UC Berkeley was bracing for protests over a series of inflammatory speakers who planned to visit campus during a four-day period at the end of September. The event fizzled, but the school still spent an estimated $800,000 on security.
In the end, only Milo Yiannopoulos (with a small contingent, including Pamela Geller) made it to campus. He didn't speak that much on Sept. 24 but had many photos taken. UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof said, “It feels a little bit like probably the most expensive photo op in the university’s history.”
UC Berkeley usually sets aside about $200,000 a year for protest response and demonstration management. This one event is estimated to have cost the university four times that amount.
All this got us thinking: What else could we do with $800,000?
School supplies. You could buy 8 million pencils. Or 800 MacBook Airs. Or 133,333 paperback copies of William Shakespeare’s collected works.

Need caffeine? You could purchase 188,235 cappuccinos at $4.25 a whack.

But seriously. With $800,000, Berkeley could cover the yearly costs for 23 in-state students. That includes tuition, housing, supplies — everything.

The school could give its roughly 547 custodians a one-time $1,462 bonus. That’s almost 4 percent of their average income.