During a telecasted presentation from the UTK Hodges Library’s auditorium yesterday President John Petersen took the opportunity to discuss the issue of “merit-pay” during the question-and-answer section at the end. He went on record that the UT administration HAS been asking the Legislature to allow the administrator to give “merit-raises” to everyone, staff as well as faculty.

Struggling to find the best analogy didn’t seem to be a problem as el hefe settled on the following description with ease: “Merit Pay is a bullet in the, uh, their gun, the administration here.”

To see and hear the question and President Petersen’s most tactful of answers, check here and fast-forward to 1:32:35.

Perhaps he would like us to formally address him as John “Wayne” Petersen from this point forward.