Students protest budget cuts Thursday

First of all, I agree with this group regarding the necessary merge of some administrative departments and adaptation of technology in order to reduce administrative positions that take money off our budget. On the other hand, you can’t make those type of changes in a short period of time because they involve resources (cash) that are probably needed more elsewhere in the short run. Those changes eventually will occur as resources become more limited and the economy settles.

Second, I disagree with this group regarding their demands of no increase in tuition, no cuts in personnel, etc. Where’s the sacrifice then? Yes, administrative changes have to occur but its neither safe nor convenient to make them in the short run (current academic year). Someone has to pay the burden of the lack of appropriations from the state. Also, salaries shouldn’t be changed in the majority of the cases. MSU already ranks in the middle of the pack, near the bottom, in the Big Ten in terms of average compensation. I want our faculty and administrators to be well paid, when compared to their peers at other universities, so they don’t leave to other place with a better offer. Again, I want to make clear that this should be compared to their peers at other universities. Great organizations thrive because they keep forward momentum in difficult times and I truly believe that Pres. Simon, Provost Wilcox and others are doing a great job of keeping the momentum.

Third, to pay for all of this resources need to come either from government, donations or students. Well, we’ve seen that the state doesn’t care, donations have taken a hit and tuition increases are rampant. That’s at MSU and at every college in the US. Our endowment, although above average and one of the largest in the US, does not cover sufficient costs as to lower tuition. With that reality MSU and many universities applied for ARRA funds for research and other programs but they are so competitive that a single university doesn’t receive even half of the decisions to their favor.

With that reality, what should MSU do?

Well, I think that MSU is acting correctly in eliminating positions that are not essential for the University. The recycling center is a great investment that will pay back itself and will generate revenue by providing services to the community and others. Also, the Athletic Department has taken positive steps to assure revenue increases and to keep the Department moving forward. We have to keep in mind that the AD is self sufficient and its a huge revenue stream for MSU and keeping great coaches here is essential. Like these, there are many more examples of adjustments that benefit our finances.

My solution to the problem?

I think that faculty and MSU employees, like coaches and high administrators, should donate their money back to the University for the creation of more endowments or for scholarships and keep other positions. Also, even though times are tough, there’s an incredible number of MSU alumni that could be considered rich and the economy doesn’t affect them much. They should also step up. Still, I think that students will have to pay for the increases in tuition.

Finally, I think that now more than ever its evident the necessity of a solid endowment. Not to say that ours is not. It is solid. But when investments go down, so do the interest they generate and the ability to use from those funds. More importantly, by “solid” I mean that MSU needs an endowment well distributed through all the disciplines. And, while there’s nothing MSU can do about making people donate to certain programs, they are able of promoting and being explicit about the needs of certain disciplines. We all know that arts and humanities are not as supported as other disciplines on campus and, while that depends on the individual who donates the funds, I think the University can do a better job of letting people know about the programs in arts and humanities and the need for more resources there. I hope that, in the future, we remember these tough times and we recognize these needs to and support the programs. Either if you had a tough time at MSU or not, if you had scholarships at MSU or paid with loans, its irrelevant for the future. Alumni need to be more supportive of all the programs.

Truth in media – let’s see some.

“The event was sponsored by Spartan Green, a student group hoping to shed light on the budget issues facing the university. Members of the group declined to comment.”

That is in fact, a bold-faced lie. Members of the group were DENIED their right to comment solely because they refused to give out personal identification as individual students. This movement is about solidarity, and alleftspartans (aka Spartan Green) offered to answer questions as a group. We were told very bluntly, that if we wouldn’t give names, we would have no opportunity to comment.

“Administration officials said…”

“Representatives from X are quoted as saying…”

This is a common practice in the media, and we are absolutely disgusted at the lack of professionalism exhibited by The State News, and the gross denial of our right to speak in the press.

This article contains no citation to, reactions from, or information about, the group responsible for the protest.

As such, I ask you: Is this legitimate journalism?

Do the students expect that by protesting the university will be able to all of a sudden pull money out of it’s butt?

What we are advocating for transparency in budget discussions in an attempt to secure our right to have representation in administrative decisions that affect OUR future. The future is ours, we want a say in what it looks like.

What we are asking for is an equatable distribution of the budget cuts. Particularly now, as State legislators fail to understand that you cannot have economic recovery (much less stability) without the presence of an educated workforce. The cuts may very well be inevitable, but they need not be inequitable.