Money to burn Cal State president salaries are too high in this time of nancial worry

Cal State Universities are facing many issues: increasing tuition, fewer open classes, and a possible increase in salary for the presidents of Cal State University Presidents. Clearly the last one does not seem to fit in with the rest of the problems. How can the Cal State system justify increasing salaries when their schools are facing a plethora of financial issues?

The CSU board of trustees agreed to a payment package that would see that Mildred Garcia receives $324,500 a year in salary with an additional $1000 a month for a vehicle allowance payment as the President of Cal State Fullerton.

Leroy Morishita is also receiving new compensation for his new president job at Cal State East Bay. Morishita will receive $303,660 plus $60,000 for housing and the additional $1000 a month for the vehicle allowance payment.

The new compensation guidelines stated that the newly appointed could not receive more than 10 percent more than the predecessor. Morishita and Garcia are slated to earn exactly that.

Is it right that they make the maximum they are allowed to under the circumstances that face the Cal State schools?

The Governor is adamant in his disagreement and students should be as well.

OpinionJonathan Tucker jtucker.roundupnews@gmail.com

is increasing. Many students are having to go to another campus to try and finish their requirements so that they can graduate and get their lives started.

This pay increase is happening at a time when Cal State schools are looking at freezing admissions for the Spring 2013 semester. Students will not be able to enroll, but at least the head of the school will be comfortable while he/she is turning students away.

tuition was raised were decisions made with no input from the people it matters to. The board should not only put their contact information back on the website, but they should do a better job in finding out what the people want before making their decisions.

“I think there are a lot more people that can be college presidents, maybe even some of you,” said Governor Jerry Brown said while talking to reporters in Sacramento.

Funding crises are hitting the California State systems hard and it is affecting students now, not in the future.

Classrooms are full and tuition

Admittedly the president’s salaries are a small part of the overall budget, but when students are facing tuition increases they want to know that their money is going towards something tangible.

Take the 10 percent increase and put it towards something the students need. The students need books. The students need classes. The students need computers. The students do not need a highly paid university president.

Letter to the editor

Response to: Roundup Volume 116 - Issue 1

Dear Roundup,

Your 29 February 2012 edition is one of the best I have read in my 30+ years here at Pierce College.

Your editorial about the need to drop NO SHOW students, so others who came on the first day to learn could be added and be able to move ahead in their educational goals, was right on.

I am surprised to read in your first page article that it has taken the LACCD so long to realize that we are top heavy with administrators at the cost of cutting needed classes for students. It certainly makes NO SENSE to keep a bloated administration being paid big buck$ to sit around the campus all summer while there are few or no classes serving students (except for the successful PACE program and basic skills).

I challenge the student government to demand that the administration and the faculty create a task force to see how we could teach several dozen MORE class sections this summer by demoting several administrators, including the many department chairs who are not needed (West LA College and Pepperdine University get by with only 6 or 7 Academic divisions, while we have several one person departments”).

After all, most of these administrators and chairs are certificated to teach, and they should serve our students by doing so rather than sitting in their offices cutting classes!

I am not asking for people to be fired, but just to help out in this time of economic emergency. I gave up some of my class assignments voluntarily so that more of our part time faculty member would not be laid off and so more students could be served with more class sections being taught by the less expensive part time instructors.

I hope someone in students government, faculty and administration will respond to this common sense call for more class sections to serve to our students.

Dr. Daniel Stephen McHargue Pierce College Professor of History, Political Science and Law

including any opinions expressed, should not be interpreted as the position of the L.A. Community College District, the college or any officer or employee thereof.