NEWS
Thursday, March 18, 2004
SAPAC DE-FUNDED * RESIDENCE HALL LIBRARIES CLOSED * STUDENT WOODSHOP CLOSED * MINORITY ENROLLMENT DROPPING * TROTTER HOUSE DETERIORATING * POWWOW FUNDING CUT * LGBT EDUCATION COORDINATOR FIRED * ETC * ETC*Yes, the University of Michigan is facing a cut in funding from the State of Michigan. However the cut, although severe, will only impact their state allocation, which makes up less than 20% of the University's total budget. In a greater sense, the University continues unaffected by the economic slowdown of the Bush years. Construction projects across campus are moving ahead, the new Haven hall has been equipped with flat screen TV's, and nearly 50 University employees are making over $250,000 per year. Meanwhile, Michigan state legislators have taken a voluntary 3% pay cut, and Governor Granholm herself has taken a voluntary 10% pay cut. Meanwhile, President Mary Sue Coleman receives roughly $575,000 each year (when her base salary of $475,000 is added to the $500,000 cash bonus she'll receive if she stays for five years.) If the 47 highest paid employees at the University took a 3% pay cut, the University would raise $440,266 - more than enough to address most of the issues raised as part of the "Student Agenda." During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the University used across-the-board pay cuts to balance the books.
Many of the cuts above are matters of tens of thousands of dollars - mere pennies for the University as a whole. The Woodshop? Less than $50,000. PowWow funding? Cut by perhaps ten thousand. SAPAC cuts? A few positions and the office space. However, these cuts will directly impact student life - and many will make changes that will be difficult to undo if more funding becomes avaliable in the future. Students will have fewer resources at our disposal, and the University's commitment to multiculturalism seems to be seriously drawn into question.
It's not a matter of money, it's a matter of priorities.
Let's tell the administration: it's time for you to share the burden. The time is now: the University Regents are meeting, and they must hear what we think of the University's decisions:
Thursday
REGENTS MEETING
Sign making, and T-shirts 1 PM on the DIAG
1:30 PM: GET PUMPED UP
2 PM: REGENTS MEETING (SHOW UP AND BE COUNTED!)
Read more about the issues here.
Posted by Rob at 4:37 AM
