Our strange chancellor

A detour to local affairs. In SUNY-land (as in the State University of New York, where I teach) we've lately had the strange situation where the system chancellor, Robert King, wanted to take a last-minute, six-month sabbatical to "recharge his internal batteries" and visit Russia (specifically, the Moscow State University). He submitted his request to the board of trustees - to take effect almost immediately - and then just as quickly withdrew it. All sorts of rumors have been flying around about King's intention to leave (see, e.g., this piece by Mary Anna Towler in the Rochester (NY) City Paper - scroll down to "Speaking of reality"). Some suspect that King is out of favor with his master, NY Governor George Pataki. Some background from a NYT article:

The debate has unusual political overtones for the fate of a university leader. Democratic critics of the sabbatical view Mr. King, a former Republican assemblyman, as a partisan for Mr. Pataki, whom Mr. King served as budget director in the late 1990's. Deepening the Albany intrigue about Mr. King's future, aides to Mr. Pataki said yesterday that the governor had not tried to persuade Mr. King to stay on.

Towler in the City Paper points to another Times article (which I couldn't find):

Some SUNY trustees, the Times said, don't like King and wanted to get rid of him, so they worked a deal with King and the governor. King would request, and get, a fully paid leave -- and then just wouldn't come back. But King, said the Times, got miffed after some Pataki aides and Democratic legislators publicly criticized the leave request.

Strange, indeed. I do know that if I went to our provost to make a request for a six-month paid sabbatical, starting in less than two weeks time, I'd be laughed out the door. Such things do still exist in academia (I'm glad to say), but we have to arrange sabbaticals about a year in advance, there's no guarantee that you'll get one when you want one - and they're supposed to be for real scholarly activities, not for "recharging the batteries." In any case I couldn't in good conscience leave my department and my students hanging - who'd come in an take my place at the last minute? So how the hell did King think he could leave the whole SUNY system hanging? Unless there's some hidden agenda, that is. It all smells very bad.