protesting the employee pay cuts and the proposed 44 percent student fee increase, which the Board was discussing at today’s meeting.

As reported in a previous post, students, faculty and staffers of the UC system are planning a systemwide walkout on Sept. 24 in protest of the proposed cuts and furlough system. If it will actually happen and how big it will be is still in question. But either way, the movement has certainly got my attention.

As mentioned in a previous post, things for the University of California campuses are not looking so great lately — the controversy over the state budget cuts has been rather heated. The situation just got a little hotter.

The San Francisco Chronicle ran an article yesterday about the growing momentum behind the proposed Sept. 24 systemwide walkout. The movement now includes graduate student groups and labor unions that represent thousands of employees. According to the Chron, there are 12,000 faculty members and 3,000 lecturers in the UC system. It is uncertain how many graduate students or staff members plan on walking out. But the number of people thinking of walking out of classes on Sept. 24 is starting to become really serious.

Updates to come.

Students and faculty across the UC system might stage a walk out on September 24 in response to state budget cuts and the university furlough plan.

Over the summer, the California budget — which contained over $15 billion in cuts overall —  cut $813 million in funding from the state’s university system. In response, the University of California Board of Regents moved to enact a systemwide furlough. “Under the plan, UC faculty and staff will be required to take from 11 to 26 furlough days — amounting to a salary reduction of 4 to 10 percent — with higher earners being forced to take more furlough days and steeper pay cuts, ” says a UC press release.

Also, the universities have increased student fees to make up for the losses and have refinanced debt and administrative cost. And, of course, all 10 campuses — like most campuses around the country — will be generally cutting back to make up for what, when all else is considered, will add up to a $300 million gap.

The movement’s Facebook group already has 3,300 members showing support for the walk out. There are about 159,000 undergrads in the University of California schools. Business will be good for the campus bars that day.

Expect updates.