By Jason Adams

When I found out that, after his recent raise, The University of Akron’s President Proenza now makes more than the President of the United Sates, I was dumbfounded.

I come from a background where there is such a thing as too much. Do you need three or four cars? Do you need two or three houses? Does a person need a 44-foot-long boat? Does a person truly need to make $405,000 a year or more?

I don’t think so. As long as the bills were paid and there was food on the table, our family was quite happy. A good family night and a good meal together make all the difference in the world.

Yes, it may be difficult to run a college the size of UA, but where is the President? I never see him walking around, interacting with the students who help pay his salary. I don’t see him attending all these great events that he supposedly supports. I am not saying that Mr. Proenza doesn’t support these events or the University, but if I were making more than $400,000 a year, I would be out getting to know the people.

Proenza has the same perks as the president of the United States. Housing is a big one. Cars must be nice too. If you go through Proenza’s exhaustive and extremely impressive resume, I am sure all he has is well deserved, but does he (or anyone for that matter) need $405,000 a year?

Maybe someone could explain to me why anyone on the staff at UA needs to make that kind of money, or on that subject, why anyone in education needs to make that kind of money. There are teachers out there who would be happy making $40,000 a year just so they could be working. Proenza makes enough to support more than 10 other instructors who would love a job.

Growing up in California, my parents, collectively, made about 120K a year. I am from a military family so they never owned a house. We had two cars, one for mom one for dad. I had what I needed, my brother and sister, the same. My parents took us to Sequoia once a year or Disneyland but most of the time we went to local places which didn’t cost a lot of money, such as the beach or the mountains. I come back to the same answer: I am glad we weren’t rich. I am grateful my parents didn’t make more than $400,000 a year. Learning to live with what little you have helps build character. The more you have the more you expect.

So after all this, it is my opinion that no one needs that much money. You won’t be happier. Money doesn’t buy you happiness. Your husband or wife won’t love you anymore or less if you’re rich. You will still have all the problems the rest of us have but more toys to take away the pain of dealing with them.