By Steve Thompson, Chairman of the Butte County Republican Party
San Diego State University is getting a new president, Dr. Elliot Hirshman. He’s brand new at his job and he’s already the highest paid in his field. SDSU thought so highly of him they decided to pay him 33% more than his predecessor.
You can read a great article on it here.
That’s right, “Dr.” Hirshman (how many patients does he see?) will be paid a base salary of $350,000 (tax dollars). He’ll also receive another $50,000 from the college’s fundraising committee, free housing, and a $1000 monthly car allowance.
Wow, $1,000 a month car allowance should pay for some pretty nice wheels. I’ll bet a lot of students at Chico State University would love to have a car allowance. $1,000 a month could pay rent for at least a couple of students I think. Top Ramen goes for about 4 packs a dollar, so that would be what, 4000 meals for students each month?
You would think that our university system is loaded with money, the way they’re spending it these days. Heck, even California’s Governor is only paid $200,000 a year. But why then are they raising tuition on students? Could they be using the current budget crisis to simply shake down middle class families?
I mean, it can’t be that the system is broke, can it? Most organizations don’t hand out raises when they’re broke, or do they? Oh that’s right, it’s always OK to waste taxpayer dollars.
Something is rotten in Denmark. Something is also rotten in our state’s university system. We’re paying college presidents too much money to sip lattes downtown and give incoherent lectures on diversity. But then, California is completely run by Democrats, so don’t expect any reforms anytime soon. Guys like Dr. Elliot tend to donate well to democrats, and always make sure their union friends have their wallets padded too.
I guess I can’t complain. This is a democrat state and they won control fair and square. It may seem crass and insensitive to give themselves raises when students are going hungry, but it’s not like voters will care and make any changes, will they?
Steve, I figured it out. Democrats only attack high paying jobs and want to tax 100% salaries for people who earn them in the private sector. If the salaries are in the public sector, paid for by taxes it meets with their approval because of their level of entitlement and distribution of wealth quota. Plus, most high paying jobs in the CSU system will be held by democrats who were once left-wing teachers, while a majority of private business owners are republicans.
Also, remember there are (if my count is right) 110 community colleges and 10 UC university campuses with at least one president, two or more vice presidents or provost, and deans/chairs of departments and schools for every discipline. And we cant forget the supervisor/chancellor that is the CEO of every school district in the state getting the highest salary. There must be hundreds if not close to a thousand school districts in the state. Just in this area alone we have school districts in Chico, Paradise, Oroville, Durham, Red Bluff, and on and on from Oregon to Mexico and Nevada to the Pacific. Big bucks equal big taxes and a broke state.
Steve the justification, as always, is that they want the best possible people to fill these seats…ok…but 33.3% more. The university system has been one of the highest donors to Obama and Democrats. Who can blame them? When you can buy guaranteed jobs with guaranteed high salaries what’s not to like. So what if students can’t afford to pay for college anymore. They can take out student loans and go into debt and like it!
“This is a democrat state and they won control fair and square.”
Seriously? I wouldn’t call it fair and square. I don’t argue they won but nothing about the way they run for office (or negotiate) is square…that would require honesty and sincerity.
Well, I backed Whitman, and watched in horror as she let them take her down with an accusation of using an undocumented maid. I voted for her anyway, but it was like leaving a 6 course meal on a grave and walking away.
And now we hear the SEIU is looking for “Rhinos” to back in 2012. Who are these “Rhinos”? How will we spot them? Will they have a big nose or what? Will there also be some “Reagan Democrats” to choose from? (what is the opposite of a “Rhino”?)
It’s funny you mention the governor’s salary, get a load of his staff salaries:
http://www.sacbee.com/statepay/?name=&agency=GOVERNOR%27S+OFFICE&salarylevel=
I don’t know if we’re going to be able to hold on til 2012 Steve, we might have to march on the capitol and demand access to the executive lunch room.
Wow, you think they got a pretty nice buffet down there?
and here’s another reason why tuition is so expensive – Diversity! And don’t forget Sustainability!
http://theorion.com/features/article_111b7d04-43c8-11e0-bbe6-00127992bc8b.html#user-comment-area
So what if students can’t afford to pay for college anymore. They can take out student loans and go into debt and like it!
Remember BO bought the student vote with his student loan forgiveness clause included in Obama Care. If my memory is correct the students only have to pay 10% of the loan for a max of 10 years. After the 10 years the balance is forgiven leaving the banks with the unpaid balance.
Here is one link, cant find one with the specific criteria or the actual bill.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/21/student-loans-health-care_n_507576.html
From the bottom of Steve’s article”
“Kit Sickels is chairman of the Campanile Foundation, the fundraising body whose board voted to spend $50,000 annually to supplement Hirshmans salary. He also served on an advisory panel to the search committee that selected him.
‘Ive seen the numbers at other institutions,’ Sickels said. ‘I think were lucky to get him for this salary. Hes going to be the perfect guy. Hell make up for the salary just in the fundraising hell do.’
Republican thinking if ever I did read it. Sigh.
Yes it’s terrible the way those republicans insist on carrying their own weight…just terrible.
Why should a CSU President make the same salary as the president of the United States?
No one in the CSU community is worth that kind of money.
There was a time where higher education was free, taxes paid forit other than books. That of course, was before the Dept of Education came to be, now that bloated agency should be gone.
Make up yer mind … either he’s worth the $350k or he isn’t.
If he is … then what was the point of the post?
Sorry Libby, but you know the point. The CSU system, which btw is comprised of one of Obama’s biggest donor groups in the nation besides Goldman Sachs, is a bunch of greedy elites who continually give each other pay raises on the backs of the poor.
The Top Ramen picture goes well with this post, as this is what a lot of students are forced to eat when they can barely survive the tuition to support the elites running the CSU system. That you have no complaints about this behavior says a lot. Silence is consent Libby.
Steve: “The Top Ramen picture goes well with this post, as this is what a lot of students are forced to eat when they can barely survive the tuition to support the elites…”
LOL…reminds me of North Korea…next thing ya know they’ll be forced to settle for eating grass!
Steve, you have addressed the relevant points we needed to hear and you did it so perfectly – it’s one of the best come backs/comment I’ve ever read here. Way to go!!!
Right on Steve. I do not understand how Libby and other progressives can defend the high salaries of these executives on the backs of starving students. Do they not understand the money pit is not bottomless? The money for part of the students educational cost comes from the tax payers. The balance of their cost comes from the students themselves or their parents.
With unemployment up and businesses either closing down or leaving the state tax revenue is down resulting in less funds to support these salary increases. So, with low tax revenue this additional funds have to come from cuts in other educational cost such as teachers, staff, supplies, etc. or increasing enrollment fees, lab fees, tuition, student union fees, health fees, etc.
Bottom line is ALWAYS someone has to pay. That fallacy that education is free is a mistake that is made over and over again. The free education we all got from K-12 we have been paying for since we started paying our own rent and mortgage payments. Community college, CSU and UC systems are also supported by our taxes, so we pay and pay and pay beyond the educational level we personally may have achieved.
It makes no sense how progressives can attack private business owners who invested their own time, money and yes education, and support public sector salaries paid with our taxes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Peggy: “I do not understand how Libby and other progressives can defend the high salaries of these executives on the backs of starving students.”
Peggy, what are you talking about? Libby never defended this outrageous salary; it seemed quite clear from her posts that she opposes this, as do most progressives.
There are a lot of comments here about how Democrats apparently support this, but where are you guys getting this idea from? Students and faculty in the state are pissed, and most of them are left-leaning. Also, a more recent article on this site points to the angry reaction of Democrats on this issue. So why are you all pretending that this is something progressives support?
Read the below article and get ready to weep. I can think of nothing more to add.
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“California State University trustees voted Tuesday to raise tuition by 12 percent this fall over the objections of protesters who said middle-class and undocumented students will be priced out of a college education.
It is the second increase in less than a year, making this year’s tuition 23.2 percent more than last fall’s: $5,472, up from $4,440. And with mandatory campus fees averaging $950, the price for a year at CSU will come to about $6,422, not counting room and board.”….”That’s twice what it cost in 2007″…….
“We asked Chancellor (Charles) Reed to look at lowering administrative salaries instead of always looking at raising student fees,” Malik said. “They have astronomical salaries, and they shouldn’t be living such a lavish life. They should take into consideration the students they’re representing.”…
“The university has already laid off more than 4,125 employees since 2008, reducing the workforce across its 23 campuses to less than 43,000.
CSU isn’t alone. The University of California regents are expected to vote Thursday on a 9.6 percent tuition increase.”…
“Board of Trustees Chairman Herb Carter said, in effect, that the trustees were raising tuition for the students’ own good.”
“We do it because we think it’s in the best interest of the young people of this state that this university be available to them,” he said. “It’s easy for you – some of you – to say, ‘Don’t raise my tuition. I can’t pay it.’ I understand that. But on the other hand, I also understand what it would be like if we denied access to another 30,000 or 40,000 students.”…
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/07/12/BAA51K9JOE.DTL#ixzz1SDHDrhTG
Chris: “…where are you guys getting this idea from?”
I get it from the fact the liberal progressives led by the Democrat party want to raise taxes instead of cutting salaries/spending. We hear it all the time. Even at the national level.
As I said in an earlier post a public salary alignment study needs to be done to bring these top CEO salaries down in comparison of other like positions. If the governor of the state is getting $200k a year $400k for a single campus of approximate 15-20 thousand students and a staff of 1,000 does not justify the pay increase recently approved.
I do not know the political make-up of the board members that approved this, but the probability of the majority of them not being Republicans is very high.
While Dr. Liu and a few others may disagree with this raise their voices went unheard because they were in the minority.
Chris,
I hope you’re right that democrats want to cut the waste in state spending like this, but I’m not so sure. We have a democrat Governor and democrat legislature, I guess we’ll see soon enough if they’re serious about responsible government or not.