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Chapter 237 Fruitless Meeting

The University of California, Berkeley is a public university that is part of the University of California system.

The benefit given to California is probably that the tuition fees for state residents to attend the school are relatively low.

After all, public universities are funded primarily by state government grants.

But as a well-known public research university, it is certainly impossible to operate with just the small amount of funding from the state treasury.

In addition, due to its public nature, it cannot charge high tuition fees like private universities, so if it wants to develop, it must have diversified income.

Research funding is the most important source of income. At least the famous professors in the school should be able to earn money from it so that they will stay in the school wholeheartedly.

Not to mention that the overall US economy has been in a downturn in recent times, especially the one in the White House who has been desperately trying to cut fiscal spending.

This financial pressure has also spread to the state level, and financial support continues to decrease.

There is no way to even complain, after all, it is not just like this in California, it is like this in every state.

It's even more special in California.

For example, the University of California system has issued a lot of bonds and incurred extremely high debts for school development. These bonds are used to build medical centers and high-end communities.

This is mainly because university land enjoys tax-free preferential policies here.

As long as the business is conducted on campus, whether it is a commercial business or the income from research and intellectual property of a private company, it will be taxed less.

Therefore, schools naturally have a great motivation to make use of the land within the campus.

For example, schools will combine places such as classrooms and laboratories with various businesses, stadiums, high-end residential areas, and medical centers.

Therefore, every time a new laboratory is built, a prosperous commercial complex will be built around it. Then the school can obtain development funds through the medical center and commercial operations.

This approach sounds good. And it is indeed so in the financial reports. For example, the annual income of the University of California Medical Center can even exceed the total of state government grants and donations.

Moreover, the University of California system is a public university, so it seems that no one can profit from it. It is simply perfect.

But the only regret is that the school itself has no money, and it has to rely on issuing bonds, that is, borrowing money, to do all these things.

Moreover, these bonds are secured by the school's tuition, real estate assets and profits, on-campus restaurants, stadiums and other high-quality assets. For those who buy these bonds, it is almost a sure-win deal.

Of course, the person who can buy such high-quality bonds in large quantities is definitely not an ordinary person. As for who it is, that is a secret.

Therefore, tuition fees in the University of California system have been rising, while it is difficult for ordinary faculty and staff to increase their salaries. Moreover, it is an indisputable fact that various living costs are rising due to high debts.

In order to make up for the financial gap, the University of California system even prefers to recruit students from other states and abroad. After all, the tuition fees for out-of-state students are four to five times that of in-state students.

The situation is similar for UC Berkeley. The school is a well-known one, but it owes a lot of money. So the school not only needs to develop, but also needs more income to repay the interest and principal.

For a well-known research university like Berkeley, cooperating with major technology companies is undoubtedly one of the fastest ways to make money.

In particular, the cooperation with large technology companies such as Google, Microsoft, IBM, etc. to build various laboratories can stimulate the vigorous development of various industries on campus.

And now suddenly someone wants to interfere and prevent these large technology companies from cooperating with them?

What’s even more terrifying is that this person actually has the leverage to influence the decisions of these large technology companies, and even the leverage to influence the financial tycoons behind those technology companies…

How could the bigwigs on the board not be anxious? This was not only digging up the school's roots, it was also cutting off the financial resources of countless people!
If the school cannot develop sustainably, how can it continue to issue bonds? Especially if those professors who can get projects leave, how can it continue to maintain high tuition fees?
What’s even more frightening is that if students who come to Berkeley are no longer favored, it will be a problem whether we can find enough students in the future.

This also means that the value of the on-campus entertainment and commercial complexes that the school has spent a lot of money to build will continue to decline. Without people, both the rent and the income of the medical center will plummet.

In this case, how can the principal and interest of the bonds that have been sold be repaid? Just rely on the state funding? Don't be ridiculous, who would care about that little money? It's not even enough to pay salaries.

This is truly the livelihood of millions of waterworkers! You can imagine how anxious the board members are at this time. They are even more anxious than the principal!
In this situation, an emergency meeting of the Berkeley board of directors was held at just one o'clock in the afternoon.

Except for two people who were unable to attend because they were abroad, everyone was present.

Even the two people from abroad actively participated in the meeting via video, without caring about the time difference and wasting their rest time.

After all, every board member not only represents themselves, but also represents the stakeholders behind them.

What if someone needs to make sacrifices when encountering such a big thing? If you don't attend the meeting, then you will definitely sacrifice your own interests. Who can you turn to for justice?

It is no exaggeration to say that the University of California system's Board of Regents has never been as responsive as it is today.

……

"Everyone is here, so let's start the meeting now. I believe everyone has understood the specific situation. Dr. Qiao Yu from Huaxia seems to have some misunderstandings about the Berkeley campus of our University of California system, although I don't know how this misunderstanding came about.

But I personally don't think this is important. The next point we need to discuss is how to resolve this crisis. Before this meeting, I had contacted three large companies that have relevant R&D cooperation contracts with Berkeley.

Including Google, Intel and IBM, I can only tell you that the feedback is not optimistic. If we can't solve this problem as soon as possible, they will really take action, even if they feel sorry for this decision!

So everyone, now is not the time to complain meaninglessly, we need to work together to get through this crisis. I believe everyone knows what it means for these large companies to withdraw their investments at the same time!
So I suggest that everyone's speech should be targeted - how do we get through this crisis! So who wants to speak first now?"

The speaker was John Perez, current chairman of the Board of Regents of the University of California system.

There is no doubt that this is a big man, and he once served as Speaker of the State House of Representatives.

Prior to becoming chair of the board, he served as a member of the University of California Board of Regents and on several of the board’s committees.

After becoming chairman of the board of directors, he made a number of adjustments to the University of California system and admissions policies.

Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to say that he is the person who knows the current internal situation and financial status of the University of California system best.

From the expression of the chairman of the board, you can tell that he is in a terrible mood at the moment!

There was no way. When John Perez found that he couldn't even use his status as former Speaker of the House of Representatives to make these damn big companies surrender, he knew that this matter was in trouble.

After all, he represents the interests of the California government!
The upper class has its own set of operating rules. If it weren't for the deeper interest chain involved, the top executives of those technology companies would never treat him in a way that made him feel humiliated.

At this time, John Perez's gaze naturally fell on Lucas Eisen.

Yes, Frank’s grandfather, Lucas Eisen, is also a member of the current University of California Board of Regents.

He is a Californian and graduated from Berkeley, so he naturally represents the top scholars in the California department.

This is also the reason why he was able to easily get Frank into Berkeley as a professor.

As for the reason why John Perez paid attention to Lucas at this time, it was also very simple. From his point of view, Berkeley was just a collective concept, and the school itself could not have any irreconcilable conflicts with Qiao Yu.

Therefore, the most likely possibility is that the mathematics professors in the school had something dirty going on with Qiao Yu, which brought trouble to the school.

Lucas Eisen is one of the world's mathematical giants. After all, he is a big shot who once won the Fields Medal.

If we figure out who Qiao Yu had the conflict with, this matter can be easily resolved. After all, no one is indispensable at the University of California.

Even if the person who offended Qiao Yu was Lucas Eisen, he would immediately fire this mathematical master.

The most infuriating thing was that he asked many people for information, but the answer he got was that Qiao Yu didn't explain at all why he suddenly attacked Berkeley, let alone who it was because of.

This was what made John Perez most angry, and he even hated it to the point of gritting his teeth.

Qiao Yu was a Fields Medal winner after all, so how could he act so frivolously? He simply couldn't understand it.

If someone offends you, can't you just say it directly? He is even willing to personally find that person to vent his anger on Qiao Yu. Isn't it childish to play the riddle man?

But when he thought about the Fields Medal winner who gave him a splitting headache, he was only seventeen years old this year...

Forget it! He is also a man with children, and there is no way to reason with adolescent boys! All I can say is that every one of these people in the mathematics world is a psychopath!

Yes, so much so that he was not very happy looking at Lucas Eisen at this moment.

Lucas Eisen noticed John Perez's gaze, and he could even guess clearly why the chairman noticed him first.

But he was in a very bad mood at the moment.

In the previous two hours, he also looked for everyone who had a good relationship with Qiao Yu in the mathematics circle.

Peter Schulz, Pierre Delini, Lotte Dugan, Tao Xuanzhi, Dennis Gates...

No one knows why Qiao Yu suddenly went crazy.

He also wanted to have someone call Qiao Yu to ask, but considering the time difference, these people were only willing to send an email even for his sake.

He even called Yuan Zhengxin...

Unfortunately, the answer I got was unclear, they just said they would help me ask. But I would have to wait until the evening to get the answer.

As we all know, mathematicians will not speak without knowing anything. This is like giving a lecture without any preparation...

So Lucas Eisen planned to remain silent at this meeting.

Unfortunately, other people seemed to have the same idea as Lucas Eisen, and John Perez even approached him.

"Professor Eisen, why don't you speak first? I have carefully read the relevant announcements of the Berkeley University in recent times, and it is impossible for the school to have offended Qiao Yu.

So I wonder if there is something wrong between one or more mathematicians in the school and Qiao Yu? If you know something, maybe you should share it with everyone. "

Lucas Eisen glanced at John Perez, shook his head, and said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Perez. In fact, after I learned about this, I tried my best to find out.

Unfortunately, at least as far as I know, no one has any unpleasant feelings towards Qiao Yu. On the contrary, most mathematicians at Berkeley respect and even admire Qiao Yu’s achievements.”

After Lucas Eisen finished speaking, the image of his grandson-in-law suddenly and inexplicably appeared in his mind.

He recalled some of his previous speculations.

Lucas Eisen had previously suspected whether Frank had offended Qiao Yu, or whether there was some unknown bond between the two.

Otherwise it would be impossible to explain some of the things Qiao Yu did. It seemed that he was always making things difficult for Frank, intentionally or unintentionally.

I suppressed my doubts at the time because there was nothing abnormal about the two people's behavior and attitude after they met, and Frank did not show any hostility towards Qiao Yu.

But today's sudden incident once again aroused Lucas Eisen's doubts.

There is no love or hate without reason in this world, just as any mathematical proof cannot be derived out of thin air.

Of course, Lucas Eisen only thought about it in his mind and didn't show it.

Even when John Perez questioned him.

"Are you sure, Professor Eisen?"

"At least from what I have learned so far, this is indeed the case. Of course, no one knows everything, and I am trying to find the truth, but it will take time.

In fact, we hope to see a healthy development environment for the University of California system, so if I learn the truth, I will definitely inform the board of directors as soon as possible. "

Lucas Eisen answered flawlessly.

John Perez nodded. Even though he was very unhappy with Lucas at the moment, he couldn't offend the mathematician without a reason.

Of course, this emergency meeting did not ultimately produce any effective countermeasures as John Perez had hoped.

After all, no matter how much you say about this matter, this is actually Qiao Yu's attitude.

When John Perez discovered to his sorrow that not a single member of the entire California University System Board of Directors had any connection with Qiao Yu, it was certain that this meeting would end in vain and would only end up with mutual accusations and bickering!

So John Perez ended the meeting before it got to the point where he would get even more upset.

Hope still lies with Lucas Eisen. According to him, due to the time difference, he would have to wait until at least the evening to get a reply, so the next meeting was scheduled for 10 o'clock that evening!
Yes, even if it means sacrificing rest time, we must find an answer and resolve this crisis quickly.

After all, those damn technology companies don't leave them much time. Once many scientific research collaborations are really terminated, it will be difficult to restart them.

At the same time, Frank was also struggling.

After all, he is a member of the academic community, a member of the Berkeley professorship, and a professor of mathematics.

Qiao Yu's sudden move made many faculty and staff at the Berkeley university panic, and naturally the news reached his ears.

Frank suddenly felt that the situation was not good.

He suddenly attacked without any reason, and even refused to reveal the reason... Could it be that Qiao Yu knew about it? !

(End of this chapter)