More than 100 University of Denver staffers apply for voluntary severance

Like Denver Boone, the longtime University of Denver mascot seen here, who was deep-sixed a few years back in part because he was deemed insufficiently manly and sophisticated, plenty of DU employees will soon be leaving the school. According to "Staff Leave Under Voluntary Severance Plan," a story in today's edition of the DU Clarion, an online student newspaper, "At least 111 staff members have applied for voluntary severance from DU as a result of the financial crisis affecting the university and other schools nationwide." Individuals responded to a program announced on November 19, which offered those who left the school "a lump-sum payment equal to six months' salary."

If an institution as historically prosperous and well-funded as DU must resort to such a plan, what's that say about the rest of the economy? Nothing good...