(09-24) 16:48 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- The University of San Francisco's aggressive recruitment of students from China - many of whom have trouble speaking English - has led to the resignation of one of the campus' top business-school officials.

Dayle Smith, associate dean of undergraduate studies at the School of Management, quit amid what some see as a tug-of-war between academic integrity and the desire to diversify the prestigious private school through aggressive recruitment.

This year, 781 of the 10,017 students enrolled at USF are Chinese nationals, the vast majority of them in the business school. They're paying full freight - $36,000 a year in tuition.

Some of the new students' language skills, however, were so poor that they were given headsets for English-to-Mandarin translation during orientation.

Business school Dean Mike Webber said in his Sept. 8 letter to staffers announcing Smith's exit that the "considerable increase" in foreign students this year is not in and of itself a cause for concern.

"But given that so many of these students have weak English skills and are disproportionately from one country, we are going to be faced with some unique pedagogical and cultural challenges," he wrote.

Webber - who did not return calls for comment - added that Smith feared that USF's way of handling the gap might "dilute the educational experience for all" the school's business students. Smith, who remains at the university as a professor, did not return calls seeking comment.

USF Provost Jennifer Turpin said the flap was the result of a difference of opinion over how far the campus should go to accommodate Chinese students.

She acknowledged that many of the new students have poor English skills - which is why they are being brought in on a "conditional" basis and are being given extra help.

Turpin said the debate came down to how the extra help should be administered - through the university's individual schools or through a central study center.

However, according to Webber, Smith "felt there was a real failure on the part of the university to understand these unique challenges and how they will impact" the business school.

"We have all kinds of different views on campus," Turpin said. "That's why we love universities."

Off the blotter: As much as Oakland Mayor Jean Quan applauded the first training class of police recruits the city has seen in four years, the sad fact is that it's probably not going to do much to help the Police Department.

According to Chief Howard Jordan's latest report to City Hall, Oakland has only about 288 officers to patrol the city. The other 343 officers are supervisors, in investigations, working as voter-mandated "problem-solving officers," assigned to schools or court-mandated internal affairs - or out on disability.

It already takes more than 15 minutes for cops to respond to 911 "priority one" calls for crimes in progress or other life-threatening emergencies - almost twice as long as any other city in the state. Nonemergency calls take more than an hour, compared with 10 1/2 minutes in San Jose and 17 minutes in San Francisco.

As a result, on any given night, there is a backup of 50 to 90 calls because no officer is available.

And it's only going to get worse.

Between attrition and injuries, the chief estimates the department will be down another 68 officers by the time the 55 new cadets are ready for the street next year. Police insiders tell us the city needs to start cranking out academy classes at an accelerated pace to make a difference.

Cleared for takeoff: After 10 years as the face and voice of San Francisco International Airport, Mike McCarron is moving on.

"Less commute, more time with the family," was how McCarron summed up his decision.

Over the years, McCarron met many VIPs, including presidents - but the most impressive greeting he ever witnessed was the ovation given to the Petaluma Little Leaguers when they returned from their World Series adventure this summer.

His most searing memory, by far, was 9/11. United Airlines Flight 93, the plane that crashed after passengers fought off terrorists apparently intent on destroying the Capitol in Washington, D.C., had been bound for SFO.

"We had set up a private room for the families of Flight 93, so that they would have some privacy when they arrived at the airport and found their loved ones had perished," McCarron said.

"But no one came. It wasn't until a couple days later we figured it out. The people on the plane had called and told them they wouldn't be coming home."

And finally: Believe it or not, after 40 years of service, BART still has 15 of its original employees.

The longest-serving employee: Robert Fickes, a principal engineer, who started work Sept. 3, 1968 - four years before BART ever had a paying customer.