Originally published in Publishing Perspectives.

CUNY's chancellor has new digs, and they don't come cheap. James Milliken, who took over as chief executive for The City University of New York this June, recently moved in to a snazzy, four bedroom terrace apartment on the Upper East Side. "The monthly rent? $18,000," according to the New York Observer, and all of it paid for by the university.

Almost two weeks ago, I saw the image of two young girls suspended from the mango tree. It was a macabre image full of agony. Men, women and children stood around, and some sat beneath these bodies, in mourning and disbelief. The police had failed to act. They had refused to perform their basic duties—to prevent crime, enforce the law and maintain order. The villagers had congregated and stayed next to the tree for an entire day, preventing authorities from taking down the bodies until the suspects were arrested.