Perhaps the administration would have seen greater attendance at their forum had they considered more than their own personal schedules when planning the event. I, for one, would have loved to attend, but with the only campus-wide forum occurring between 3 and 4 p.m. on a Monday, it took only one class conflict to keep me from being able to attend and ask questions. If any real consideration had been given to the potential audience for the forum, maybe the planners would have considered a 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. time slot, where it would have generally required two class conflicts to completely block being able to attend. Even attending half of such event would have been better than not being able to attend at all.
In regards to administrative salaries, I was appalled to hear the defense of President Baker’s salary was to compare his position to the salaries of CEOs in the private sector. As far as I’m concerned, if salary is an issue, then he is welcome to leave and find himself a well-paying company to lead. I want someone heading our school who is here because he is passionate about the students he is serving. Also, concerning the salaries of CEOs in the public sector, are we not all aware that the CEOs of General Motors and Chrysler have agreed to a $1 salary while receiving government aid? In addition, Steve Jobs has been on a $1 salary for several years, even before the recent economic trouble. I’m not asking the same of President Baker, but to say that he takes a salary of $328,000 with allowances over $60,000 to “do public service”? I would rather see a few new faculty hired with money saved from administration cuts than hear another lame justification about how Baker’s salary is “peanuts” compared to top CEOs.
I attended the engineering forum for information on the proposed fee increase. My conclusion was that, although hard to justify financially for myself, the best thing for Cal Poly’s engineering program is to pass the fee increase. I feel like my department is being honest and level-headed about the situation, and that the money will be spent responsibly on maintaining the quality of education I expected to receive by coming to Cal Poly. However, I have heard rumors from other departments basically threatening to drop classes across the board if the initiative is not passed. Also, even though I feel my department is responsible, I don’t know that I can say the same about the university as a whole. I want to act in the best interest of my department, but is the university administration acting with the same intentions?
Let me make my point: The recent news about the pending UU Plaza renovation shocked me, given the current economic situation we are facing. I understand that a committee was probably formed years ago to evaluate renovation, and the money was gathered to make the project happen, and that all of that probably happened before the economy began to collapse, but do we really need to follow through with the plans that have been made? Is it impossible to step back and re-evaluate how reasonable the proposal is given our current conditions? Personally, I would much rather see the $4.4 million spent on instructors and labs, things that contribute to the education of the students, rather than a new shape of concrete near the UU.
Also, I have heard that much of the budget crisis has come about because of increased enrollment encouraged by the state, while the promised funding for this growth is yet to come. I have heard about the additional course shortages that will likely occur if this fee does not pass, but I have not heard any suggestion that freshman enrollment would be scaled back to a sustainable level. It is not our fault that Cal Poly has been accepting more students, and it is not our fault that the state has failed to reimburse Cal Poly for this growth, but shouldn’t the university consider not doing as the state suggests given the state is not fulfilling their promise back to the university?
Maybe I’m incorrect about all of this, and maybe everything is just as it should be, but from the information that has been available to me regarding the proposed fee increase, I am left with these lingering thoughts. I feel like I should pass the initiative for the sake of the College of Engineering, and for the sake of my own education, and Cal Poly’s reputation as a fantastic engineering institution. However, I am disappointed with what I have seen form the university as a whole. Maybe it is just the lack of transparency, or information, but I just don’t always feel like the best decisions are made campus wide. If there are answers to justify my concerns, please, someone, make them known – I will be waiting until late Thursday to make my final decision on the vote.
Jeff Lewis is a mechanical engineering sophomore and Mustang Daily guest columnist.